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Physics Department Directory

Vanessa Sih

Assistant Professor

Office: 4420 Randall
Email: vsih@umich.edu
Phone: 763-7906

Additional Information:
Lab: 1277 Randall (763-5749)

Education: California Institute of Technology B.S. 2001; University of California, Santa Barbara M.A. 2004; University of California, Santa Barbara Ph.D. 2006.

Research Field: Experimental Condensed Matter Physics

Research Focus: electron spins in semiconductors and nanophotonics

Professor Sih is investigating electron spins and photons in semiconductor nanostructures for potential applications in spin-based devices that combine logic and storage and for quantum and optical information processing in solid-state systems. Ultrafast, spatially-resolved magneto-optical spectroscopy explores electron spin coherence and electrically generating spin polarization in non-magnetic materials through spin-orbit coupling and the spin Hall effect. Fabrication and optical characterization of prototype photonic devices, such as waveguides, ring resonators and photonic crystals, focuses on developing novel methods for controlling light.


Selected Publications

Enhanced Light Emission in Photonic Crystal Nanocavities with Erbium-Doped Silicon Nanocrystals, (M. Makarova, V. Sih, J. Warga, R. Li, L. Dal Negro and J. Vuckovic), Applied Physics Letters 92, 161107 (2008)

A Cascaded Silicon Raman Laser, (H. Rong, S. Xu, O. Cohen, O. Raday, M. Lee, V. Sih and M. Paniccia), Nature Photonics 2, 170-174 (2008)

Raman Amplification of 40 Gb/s Data in Low-loss Silicon Waveguides, (V. Sih, S. Xu, Y.-H. Kuo, H. Rong, M. Paniccia, O. Cohen and O. Raday), Optics Express 15, 357-362 (2007)

Electrical Manipulation of Spin-Orbit Coupling in Semiconductor Heterostructures, (V. Sih and D. D. Awschalom), Journal of Applied Physics 101, 081710 (2007)

Generating Spin Currents in Semiconductors with the Spin Hall Effect, (V. Sih, W. H. Lau, R. C. Myers, V. R. Horowitz, A. C. Gossard and D. D. Awschalom), Physical Review Letters 97, 096605 (2006)

Spatial Imaging of the Spin Hall Effect and Current-Induced Spin Polarization in Two-Dimensional Electron Gases, (V. Sih, R. C. Myers, Y. K. Kato, W. H. Lau, A. C. Gossard and D. D. Awschalom), Nature Physics 1, 31-35 (2005)