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OSC Colloquium: Alejandro Rodriguez
Date:
Thursday, March 4, 2021 - 3:30pm - 5:00pm
Event Video:
Link
Location:
Zoom Link to Attend - https://arizona.zoom.us/j/94012959093
Registration:
Open to campus and public.
Description:
Speaker:Alejandro Rodriguez
Topic: Physical Limits on Light Scattering: A Complement to Inverse Design
Visit our website for future lecture dates and speaker information: http://www.optics.arizona.edu/news-events/events/colloquium For a list of our archived lectures: http://www.optics.arizona.edu/news-events/events/colloquium/archive
Abstract(s):
Spurred by continued advances in computational methods, nanofabrication, and material
synthesis, development of general-purpose electromagnetic solvers have been principally
driven by the tantalizing possibility of accessing the full wave physics contained in Maxwell’s
equations. Such developments have in turn raised questions pertaining to the underlying
physical limitations of optical devices. Functioning as complements to large-scale
structural optimization or ``inverse design'', the study of fundamental limits on optical
processes has grown from a disparate collection of situation-specific and heuristic results into
sophisticated general-purpose optimization techniques aimed at understanding the interplay of
fundamental physics and optimal device performance. In this talk, we present an overview of
recent developments in this area and their applications to light scattering, light–matter
interactions, fluctuation phenomena, optical transformations, and communication.
Speaker Bio(s):
Alejandro Rodriguez is an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and the Director of
the Program in Materials Science and Engineering at Princeton University. He received
Bachelors and PhD degrees in Physics at MIT in 2006 and 2010, respectively, and was a
Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University. His research centers around nanophotonics, the
study of light in nanostructured media, where he has made contributions to the understanding
of quantum and thermal fluctuations, nonlinear optics, numerical methods, and asymptotics.
Alejandro was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the
National Science Foundation Early CAREER Award, the Society of Hispanic Professional
Engineers Young Investigator Award, and the Department of Energy Frederick A. Howes
Award in Computational Science. When he is not playing with photons, he can be found in a
superposition of dancing salsa, watching films, playing the piano, listening to Cuban music,
and playing strategy games.