Speaker:	Dr. Eric Mazur (Harvard University)
Topic:	Wrapping Light Around a Hair
Time:	9:00 AM
Date:	March 27, 2008
Place:	Dawson Auditorium (AAMU)

Abstract

Can light be guided by a fiber whose diameter is much smaller than the wavelength of the light? Can we mold the flow of light on the micrometer scale so it wraps say, around a hair? Until recently the answer to these questions was 'no.' We developed a technique for drawing long, free-standing, silica wires with diameters down to 50 nm that have a surface smoothness at the atomic level and a high uniformity of diameter. Light can be launched into these silica nanowires by optical evanescent coupling and the wires allow low-loss using single-mode operation. They can be bent sharply, making it possible to control the propagation of light around micrometer-sized corners. The nanowires have applications in microphotonic devices for optical processing and environmental sensing.

Biographical Sketch

Eric Mazur is the Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard University. After obtaining a Ph.D. degree in experimental physics at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in 1981, he came to Harvard University in 1982. Two years later he joined the faculty and obtained tenure in 1990. Dr. Mazur has made important contributions to spectroscopy, light scattering, and the interaction of ultrashort laser pulses with materials. He is a fellow of the Optical Society of America and also of the American Physical Society, and has been named APS Centennial Lecturer during the Society's centennial year. Dr. Mazur is also interested in education, public policy, outreach, and the public perception of science. He believes that better science education for all -- not just science majors-- is vital for continued scientific progress. To this end, Dr. Mazur devotes part of his research group's effort to education and finding verifiable ways to improve science education. In 1990 he began developing Peer Instruction, a method for teaching large lecture classes interactively. Dr. Mazur is author or co-author of 209 scientific publications and 12 patents. He has also written on education and is the author of Peer Instruction: A User's Manual (Prentice Hall, 1997). In 2006 he helped produce the award-winning DVD Interactive Teaching.

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