Research Interests:
My research focuses on optical properties of nanostructured materials. Advances in nanofabrication techniques now allow us to pattern materials on a scale smaller than the wavelength of light. I am interested in harnessing this capability to create novel nanophotonic devices for application areas including communications and sensing. In my work, I use theory and computational simulations to investigate novel optical behavior and device functionality in such systems as photonic crystals, metamaterials, and microresonators. I am also working on the fabrication and experimental characterization of photonic-crystal slab devices. Particular topics of interest include slow light in photonic crystals and optically-induced forces.
Biographical Information:
Michelle L. Povinelli received a BA with Honors in Physics from the University of Chicago, an M. Phil in Physics from the University of Cambridge, and a PhD in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She did postdoctoral work at Stanford University in the Ginzton Laboratory and the Department of Electrical Engineering. She was awarded several graduate fellowships for her doctoral work, including the Lucent Technologies GRPW Fellowship, the NSF Graduate Fellowship, the MIT Karl Taylor Compton Fellowship, and the Churchill Fellowship. In 2006, she was selected as one of five national recipients of a $20,000 L'Oréal For Women in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship grant. She has co-authored more than twenty refereed journal articles and co-invented three US Patents.
