We work on problems where knowledge of (infrared) radiation and its interaction with matter solves problems for the benefit of humanity. Graduate fellowships, funded by federal government, are available for qualified national and international students on all projects. The problems may be solved at Master's and Doctoral degree levels.
Currently, my favorite long-term project is building a rotational-shearing interferometer for the detection of a planet outside our solar system, (exo-planet) and demonstrating its performance. I believe that this concept is scientifically highly relevant. It causally, uniquely, and immediately relates detected signal with the existence of an exo-planet. During the next step, the laboratory rotational shearing interferometer will be build from improved components, in particular the detection, and data processing systems. The performance limitations of the prototype will be assessed. It will be ruggedized for transport, and incorporation to an observatory facility.
In my laboratory, we are building a simulator solar system to test the instrument to detect exo-planets in laboratory environment. The first challenging requirement is the alignment of two beams that are separated by a very small angle and quantifying this angle. The second challenging requirement is to measure the intensity ratio between the simulated star and simulated planet.
To measure the angle between the beams, we are constructing a high precision traditional interferometer with the state of the art electro-optical components. The critical issue is the design, fabrication and integration of the opto-mechanical mounts that are computer controlled. This is an interesting application of the field of optomecatronics.
My second equally interesting project is to use interferometric methods for the detection of abnormal tissue with visible and infrared light. Many experts believe that harmful radiation, like x-rays, PET, and MRI, might be provoking secondary cancers. The novel technique developed in our laboratory has been proven with (inanimate) matter.
We are performing simulation studies determining the amounts of trans-illuminated detected signal transmitted through several tissues and inclusions, analyzing the signal-to-noise, the amount of scattering, and detectability.