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Andrea Alù Named Blavatnik National Awards Laureate for Nano-Optics, Materials Advancements

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NEW YORK, July 23, 2021 — Andrea Alù, founding director of the Photonics Initiative at the Advanced Science Research Center at The City University of New York (CUNY ASRC), and Einstein Professor of Physics at CUNY's Graduate Center, was named the 2021 Blavatnik National Awards Laureate in Physical Sciences and Engineering.

The Blavatnik National Awards, presented annually by the Blavatnik Family Foundation and administered by the New York Academy of Sciences, honor early-career scientists and engineers who have made trailblazing discoveries in their fields. Alù, along with two other laureates, was selected from 298 nominations by 157 institutions across the U.S. Each laureate will receive $250,000, the world's largest unrestricted prize for early-career scientists and engineers.

Professor Andrea Alù. Courtesy of CUNY.
Professor Andrea Alù. Courtesy of CUNY.
The award recognizes Alù's research discoveries in materials science, physics, and engineering, which have led to advancements in electromagnetics, nano-optics, and acoustics. His efforts are leading to new and enhanced technologies with potential applications in cellular communications, energy harvesting, radar cloaking, noninvasive therapeutics, and more. Alù's work has received major support from numerous funders, including a $3 million Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, the most prestigious single-investigator award from the U.S. Department of Defense; a $3.2 million grant from DARPA; and a Simons Collaboration in Mathematics and the Physical Sciences grant of up to $16 million. He has been recognized as a finalist for the Blavatnik National Awards every year since 2016.

In the June issue of Physical Review X, Alù and his group discuss how it is possible to create metasurfaces by controlling thermal radiation and photoluminescence rather than coherent external light (www.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.11.021050).

Published: July 2021
Glossary
photoluminescence
Photoluminescence is a phenomenon in which a material absorbs photons (light) at one wavelength and then re-emits photons at a longer wavelength. This process occurs when electrons in the material are excited to higher energy states by absorbing photons and subsequently return to lower energy states, emitting photons in the process. The emitted photons have less energy and longer wavelengths than the absorbed photons. Photoluminescence can be broadly categorized into two types: ...
optoelectronics
Optoelectronics is a branch of electronics that focuses on the study and application of devices and systems that use light and its interactions with different materials. The term "optoelectronics" is a combination of "optics" and "electronics," reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of this field. Optoelectronic devices convert electrical signals into optical signals or vice versa, making them crucial in various technologies. Some key components and applications of optoelectronics include: ...
integrated photonics
Integrated photonics is a field of study and technology that involves the integration of optical components, such as lasers, modulators, detectors, and waveguides, on a single chip or substrate. The goal of integrated photonics is to miniaturize and consolidate optical elements in a manner similar to the integration of electronic components on a microchip in traditional integrated circuits. Key aspects of integrated photonics include: Miniaturization: Integrated photonics aims to...
CUNYBlavatnik National Awardsnano-opticsMaterialsawardphotoluminescenceoptoelectronicsoptoacousticsBusinesseducationAmericasthermovoltaicsintegrated photonics

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