UNM awarded $7.5M for laser research

UNM awarded $7.5 million for laser research

According to UNM press release, a team of scientists at UNM have been awarded a $7.5 million grant to build on laser projects at the University.

Mansoor Sheik-Bahae and Arash Mafi, both from the Department of Physics & Astronomy, along with collaborators from other institutions, were awarded the grant, according to the release.

The grant is given as part of the Department of Defense’s ‘Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative program,’ according to the release.

“We’re very excited about this award,” Sheik-Bahae, the project’s principal investigator, is quoted as saying in the release. “This funding provides a chance for us to expand on already existing research efforts and provides an opportunity for more students to work on research science.”

The project, titled "Multidisciplinary Approaches to Radiation Balanced Lasers (MARBLE): Rare-Earths and Semiconductors in Disks, FibersandMicrostructures," focuses on basic research to develop athermal lasers in semiconductors and fiber optics for use in a variety of applications, according to the release.

Athermal lasers are unique in that they do not generate internal heat like most lasers being used today, according to the release.

Eliminating the internal heat production would be a milestone in laser physics and thermal photonics, as well as allow for the creation of lasers with higher beam quality and consistency, the release states.

The project, funded over five years, will be conducted in collaboration with researchers from the University of Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Washington, according to the release.

This year, the Department of Defense issued 23 MURI awards totaling $162 million, according to the release. The program is aimed at supporting research by investigator teams from more than one traditional science and engineering discipline.

This is done with the goal of also providing support for the education and training of graduate students, according to the release.

According to the release, OSE graduate students conduct research at facilities in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and at UNM’s Center for High Technology Materials.