Profile

Career

BSc (New England), PhD (ANU)

Summary of expertise

• EUV/X-ray laser development
• Laser ablation
• Laser produced plasmas

Research

Overview

Research has centred around

• the development and study of X-ray lasers (wavelength ~5-30 nm) created by producing non-equilibrium plasmas using high powered optical pumping lasers
• the study of high power (~ TW), short pulse (< ps) optical laser interaction with matter.

This work has been undertaken after peer review for facility time at large installations in the UK (the Central Laser Facility, CLF) or in Europe.  More recent research has investigated using these lasers for applications and in investigating the potential of new generation of x-ray free electron lasers.

• Applications of Soft X-ray Lasers (PDF , 467kb) (A review of the applications of X-ray lasers)

Current projects

X-ray lasing?

Work on X-ray lasers is undertaken at the Central Laser Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Post-graduate students undertake experiments there. The planning and analysis of the experiments is undertaken at the University of York. We have achieved the shortest wavelength saturated laser in these experiments. Lasing was produced at 5.9 nm in nickel-like dysprosium. The Guiness book of Records has given us a certificate recognising this feat, but so-far has declined to publish the work in the annual record book! However, the result has been published by Physical Review A (see http://publish.aps.org/abstract/PRA/v59/pR47)

Overheads of talk given at St. Feliu conference October 2001

Grants

• Summary of EPSRC grant: GR/L11809 : ‘X-RAY Lasers
• Summary of EPSRC grant: Opacity measurements at EUV wavelengths (PDF , 261kb) GR/T27280/01

Supervision

• Miss Natalie Barratt
• Miss Lauren Gartside
• Mr Tom Morgan
• Mr Andrew Rossall
• Dr Erik Wagenaars
• Dr David Whittaker
• Miss Lucy Wilson