From Electric To Magnetic Optical Fields: Manipulating the Six Components of Light At The Nanoscale by Prof Mathieu Mivelle
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About the talk
Light in physics has historically been viewed as a scalar value, with research focusing almost exclusively on its electric field component. In this talk, I will demonstrate how controlling light at the nanoscale allows us to achieve complete manipulation of all six electromagnetic components: both the electric and the often-neglected magnetic optical fields. This precise nanoscale control enables selective coupling of these field components to matter, opening new avenues for controlling fundamental electric and magnetic quantum processes.
Specific applications will be presented, including the magnetic light-matter control of highly nonlinear phenomena like the Photon Avalanche process, enhancing interactions between chiral light and chiral matter for single chiral molecule detection, and generating ultrashort, intense, and unidirectional magnetic field and photocurrent pulses at the nanoscale, ultimately, paving the way for manipulating magnetic materials on ultrafast timescales.
About the speaker
Mathieu Mivelle is a CNRS Research Scientist at Sorbonne University in Paris, based at the Institute for Nanosciences of Paris (INSP). He leads the Magnetic NanoLight research group. An expert in nanophotonics, his work focuses on the complete manipulation of optical fields—both electric and magnetic—at the nanoscale. His research aims to enhance light-matter coupling across various systems, including chiral molecules and electric or magnetic quantum emitters. A major thrust of his work is the all-optical magnetization of plasmonic nanostructures at ultrafast timescales via the Inverse Faraday Effect. He is the Principal Investigator of the ERC Consolidator project "Femtomagnet," which explores the generation of femtosecond pulses of stationary magnetic fields for magnetic control.