Ventsislav Valev

I am a Research Fellow of the Royal Society and a Reader. Prior to that, I was a Research Fellow in the Cavendish Laboratory, at the University of Cambridge, where I was associated with Homerton College.

My research focuses on the interaction between powerful laser light and nanostructured materials. Powerful lasers constitute highly sensitive probes for material properties at the nanoscale, especially through nonlinear optical effect, such as Second Harmonic Generation (SHG). I seeks to apply SHG to chiral plasmonic nano/meta-materials in order to achieve enhanced chiroptical effects. The latter could enable the manufacturing of healthier and safer pharmaceuticals.

Research interests:
Chirality, Plasmonics, Second Harmonic Generation, Metamaterials, Nanophotonics