Meet the Experts / ICMAB-CSIC
Nanophotonic structures to improve optoelectronic devices
Optoelectronic devices can detect, generate, interact with, or control light. They are widely used in various applications that range from monitoring to chemical-biological analysis, communication, health care or energy harvesting. Improving their efficiency in absorbing and emitting light is a crucial feature to enhance their performance – and that’s what the Nanophotonics group at ICMAB-CSIC is working on.
“We mainly work in photonics,” comments Agustín Mihi, CSIC research professor and leader of the group, “That is, we produce nanostructures that interact with light in different ways so they can be used to improve processes such as light absorption or light emission.” The group investigates the production of nanophotonic architectures using unconventional materials and employing scalable processes so they can be easily integrated into many device configurations.
“In ICONIC, we are exploiting our capability to produce nanostructures to develop electrodes with different catalytic functionalities, something new and exciting for us.” He adds, “We are stepping out of our comfort zone and exploring the potential of our technique in the field of CO2 reduction with an incredible group of experts.”
A typical day of the group often begins in the chemistry lab, where they use a set of techniques, known as soft lithography, to fabricate nanostructures. From there, the team moves to the optics lab to characterize these structures—measuring properties like reflectivity, transmittance, photoluminescence, and absorption. The team then compares the experimental results with the simulated optical responses to evaluate the quality and accuracy of the samples. Once validated, they integrate those structures into the intended application. It’s a hands-on, iterative process that keeps the team constantly learning and refining.
Agustín says that working with ICONIC partners has significantly enriched their experience. “We are learning a great deal from their expertise and collaborative approach”, he reflects. “We’ve gained a deeper understanding of the real-world challenges in this field—particularly the difficulty of developing high-performance catalysts using earth-abundant materials— and the insights shared by partners have helped us align our research with practical applications and sustainability goals, making our work both more relevant and impactful.”
And what do they do when they’re not working? He has it clear, “We enjoy movies and TV shows, reading novels – especially sci-fi and horror -, and we believe that pizza is usually the best remedy to most problems!”
