Applications of Ultrafast & Nonlinear Spectroscopy : From 2D materials to mimicking neuro-functioning

The Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit at the newly established Okinawa Inst. of Science and Technology (OIST) studies the applications of ultrafast and nonlinear spectroscopy in a variety of phenomena ranging from opto-electronic properties of two-dimensional materials to mimicking neurotransmitter dynamics of the brain. In this talk, I will present the experimental facilities in femtosecond spectroscopy developed by us at OIST over the past two years. I will then present a broad overview of our recent studies in (i) opto-electronic properties of novel two-dimensional materials, (ii) selection rules and optical manipulation of the magnetic properties of graphene quantum dots, and (iii) mimicking neurotransmitter dynamics of the brain using femtosecond pulses.