Willem Vos elected Fellow of the American Physical Society
Willem Vos, professor in Complex Photonic Systems (COPS) at the University of Twente and FOM workgroup leader, has been elected Fellow of the American Physical Society. Fellowship is a distinct honor signifying recognition by one's peers. Willem has been elected for his research on the behavior of light in photonic crystals and opaque nanomaterials.
Each year, the American Physical Society (APS) - the leading physics society with about 50,000 members worldwide - elects at most half a percent of its members as Fellow. Candidates are being nominated from diverse research fields for their exceptional contributions to the physics enterprise; e.g., outstanding physics research, important applications of physics, leadership in or service to physics, or significant contributions to physics education.
Willem Vos has been elected for his research on the behavior of light in man-made nanomaterials, notably photonic crystals. Such crystals are being considered as semiconductors for light, on account of their 'photonic band gap', in other words a forbidden energy band. Using such a gap, the emission of light by an excited atom, molecule or quantum dot is fundamentally manipulated. A second class of nanomaterials have a completely random structure, such as paint, foam, or biological tissue. These media are completely opaque since light is scattered many times. Vos’ team has recently even succeeded in realizing 'see-through' optics: viewing an object through a completely opaque screen. The research is already leading to efficient white lighting, and to imaging methods for biomedical applications. It is expected that the results may also lead to ultrafast data manipulation, possibly even down to the quantum level of individual photons.
Willem Vos is an alumnus of the University of Amsterdam, and the Carnegie Institution of Science. Two years ago, Vos has already been elected Fellow of the Optical Society (OSA). In the past he was also group leader at the FOM Institute AMOLF in Amsterdam.
More information
About APS: www.aps.org
About the group of Willem Vos: www.photonicbandgaps.com