Superlattices of nanoparticles and molecules are artificial materials with long-range crystalline
order. In contrast to natural crystals that are made of atoms superlattices are made of
nanometer sized building blocks. There has been a long interest in creating and engineering
collective in such superlattices with mixed results for collective vibrations and low-energy
electronic excitations. In this talk I show that the optical excitations of nanomaterials are well
suited to create collective superlattice states, because the interaction between the transition
dipole moments is comparatively long range in nature. We experimentally realized diverse types
of artificial superlattices, e.g., one-dimensional chains of molecules inside nanotubes, self-
assembled lattices of organic molecules on two-dimensional, and three-dimensional
supercrystals made of gold nanoparticles. Optical absorption and light emission become
dominated by delocalized states that extend over tens and thousands of nanostructures. These
collective excitations gives rise to superluminescence, polaritons, and ultrastrong light-matter
coupling that manifest in the far- and near-field optical spectra.
Stephanie Reich is Professor for Experimental Solid State Physics at the Freie Universität Berlin.
Her group works on developing novel nanomaterials to tailor optical properties and light-matter
coupling. She obtained her PhD in 2001 at the Technische Universität in Berlin and worked as a
PostDoc in Barcelona, Spain, and Cambridge, UK. Stephanie became an Assistant Professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology before she took up her current position in Berlin. She is
particularly interested in low-dimensional materials like carbon nanotubes, two-dimensional
materials, and plasmonic nanostructures. Recently, she focused on strong and ultrastrong light-
matter coupling in systems ranging from transition metal dichalcogenides to molecular
monolayers and nanoparticle superlattices. Stephanie published over 200 papers and won
several awards including two grants by the European Research Council ERC. She served as Dean
of the Department of Physics and is the Chair of the Focus Area NanoScale at Freie Universität
Berlin. She has been organizing the well-known Kirchberg Winterschool on Novel Materials for
more than ten years.
Superlattices of nanoparticles and molecules are artificial materials with long-range crystalline
order. In contrast to natural crystals that are made of atoms superlattices are made of
nanometer sized building blocks. There has been a long interest in creating and engineering
collective in such superlattices with mixed results for collective vibrations and low-energy
electronic excitations. In this talk I show that the optical excitations of nanomaterials are well
suited to create collective superlattice states, because the interaction between the transition
dipole moments is comparatively long range in nature. We experimentally realized diverse types
of artificial superlattices, e.g., one-dimensional chains of molecules inside nanotubes, self-
assembled lattices of organic molecules on two-dimensional, and three-dimensional
supercrystals made of gold nanoparticles. Optical absorption and light emission become
dominated by delocalized states that extend over tens and thousands of nanostructures. These
collective excitations gives rise to superluminescence, polaritons, and ultrastrong light-matter
coupling that manifest in the far- and near-field optical spectra.
Stephanie Reich is Professor for Experimental Solid State Physics at the Freie Universität Berlin.
Her group works on developing novel nanomaterials to tailor optical properties and light-matter
coupling. She obtained her PhD in 2001 at the Technische Universität in Berlin and worked as a
PostDoc in Barcelona, Spain, and Cambridge, UK. Stephanie became an Assistant Professor at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology before she took up her current position in Berlin. She is
particularly interested in low-dimensional materials like carbon nanotubes, two-dimensional
materials, and plasmonic nanostructures. Recently, she focused on strong and ultrastrong light-
matter coupling in systems ranging from transition metal dichalcogenides to molecular
monolayers and nanoparticle superlattices. Stephanie published over 200 papers and won
several awards including two grants by the European Research Council ERC. She served as Dean
of the Department of Physics and is the Chair of the Focus Area NanoScale at Freie Universität
Berlin. She has been organizing the well-known Kirchberg Winterschool on Novel Materials for
more than ten years.
