ProfessorDominic Zerulla

Surface Plasmons (SPs) are electromagnetic excitations coupled to electron oscillations propagating along a metal-dielectric interface. They are essentially light waves that are trapped on the surface as a result of interactions between the illuminating wave and the free electrons of the conductor, and are called Surface Plasmon Polaritons (SPPs) to reflect this hybrid nature. In their simplest form, SPPs are an electromagnetic excitation that propagates in a wave like fashion along the planar interface between materials with dielectric functions of opposite sign (metal and dielectric), and whose amplitude decays exponentially with increasing distance into each medium from the interface. The so called field of Plasmonics (PLASMon photONICS) represents an exciting new area for the application of surface and interface plasmons, an area in which surface-plasmon based circuits merge the fields of photonics and electronics at the nanoscale [Science 311 189 (2006)].
Based on concepts in the topical field of "active plasmonics", Dominic and his team have invented a new, disruptive imaging method which is capable of spatially resolving biomedically relevant system down to 20 nm levels. Additional features of this technology include ultra-fast acquisition, resulting in real-time imaging, biocompatibility, and label-free sample preparation. As the combination of these features is unique, the technique is rivalling all existing super-resolution techniques, including the ones which have received the Nobel Prize in 2014 in more than one aspect. This technology has been patented and further protected; on this basis, Dominic has founded a new UCD spin-out company, PEARlabs Technologies Ltd., which is successfully commercializing the above imaging platform for two areas: State-of-the-art ultra-high spatial resolution at real-time video rates and early cancer diagnosis.

Further Topics:
- Spin Plasmonics
- Nearfield Imaging
- Nanooptics
- Ultrafast Imaging/Spectroscopy
- Spatial elastic and inelastic scattering,
- Raman Spectroscopy and imaging (especially in the extreme low-wavenumber region)
- Non-linear interactions
- Light-matter interactions
- Carbon Nanotubes and Graphene