Prof. Dr. Francisco Javier AIZPURUAH-Index: 85
Donostia International Physics Center & University of the Basque Country, San Sebastián, Spain, EU
Positions: Ikerbasque Professor at Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Spain, and a distinguished researcher at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in San Sebastian, where he leads the Theory of Nanophotonics Group
Specialization: Nanophotonics; Quantum Plasmonics
At the NANOCON´25 conference Javier Aizpurua will open the NANOCON´25 conference by his plenary talk “Addressing field-enhanced molecular spectroscopy in extreme nanocavities”.
Personal Background and Education:
Javier Aizpurua achieved his Ph.D. at the University of the Basque Country on the theory of Plasmon excitation by fast electron beams. He developed two postdoctoral positions, one at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden, and another one at the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, USA, where he developed key concepts on Plasmonics and Optical Nanoantennas.
In 2004 he joined the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) as a Fellow researcher where he established the group of "Theory of Nanophotonics". In 2008 he became a senior researcher of CSIC where he continues leading his group until nowadays. After postdoctoral positions in Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden) and at NIST (US), in 2004 Javier Aizpurua returned to the Basque Country as a Gipuzkoa Fellow at DIPC. Since 2008, he established his research group at the Center for Materials Physics in San Sebastian, as a CSIC Research Professor.
Javier Aizpurua is currently coordinating the “Basque Quantum” (BasQ) initiative of the Basque Government to develop quantum technologies in the Basque Country.
Research interests:
The research group of Javier Aizpurua devotes its efforts to the study of the interaction of light and nanostructures, with special emphasis on quantum effects in the optical response of molecular emitters in nanoantennas. The group studies the excitation of localized surface plasmons in metallic particles induced by a variety of external probes, including light. Among others he has developed theory to understand the excitation of surface plasmons in Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM), in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM), in Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS), in Surface-Enhanced Infrared Absorption (SEIRA), or in Scattering-type Near-field Optical Microscopy (s-SNOM), among others.
In the last years, Aizpurua has combined the treatment of the optical response based on classical Electrodynamics with full quantum-mechanical approaches based on Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory (TDDFT), setting a conceptual framework to understand many optoelectronic processes at the atomic scale. Novel aspects of nanooptics such as Quantum effects in Plasmonics, nonlinear optical response, nonlocalities, or coupling with single emitters, in collaboration with some of the best theoretical and experimental groups all over the world (e.g., as those in Cambridge and Southampton (UK), Orsay (France), Heidelberg (Germany), Washignton DC and Houston (USA), or Beijing and Hefei (China).
Summary of publication activity:
Author and co-author of more than 200 publications in international peer-reviewed journals; the number of total citations >38.000 and H-index: 85 (Google Scholar, January 2025); ORCID ID 