Extreme electromagnetics: analog computation, topological protection, and nonreciprocity

Abstract: Electromagnetic systems are characterized by increasing demands in terms of speed, size, and power efficiency. These demands can hardly be achieved with conventional technology and have spurred interest in investigating novel and unconventional physical paradigms, such as time modulation and topological effects. In this talk I will present electromagnetic devices based on such paradigms for applications in analog computation, topological oscillation protection, and nonreciprocity. I will discuss how signal processing principles can be applied to electromagnetics and enable the design of devices that can perform advanced operations, like image compression, exclusively in the analog domain. I will show how recent breakthroughs in topological insulators can find their way into the development of novel types of microwave oscillators with robustness against disorder. Specifically, I will discuss how the unidirectional and topologically protected modes of topological metamaterials are ideal for the synchronization of oscillators and can be used for the design of arrays of oscillators over large areas without the need of buffers. Finally, I will present advances in nonreciprocal time modulated devices for full-duplex systems without the need of magnetic materials. I will conclude my talk with an outlook on the next steps in these directions and a vision for the incorporation of such devices into practical systems.

Bio: Dimitrios Sounas is an Assistant Professor at the ECE Department at Wayne State University. He has received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, in 2009. From 2010-2018 he has been a postdoctoral fellow and a research scientist at Polytechnique Montreal and the University of Texas at Austin.

He has made major contributions in magnetless nonreciprocal devices with applications in full-duplex systems and radars. He has contributed to the founding of Silicon Audio RF Circulator, Austin, TX, USA, specializing in the design of angular-momentum circulators for RF and acoustical systems. He has authored or co-authored over 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals, including Science and various Nature journals. He has more than 150 conference abstracts, 6 patents, and more than 8,000 citations. His current research focuses on time-modulated and topological metamaterials, optical signal processing, and inverse design, and is funded by the Department of Defense.

Dimitrios Sounas is a Senior Member of IEEE and the recipient of the 2020 EurAAP Leopold B. Felsen Award for Excellence in Electrodynamics. He has chaired and organized various sessions in international symposia. He is an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation and a reviewer for more than 20 engineering and physics journals.