Tom Driscoll

Research

Metamaterials

My research involves investigation of the electromagnetic properties of metamaterials.  These structured ‘artificial’ materials can poses novel properties not found in nature.  Indeed the electromagnetic response of metamaterials can be tailored to nearly any form the imagination likes.  Such tailored responses have allowed us to create new and exciting devices, such as sub-wavelength imaging, diffraction-free lenses, and even invisibility cloaks.

I work primarily with the group of Prof. Dimitri Basov at UCSD.  I also collaborate with the groups of David Smith and Nan Marie Jokerst at Duke, Tony Starr at Sensormetrix, inc, Sia Nemat-Nasser at UCSD.

Detailed areas of investigation include:

· Tunable metamaterial device architectures, reconfigurable metamaterial optics

· Metamaterial mass/bio-sensor theory and devices.

· Metamaterial-enhanced photonic detectors for mm-wave / THz.

· X-band metamaterial optics/radar/antennae devices.

Memristive systems

I have research the behavior of a group of passive non-linear electronic devices known as memory-circuit-elements.  The most well known of these devices is referred to as the memristor, short for memory-resistor.  This research is guided by Massimiliano Di Ventra, a theorist in our department.  Interest in memristors has risen quickly with evidence suggesting that they behave as fundamental neuromorphic circuit elements.  Our group is involved in several areas of memristive research, including:

· Identification of materials with memristive properties

· Evaluation of applications for memristive systems such as neuromorphic circuits and adaptive filters

· Investigation of memory-capacitance and memory-inductance effects, and how they arise from nano-scale phenomena.