Optics

Mario Affatigato

The students in Prof. Affatigato's group will carry out projects involving laser desorption and ionization (LITOF-MS), Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements on oxide glasses. They will be thoroughly involved in the process, from glassmaking and crystal growing to operating the spectrometers, to data analysis. These projects will expose students to a variety of physical instrumentation, from Nd:YAG and nitrogen lasers, aerolevitation, to vacuum pumps, to microchannel plates, data acquisition electronics, etc. One project, on structural characterization using the LITOF-MS, will involve modeling of fragmentation patterns, isotopic signatures, structural models to explain the observed spectra, etc. Complementary Raman/FTIR measurements will also be made. In a second project, the REU student will perform AFM and SEM measurements on glasses that have been modified by laser irradiation and/or for light scattering applications. In a third, they can carry our structural characterization of composite materials (glasses+polymers) that have bactericidal properties. Finally, REU students will also have the choice to work with Professor Affatigato on the study of vanadium-based glasses for particle detector applications. All projects combine condensed matter theory, glassmaking and optical spectroscopy.

Bio and Interests

My research interests lie in the area of the optical properties of glasses and the relationship between such properties and the structure of the glass. Glasses of interest to me include alkali borates, alkali bismuthates, heavy metal oxide glasses, and vanadium-based glasses. In particular, my recent work has focused on electronically-conducting glasses and glasses made using aerolevitation (especially aluminates). The optical properties my students and I investigate include absorption, fluorescence, optical basicity, laser-induced structural modification, as well as some interactions of light with matter such as laser-induced desorption and ionization. The Affatigato group has built close to 150 alumni members, and Prof. Affatigato typically supervises 6-8 students per summer and is a member of the physics department.

Phone: 319-399-8483; Email: maffatig@coe.edu