Achievement

IGERT trainee, Ben Clough (2011 Lemelson-Rensselaer Student Prize winner) from Electrical Engineering Department defended his PhD thesis. He collaborated with trainees in the Physics Department and focused on laser air-photonics used for sensing short pulses of electromagnetic radiation. Through the ionization process, the very air that we breathe is capable of generating terahertz (THz) field strengths greater than 1 MV/cm, useful bandwidths over 100 THz, and highly directional emission patterns. Following ionization and plasma formation, the emitted plasma acoustics or fluorescence can be modulated by an external field to serve as omnidirectional, broadband, electromagnetic sensor. Ben’s work presents significant advances in THz air photonics that help to close the "THz gap" once existing between electronic and optical frequencies, and the acoustic and fluorescence detection methodologies developed provide promising new avenues for extending the useful range of THz wave technology.