University Education and Research - Colorado School of Mines
Research
The Colorado School of Mines (CSM) research program in applied optics is a broad, interdisciplinary program with involvement from the departments of physics,
engineering, chemical engineering, geophysics, and materials science.
Activities in physics focus primarily on development of novel optical characterization techniques, performance of precision optical measurements, nonlinear microscopy, ultrafast laser physics, and short-wavelength generation.
Activities in engineering tend to emphasize optics as a way of monitoring reaction kinetics, chemical synthesis, and combustion. The focus of work in chemical engineering and materials science is on integrating optics with microfluidic systems and with materials synthesis and control; it includes photoelectric chemistry, optical process monitoring, and development of novel optical materials.
In geophysics, optical techniques are used to study acoustic wave propagation in rocks and materials of geological interest.
Education
CSM is a public research university devoted to engineering and applied science. The Department of Physics offers a BS degree in engineering physics (ABET accredited) and an MS and PhD in applied physics. The undergraduate program, which ranks in the top 10 nationwide in the number of graduating physics majors, also offers a combined BS physics/MS engineering program. PhD students have the option of a minor in optical science and engineering. All undergraduate physics majors take a course in electromagnetic waves and optical physics, and a semester of advanced lab with optics experiments. Elective courses open to graduate and advanced undergraduate students include laser physics, nonlinear optics, optical engineering, Fourier and physical optics, photovoltaic devices, and materials processing lab.
Contact
Colorado School of Mines
1500 Illinois Street, Golden, CO 80401
(303) 273-3247
Lincoln Carr (303) 273-3759 lcarr@mines.edu
Theoretical optical, atomic and molecular physics, and nonlinear dynamics.
Reuben T. Collins (303) 273-3851 rtcollin@mines.edu
Scanning probe microscopy, new-field microscopy, optoelectronic materials, photoluminescence, excitation spectroscopy, and nanoscale physics and devices.
Christopher Dreyer (303) 273-3890 cdreyer@mines.edu
Optical instrumentation for combustion diagnostics and space exploration. Laser induced fluorescence, hyper-spectral imaging, Raman, IR absorption, ring-down, and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopies.
Charles G. Durfee (303) 273-3894 cdurfee@mines.edu
Laser physics and ultrafast laser-matter interactions, novel designs of laser systems and optical diagnostics, laser sources of short-pulsed UV, XUV, and x-ray light.
Thomas E. Furtak (303) 273-3843 tfurtak@mines.edu
Optical characterization of surfaces and thin films, spectroscopic ellipsometry, surface nonlinear optics, electronic materials, polymers, and liquid crystals.
Paul Jagodzinski (303) 273-3622 pauljago@mines.edu
Fabrication of materials for enhanced Raman scattering.
Frank V. Kowalski (303) 273-3845 fkowalski@mines.edu
Laser physics, application of lasers to precision measurements, and frequency-stabilized lasers.
David W.M. Marr (303) 273-3008 dmarr@mines.edu
Optical characterization, laser manipulation, directed assembly of colloidal and polymeric systems, and novel mesoscale colloidal architectures.
Terry Parker (303) 273-3657 tparker@mines.edu
Optical measurements in high temperature and pressure reacting systems, combustion generated pollutants, particle sizing, and characterization using optical measurement techniques.
John Scales (303) 273-3850 jscales@mines.edu
Quantum and wave chaos, mesoscopic phenomena, optical and quasi-optical characterization of materials, and millimeter wave spectroscopy.
Jeff Squier (303) 273-2835 jsquier@mines.edu
Hard x-ray production and imaging, nonlinear microscopy, laser micromachining, and optical methods in microfluidic systems.
Craig Taylor (303) 273-3586 pctaylor@mines.edu
Optical, electronic and structural properties of crystalline and amorphous semiconductors, disordered materials and their characterization, and photovoltaics.
Colin Wolden (303) 273-3544 cwolden@mines.edu
Advanced materials synthesis and processing, chemical vapor disposition (CVD), plasma-assisted CVD of electronic and dielectric materials, gas-phase and surface kinetics, and reactor modeling.
Matt Young (303) 273-3862 mmyoung@mines.edu
General optics and optical instrumentation, optical fibers, and metrology.
