Since 1997 I have been working in nonlinear optical materials research, under the direction of Dr. Chris Lawson.  I appreciate his faith in me to allow me to do a majority of theoretical work in a predominantly experimental lab, and his trust in me to let me work on my own ideas.  Soon after I began to familiarize myself with the field of nonlinear optics, I was amazed that the majority of work published in the field is just the reporting new measured data.  It then became a goal of mine to improve upon the tools available for the characterization of nonlinear optical materials.  After an introductory period in which I assisted in the measurement of the nonlinear optical response of a number of compounds using the standard characterization techniques (degenerate four-wave mixing, z-scan, nonlinear absorption), I began to write programs to simulate the response of a compound measured by each of the aforementioned techniques.  Using dynamic modeling, I can track the change in population of the excited states of a molecule and the corresponding change in transmission of the applied laser pulse as it moves through the material, and thus gain insight into which processes dictate the nonlinear optical response.  I have also had the benefit of working with Dr. Sergey Mirov, and am under his guidance building a high power ultrabroadband tunable laser that I will use to perform the above measurements at a wide range of wavelengths.  Further, over the past year have been attempting to establish a model to allow for the quantum chemical prediction of the molecular susceptibilities of a series of organometallic materials that contain transition metals.  This last task is something that many have said cannot currently be done – and that’s just my kind of challenge…

     I am very flexible and work well independently or as part of a team.  My research and training are cross-disciplinary, and I am comfortable and capable of working on just about anything.  I love a challenge and am an extremely hard and diligent worker.  I am a skilled teacher and am well versed in proposal writing.  My unique research background allows me to have an edge in the development of new photonic materials for optical switching, optical communications, optical lithography, and radiation therapy.  My experience in chemical and nonlinear dynamic simulation provides me with the ability to excel in the modeling of many biological, environmental, or chemical phenomena.

     If you are familiar with the basics of nonlinear optics, I suggest you proceed to one of the topics of my research listed on the left.  Otherwise, you might want to check out the ORIGINS OF NLO RESPONSE page for a short introduction to the fundamentals of nonlinear optical response.  Furthermore, a brief review of background for each of my research topics is provided in the appropriate section listed to the left.  You can also email me to request a pdf copy of my PhD disertation.