Our Program
Our group is international recognized for the development of advanced ultra-high intensity solid state lasers that are used as drivers of table-top X-Ray and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lasers, and for their applications of these lasers to imaging, patterning, and probing of chemical composition at the nanoscale.
We also investigate the interaction of ultra-high intensity laser beams with matter using one of the world’s most intense lasers, developed in-house. Research on this area encompasses the creation and study of relativistic laser-matter interactions leading to ultra-high energy density plasmas that produce matter at extreme conditions such as encountered in stars, leading to the production of intense bursts of x-rays and fusion neutrons, and the study of physical processes that affect material damage in interference coatings for ultra-high intensity lasers. Our team is part of LaserNet US, a network of the most as the most powerful lasers in the US funded by the US Department of Energy.
We also have an effort on the physics, optical and material science of ultrathin amorphous oxides and their multilayers. In particular we are investigating how to control elastic energy dissipation, which is present in multilayer coatings based on these materials that are used in ultra-high sensitivity gravitational wave detectors. This work is part of the NSF LIGO international collaboration ((Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory Scientific Collaboration). Other applications of the these materials is in the engineering of multilayer coatings for ultra-high intensity near infrared lasers, in which, the coatings limit the scaling of these powerful lasers.
Our research is highly interdisciplinary, covering ultrashort pulse laser physics and engineering, optical thin film materials for lasers, and laser material interactions.
Our research pushes the boundaries of discovery offering unique opportunities to gain experience in the most advanced concepts in high intensity laser research, beyond state-of-the-art interference coatings and the study of laser-matter interactions. Check the research pages for more information.
Graduate and undergraduate students and young professionals working on these projects are trained with broad skills that make them attractive to industry, national labs and academe.
Our group has job opportunities available for research scientists, post-doctoral students and graduate and undergraduate students. More details at the Employment and Internship Opportunities page.
