Naomi Halas facts for kids

Naomi J. Halas is a leading scientist and professor at Rice University. She teaches electrical and computer engineering, biomedical engineering, chemistry, and physics. She is also the director of the Laboratory for Nanophotonics at Rice.

Professor Halas is famous for inventing special tiny particles called nanoparticles. These particles can control light in unique ways. This field of study is known as nanophotonics and plasmonics. She has won many awards for her important discoveries. Earlier in her career, in 1987, she also helped create the first "dark pulse" soliton while working at IBM.

She is a member of nine important science groups. These include Optica, the American Physical Society, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In 2014, she became a member of the National Academy of Engineering. This was for her work in designing tiny optical devices.

Her current research at Rice University looks at how light interacts with plasmonic nanoparticles. This research helps in areas like chemical sensing, biomedical sciences, and energy.

Education and Early Research

Naomi Halas earned her first degree from La Salle University in 1980. She then received her master's degree in 1984 and her doctorate in 1987 from Bryn Mawr College.

During her doctoral studies, she was a research fellow at the IBM Thomas J Watson Research Center. There, she helped develop the first "dark pulse" soliton. Imagine a light wave that travels without spreading out; a "dark pulse" is like a short break in that light wave. She also worked on early research using terahertz spectroscopy, a way to study materials with special light waves.

Career at Rice University

After her studies, Professor Halas worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories. In 1990, she joined Rice University. She now leads a research group focused on nanoengineering.

She became a full professor in electrical and computer engineering and chemistry in 1999. A few years later, she was named the Stanley C. Moore Professor. In 2004, she became the director of the Laboratory for Nanophotonics at Rice. She also became a professor in biomedical engineering in 2006 and physics in 2009.

Plasmonic Nanoshells

Much of Professor Halas's work focuses on tiny particles called noble metal nanoshells. These are like tiny balls with a core made of one material and a shell of metal. Her research was the first to show that the size and shape of these nanoshells change how they interact with light. This means scientists can "tune" how these particles behave by changing their design.

Controlling how light interacts with these plasmonic nanoparticles has many uses. It can help with chemical sensing, making new materials (called catalysis), and collecting energy. It also has uses in medicine, like photodynamic therapy for treating diseases.

In 2003, Halas and her colleague Jennifer L. West won an award for their work on a new cancer treatment. This treatment uses metallic nanoshells. Professor Halas also received a grant from the US Department of Defense to continue her research into this treatment.

Other Research Areas

Her research also explores how to combine plasmonic particles with other light-based systems. Her group works with the Energy Frontier Research Center to improve how semiconductor quantum dots and nanocrystals collect energy. They also use special techniques like Raman spectroscopy to detect single molecules.

Awards and Honors

Naomi Halas has received many important awards for her scientific work. Some of these include:

• 2024 C.E.K. Mees Medal
• 2018 Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize
• 2017 Willis E. Lamb Award
• 2017 Weizmann Women and Science Award
• 2015 R. W. Wood Prize, Optica
• 2014 SPIE Biophotonics Technology Innovator Award
• 2014 Frank Isakson Prize for Optical Effects in Solids, American Physical Society
• 2012 Doctor of Science honoris causa, University of Victoria, Canada
• 2003 Nanotechnology Now Best Discovery Award

She has been elected to several prestigious academies. These include the National Academy of Sciences (2013), the National Academy of Engineering (2014), and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2009). She is also a fellow of many professional societies, like the American Physical Society (2001) and SPIE (2007).

Selected Publications