In this review, we examine nanophotonic techniques for enhancing and detecting chirality, with a focus on plasmon-enhanced, tip-enhanced, chiral optical cavities, and photothermal approaches. These methods, which are based on light-matter interactions, provide high sensitivity with challenges in identifying their mechanisms. We discuss recent biomedical applications, emphasizing the potential of nanophotonics in enabling cost-effective and rapid diagnosis with improved chiral signal detection. The review highlights the future potential of chiral nanophotonics in biomedical applications.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s44310-024-00045-2

Yang presented an invited talk on our recent research, “Probing Nanoscale Chirality Using Decoupled Optical Force Nanoscopy,” at the MRS Fall meeting in Boston. It was an incredible event! A big thank you to the EL 08 organizers for the invitation and opportunity to share our work.

Yang delivered an invited talk on ‘Probing Nanoscale Chirality Using Decoupled Optical Force Nanoscopy’ at SPIE Optics and Photonics 2024 in San Diego! Thank you to the organizers of the Enhanced Spectroscopies and Nanoimaging session for the kind invitation!

Yang delivered an invited talk on ‘Nanoscale Extended Chirality Density Enhanced by Plasmonic Nanoresonator’ at META 2024 in the beautiful city of Toyama, Japan! Grateful for the opportunity to connect with leading researchers in metamaterials, plasmonics, and nanophotonics. A heartfelt thank you to the organizers for making this experience unforgettable!

I am thrilled to announce that my students have excelled in securing prestigious fellowships and awards!

• Henry (Hanwei) Wang has been honored with the Paul D. Coleman Outstanding Research Award;
• Shensheng Zhao has been awarded the Elsa and Floyd Dunn Award;
• Xiaodong Ye is the recipient of both the Promise of Excellence Fellowship and the Tadao Murata Graduate Fellowship;
• Binh Minh Nguyen has received the John and Sheila Woythal Scholarship and the Edward C. Jordan Award;
• David Song has been awarded the Frank C. Mock Scholarship;
• Jiho Choi has received the Russell E. Berthold Scholarship;
• Akshat Mehrotra has been honored with the Samsung Technology Track Scholarships;

Congratulations to all the award winners on their remarkable achievements!

Yang receives the 2023-2024 Dean’s Award for Early Innovation – Assistant Professor! This award recognizes exceptional individuals who are working at the early stages of the innovation life cycle to turn their research into products that benefit the world.

Yang receives the 2023-2024 Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research – Assistant Professor! This award recognizes outstanding research during the past year and is presented annually by the Grainger College of Engineering.

Yang delivered an invited talk at the esteemed Photothermal Microscopy and Spectroscopy Webinar series. to Subhasis Adhikari, Andrea Kramer, Frank Cichos, and Michel Orrit for extending this invitation and for their exceptional work in organizing this insightful seminar series.

Check out the “Photothermal Microscopy and Spectroscopy Webinar” organized by the University of Leipzig, Germany, and the University of Leiden, the Netherlands. There are many interesting talks!

Yang presented an invited talk on our recent research on “Nanophotonic Force Nanoscopy for Ultrafast Dynamic Imaging of Nanostructures”. Thank you to the EL 08 organizers for the invitation!

I am thrilled to announce the publication of our latest paper, ‘Visualizing ultrafast photothermal dynamics with decoupled optical force nanoscopy‘, in Nature Communications! A big shout-out and congratulations to all the authors, and heartfelt thanks to Prof. Catherine Murphy’s and Prof. Yun-Sheng Chen’s teams for their amazing collaboration in making this happen.

See the press release here: https://bit.ly/3GC8OGW

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/BeckmanInst/status/1734622771831832951

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@beckmaninstitute/post/C0wtLWLrhZr

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/beckman-institute-at-illinois_illuminating-the-nanoscale-the-forceful-activity-7140390472174161920-0839?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

Our paper is highlighted by March issue of Advanced Materials & Processes magazine: https://static.asminternational.org/amp/202403/12/