The Carsten Rockstuhl Lab

Carsten Rockstuhl’s lab works at the intersection of nanophotonics, theoretical optics, and computational electromagnetism, with a strong emphasis on how light interacts with structured matter across scales. The group develops and applies T-matrix and multiple-scattering methods to model metasurfaces, nanoparticles, photonic cavities, waveguides, and related nanostructures, often aiming for fast, physically interpretable simulation tools that support inverse design and data-driven research. A major theme is engineering resonant and chiral light–matter interactions, including bound states in the continuum, strong coupling, nonlinear optical effects such as second-harmonic generation, and chiral cavities for controlling circular polarization. The lab also studies electron-beam spectroscopy, polaritonic systems, optical coherence tomography, and inverse-designed photonic devices, while connecting theory to experiments in nanoprinting and nanofabrication. Students can expect to work on analytical modeling, numerical simulation, optimization, and open-source scientific software, with applications in photonics, sensing, optical information processing, and advanced nanomanufacturing.