Topic, "Sharpening the focus of laser beams"

Hi. This month, Dr. Stephen Kuebler returns to Cafe Sci at 7PM on Wednesday 6 October, at Taste, in College Park.

Dr Kuebler is concerned about using lasers to etch incredibly small designs, for use in imaging, nano-fabrication, and optical data storage. He will introduce mathematical techniques that can be used to design optics that improve the focus of a laser beam. The challenge is that many targeted 2D and 3D distributions of the focused beam are not themselves "solutions to the wave equation" -- which means that they cannot be achieved in practice. However, one can find solutions that come closest to satisfying the constraints associated with the targeted distribution, even though not all can be satisfied simultaneously. The talk will illustrate how math, optics, and chemistry can be combined to solve problems in nano-scale interdisciplinary research.

Stephen M. Kuebler joined the faculty at the University of Central Florida in August of 2003 as an Assistant Professor through a joint appointment with the Department of Chemistry and CREOL. Kuebler earned a BS degree in chemistry and a BA degree in German from Tulane University. He was awarded a Marshall Fellowship and a National Science Foundation Fellowship to pursue graduate research in chemistry at the University of Oxford. There he earned the DPhil degree for his studies of the third-order nonlinear optical properties of molecular materials with Professors Robert G. Denning and Malcolm L. H. Green. Before joining UCF, Kuebler worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Caltech and later at the University of Arizona, with Professors Joseph W. Perry and Seth R. Marder, investigating the photophysics, photochemistry, and applications of two-photon absorbers. In 2008 he was awarded an NSF CAREER Award and promoted to Associate Professor. His broader interests include the physical and chemical properties of optical and electronic materials and their development for new technologies.

Directions

Taste
717 W. Smith Street
Orlando, United States
32804

Taste is near the corner of Princeton Street (really Smith Street after the fork) and Edgewater Drive, so about 2 minutes from I-4 to parking. One can park on the street or in the parking lot behind Taste.

From Downtown and south, drive north ("east") on I-4 through downtown. At the exit for Princeton Street, exit and turn left/west.
From Altamonte Springs and north, drive south ("west") on I-4 toward downtown Orlando. At the exit for Princeton Street, exit and turn right/west.

From I-4, drive a few blocks to Edgewater Drive. At the intersection, you should see a orange building ahead of you, labeled "Taste". Park on the street or behind Taste.