Presentations

    Laser-assisted internal and surface microstructuring of materials, at Army Research Office Workshop on Relativistic and Sub-Relativistic Intensity: Physics and Applications, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI), Sunday, September 29, 2002:
    The study of laser-induced damage and breakdown of materials is nearly as old as the laser itself. Ranging from investigation of the interaction of lasers with materials to avoid damage to purposefully using the laser as a precise tool to impart damage. This talk presents the research ongoing in our laboratory towards fundamental understanding of damage mechanisms and novel applications of microstructuring processes using femtosecond laser pulses. Three experiments are presented: the use of femtosecond laser pulses in the processing of transparent materials such as glass or diamond, pump-... Read more about Laser-assisted internal and surface microstructuring of materials
    Femtosecond laser-assisted microstructuring of silicon surfaces for novel detector, sensing, and display technologies, at Physics Colloquium, University of Massachusetts Lowell (Lowell, MA), Wednesday, March 10, 2004:
    Irridiating silicon surfaces with trains of ultrashort laser pulses in the presence of a sulfur containing gas drastically changes the structure and properties of silicon. The normally smooth and highly reflective surface develops a forest of sharp microscopic spikes. The microstructured surface is highly absorbing even at wavelengths beyond the bandgap of silicon and has many interesting novel applications.
    High sensitivity silicon-based VIS/NIR photodetectors, at CLEO 2004 (San Francisco, CA), Thursday, May 20, 2004:
    We fabricate silicon-based photodiodes using a simple femtosecond-laser microstructuring technique. The detectors are ten times more sensitive than commercial silicon PIN photodiodes at visible wavelengths and can be used at wavelengths up to 1650 nm.
    Femtosecond-laser micromachining of silicon for novel optoelectronic devices, at 2005 SPIE Photonics West Conference (San Jose, CA), Tuesday, January 25, 2005:
    Silicon is the most commonly used semiconductor in micro- and optoelectronics. However, silicon is not the best material for all applications: as an indirect band-gap material, it is a poor light emitter; silicon cannot be used to detect many important communications wavelengths; and silicon solar cells fail to convert nearly a third of the suns’ spectrum into electricity. The low cost and large manufacturing infrastructure drives research to alter the properties of silicon rather than rely on more exotic semiconductor materials. We present a novel technique that uses the intense conditions... Read more about Femtosecond-laser micromachining of silicon for novel optoelectronic devices