Nikos Papanikolaou, is director of research at the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, NCSR “Demokritos”, Athens, Greece. He received his B.Sc. in Physics in 1991 from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and his Ph.D. in 1996 from the same university. He worked as post-doctoral scientist in the Institut für Festkörperphysik, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany during 1997, and 1999-2000, and the University of Halle, Germany, during 2001-2002. He continued as a research fellow at the Institute of Materials Science in NCSR “Demokritos”, Athens, Greece (2002-2003) where he became

a staff member in 2003. His field of research is photonics and theoretical nanotechnology, and has a broad background in modeling material properties using ab-initio electronic structure methods for solids, semiconductors and metals, including electronic transport and magnetic properties. He is the coauthor of more than 115 publications in scientific journals and has several presentations in national and international conferences. 

The group is currently working on both theoretical description and modeling of visible and near infrared light propagation in complex media, but also on the characterization of metasurfaces, and photonic integrated devices. More recently we have started work on optical sensors, fabricated in the nanofabrication facilities at INN. 

Our theoretical studies focus on plasmonic and dielectric metasurfaces, and their use in wavefront manipulation. Moreover we investigate elastic and spin waves in complex periodic media and their interaction with light. Simultaneous localization of different waves in resonant cavities is one of the strategies to facilitate the control of light and open the way for novel devices and systems. Optomagnonic coupling where light is controlled by spin waves, and optomechanical interaction in photonic-phononic, so called phoXonic, cavities are particular examples. Light propagation in dynamically time-varying environments is also of interest.

Additionally we are developing optical sensor concepts based on nanostructured surfaces. Surface enhanced Raman Scattering templates, and gradient-thickness dielectric substrates, or metallic gratings are some examples, while integrated photonic devices using a silicon nitride platform are considered as well.