Thomas G. Brown has been on the faculty of the Institute of Optics since July of 1987, has held therank of full professor since March of 2008, and currently serves as chair of undergraduate studies and director of the Robert E. Hopkins Center for Optical Design and Engineering. While at Rochester, he has conducted research in semiconductors, optoelectronics, optical fiber
microstructures, optical polarization, and optical engineering. His early research focused on frequency-stable semiconductor laser design and silicon-based waveguide technology, including the
first experimental observation of all-optical switching in a nonlinear Bragg reflector. His publications have twice (1993 and 2000) been cited among the best optics-related research by Optics and
Photonics News. Professor Brown's recent research activities have included: 1) Focusing and coherence properties of polarization vortex beams; 2) Optical vortices induced by stress birefringent elements; 3) High Q resonators in SOI waveguides; 4) Modeling and characterization of photonic crystal fibers; 5) Optical properties of quantum amplified isomers for photopolymers. The work on polarization polymers had been applied to semiconductor lithography and inspection, and single
molecule imaging [PRL 86, 5251 (2001)].
