June Luncheon Meeting (Goleta) 6/14/17

Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at 12:00 PM — 01:30 PM
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Terahertz-Frequency Electro-Optics: Colliding Quasiparticles a Trillion Times per Second

The Terahertz frequency range lies at the heart of the electromagnetic spectrum used by the human race, at the interface between the traditional domains of electronics and optics. UCSB's Free-Electron Lasers (FELs) are the world's brightest sources of tunable THz radiation. Dr. Sherwin will discuss recent experiments that use these FELs to accelerate and collide quasiparticles--electrons and holes in semiconductors created by a weak near-infrared laser-one trillion times per second.

The result of these collisions is a comb-like spectrum of near-IR light that can contain more than 100 teeth, can be used to explore exotic quantum properties of semiconductors, and is promising for applications ranging from ultra-precise optical clocks to ultra-compact gas sensors.
June Luncheon Meeting (Goleta) 6/14/17

Mark Sherwin received his Bachelor's degree in Physics from Harvard in 1981, and his Ph.D. in Physics from UC Berkeley in 1988. Just after receiving his Ph.D., he joined the faculty at UCSB's Physics Department, where he is currently Professor of Physics and Director of the Institute for Terahertz Science and Technology. He has more than 150 publications, 2 patents, and one patent pending, and has directed research leading to more than 20 Ph.D. theses. His current research interests include condensed matter physics, biological physics, the development of new detectors for THz frequencies, and transferring discoveries made using the UCSB FELs to rapidly-evolving compact sources of THz radiation.

Location

High Sierra Grill in Goleta