MSE Colloquium: S.K. Sundaram, Ultrafast Materials Science and Processing

Abstract

Ultrafast lasers have been developed over half a century. As the laser researchers continue to advance beyond attosecond (1 as = 10-18 s) regime, the lasers in femtosecond (1 fs = 10–15 s) time regimes have been used to study and modify a wide range of materials. Ultrafast pulses are unique in that they are characterized by incredibly high peak intensities and interact with materials on a time scale faster than lattice disorder and heat diffusion, thus allowing precise control and manipulation of the states of materials. In the present seminar, an overview of different processes that can result from focusing an ultrafast laser light on select oxides and glasses will first be presented. This will be followed by examples of ablation dynamics, microstructural modification, and densification of glasses using femtosecond laser pulses. Finally, results of a recent study of deprotonation of silica nanoparticles using a reaction nanoscope that uses a fiber laser system with a repetition rate of 150 kHz, a central wavelength of 1030 nm and a pulse duration of 40 fs, will be presented. 

Bio

Dr. S. K. Sundaram is an Inamori Professor of Materials Science and Engineering (Endowed Chair) at Alfred University.  He is also the Chair of the Mechanical, Electrical, and Renewable Energy Engineering. Before joining Alfred University in 2011, he was a Chief Materials Scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). He joined PNNL after earning his Ph. D. from School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology in 1994.  In the past 25 years, he has made major contributions in the areas of millimeter/terahertz (THz) wave science and technology, ultrafast materials science and engineering, and multi-scale/extreme materials processing including additive manufacturing. His current research is focused on photon-matter interactions covering visible-THz regions. He has published over 150 scientific reports, publications and technical reports, made over 170 scientific and technical presentations, edited and contributed to 20 books, taught, mentored and supported over 100 students, and organized and co-organized several national and international symposia on ceramics, glasses, and materials science and engineering. 

Dr. S. K. Sundaram has won numerous honors, including four R&D 100 awards, two for millimeter wave technologies in 2001 and 2006, one for multi-scale materials processing in 2008, and one for IncubATR – Live-cell Monitor in 2010.  IncubATR technology also has won Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) award for technology transfer in 2011.  He has five patents, one patent application, and several invention disclosures.  He is an elected Fellow of the American Association of Advancement of Sciences (2006), an elected Fellow (2006) and Life Member (2016) American Ceramic Society, and a Fellow of Society of Glass Technology UK (2009), an elected Senior (2012) and Life (2016) Member of The International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), and an elected Senior (2019) and Life Member (2016) of Optical Society of America (OSA).  He is a member of the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), Materials Research Society (MRS), American Society of Metals (ASM), American Physical Society (APS), and American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). He is also a life member of Indian Ceramic Society and Materials Research Society-India.  

Dr. S. K. Sundaram has been inducted in to Keramos, Sigma Xi, and Order of Engineer in 1994, 2000, and 2006, respectively. As an AAAS Fellow, he was honored for his "leadership and innovative contributions to a diverse cross-section of materials sciences, particularly new tools for synthesis and characterization of novel materials, diagnostics and nanomaterials”. He has been an adjunct faculty at School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman, WA (1997-2010), a visiting scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (1998-2015), and a visiting scholar at Harvard (2002, 2012-2015) and Princeton (2005). Recently, he has had visiting appointments at Attoworld, Laboratory for Attosecond Physics, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU), Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik (MPQ), Garching b. München in 2019 and at Attosecond Physics Research Group, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH in 2018. Currently, he is a Visiting Scholar at Brown School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI in summer 2019. 

Dr. S. K. Sundaram holds Executive Certificate in Strategy and Innovation from Sloan School of Management, MIT (since 2007).  He has completed the State University of New York (SUNY) Executive Leadership Academy in June 2015.
 

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