OSE Seminar 

Brian Topper, OSE PHD Candidate in Dean Mafi's Group

Date: Thursday, February 9th, 2023

Time:  12:15 PM - 1:15 PM

Location:  CHTM, Room 103

Abstract:

Recent years have seen silica emerge as a viable material for optical refrigeration with potential applications in directed energy, integrated photonics, and precision metrology. Proper characterization of potential composition profiles is vital for optimization. Here, static photoluminescence spectroscopy of a Yb, Al co-doped silica sample over the temperature range 80 K to 300 K reveals the emission lineshape is dependent on the excitation wavelength. The impact this has on extracted laser cooling parameters is discussed.

Authors: Brian Topper, Alexander Neumann, Alexander R. Albrecht, Angel S. Flores, Stefan Kuhn, Denny Hässner, Sigrun Hein, Christian Hupel, Johannes Nold, Nicoletta Haarlammert, Thomas Schreiber, Mansoor Sheik-Bahae, and Arash Mafi.

Biography: Brian Topper is a research assistant at the Center for High Technology Materials at UMM working in the fiber laser division of the Directed Energy Center of Excellence under the tutelage of Arash Mafi. He came to UNM after completing his MSc degree in materials science at Alfred University where he worked on glass structure using vibrational spectroscopy methods. His current work focuses on glasses for laser cooling, high power lasers, and mid-infrared applications. He has authored or co-authored 11 peer-reviewed journal articles, 1 book chapter, and participated in 6 conference presentations/papers. Currently, his work on laser cooling of ytterbium doped silica is on track to surpass ZBLAN glass as the best performing vitreous material for optical refrigeration.