NSEC Executive Committee Member
DM Rickey Professor of Optical Communication
Departments of Physics and Electrical Engineering
tfh3@columbia.edu
Heinz Webpage

Research Interests

Our research interests lie in understanding the dynamics of condensed matter systems, particularly in lower dimensional or atomic scale materials. Since the natural time scale for fundamental dynamical processes, whether it be the motion of electrons or of the nuclei, lies in the femtosecond time scale, one of the principal experimental tools that we employ in our investigations is the femtosecond modelocked nonlinear optics. This tool provides us both with a means of achieving extremely high time resolution (~ 10-13 s) and also permits us to achieve high optical intensities, thus allowing us to exploit the nonlinear optical response of materials in these investigations. We also make use of scanning tunneling microscope to access the atomic scale structure and electrical characteristics of materials. Our current research activities within the Columbia Nanocenter have primarily involved the investigation of the optical properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes. These studies give access to the electronically excited states of this fascinating one-dimensional material. Working in collaboration with other Nanocenter participants, we have developed methods for optically probing individual carbon nanotubes, a capability that permits us to link optical measurements to complementary structural and transport data of these nanoscale materials.

Selected Publications

• F. Wang, G. Dukovic, L. E. Brus, and T. F. Heinz, “Time-Resolved Fluorescence in Carbon Nanotubes and Its Implication for Radiative Lifetimes”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 177401/1-4 (2004).
• M. Y. Sfeir, F. Wang, L. Huang, C.-C. Chuang, J. Hone, S. P. O’Brien, T. F. Heinz, and L. E. Brus, “Probing Electronic Transitions in Individual Carbon Nanotubes by Rayleigh Scattering”, Science 306, 1540-1543 (2004).
• F. Wang, G. Dukovic, L. E. Brus, and T. F. Heinz, “The Optical Resonances in Carbon Nanotubes Arise from Excitons”, Science 308, 838-841 (2005).
• F. Wang, M. Y. Sfeir, L. Huang, X. M. H. Huang, Y. Wu, J. Kim, J. Hone, S. O’Brien, L. E. Brus, and T. F. Heinz, “Interactions between Individual Carbon Nanotubes Studied by Rayleigh Scattering Spectroscopy”, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 167401/1-4 (2006).
• M. Y. Sfeir, T. Beetz, F. Wang, L. Huang, X. M. H. Huang, M. Huang, J. Hone, S. P. O’Brien, J. A. Misewich, T. F. Heinz, L. Wu, Y. Zhu, and L. E. Brus, “Optical Spectroscopy of Individual Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes of Defined Chiral Structure”, Science 312, 554-556 (2006).