Research
Welcome to my research page!
I recently completed a Ph.D. in electrical engineering under Professor Robert Byer. Here is a link to our group website.
Resume
Research blog
For those who want to stay up to date, my research blog can be accessed here (Stanford login required).
Summary
My research revolves around three main projects: LIGO (Laser Interferometer Grativational-Wave Observatory), LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), and LEAP (Laser Electron Acceleration Project). The first two are concerned with measuring gravitational waves. And the aim of the last project is to replace large particle accelerators like SLAC and Fermilab with something that could be orders of magnitude smaller.
LIGO and LISA measure gravitational waves by monitoring the positions of test masses to high precision. LIGO has a need for high power beamsplitters. LISA needs a scheme for measuring the tip and tilt of an object to nanoradian resolutions. And LEAP, which uses lasers for accelerating electrons, needs a way to control the phase of light so that the electric field of the beam is always pushing the particle in a single direction. All these problems can be solved using diffraction gratings (or similar structures), which is where I come in.
I've also been involved with a few other projects in the past: adaptive optics for laser wavefront correction using MEMS mirrors, and Gaussian to super-Gaussian beam profile conversion for efficient power extraction from laser amplifiers, to name a few.
Publications
P.P. Lu, K.-X. Sun, R.L. Byer, J.A. Britten, H.T. Nguyen, J.D. Nissen, C.C. Larson, M.D. Aasen, T.C. Carlson, C.R. Hoaglan, “Precise diffraction efficiency measurements of large-area greater-than-99%-efficient dielectric gratings at the Littrow angle,” Optics Letters 34, 1708–1710 (2009). Link
K.-X. Sun, P.P. Lu, R.L. Byer, “Improved grating angular sensor for LISA and MGRS,” Journal of Physics: Conference Series 154, 012033-1–5 (2009). Link
P.P. Lu, A.L. Bullington, P. Beyersdorf, S. Traeger, J. Mansell, R. Beausoleil, E.K. Gustafson, R.L. Byer, M.M. Fejer, “Wavefront distortion of the reflected and diffracted beams produced by the thermoelastic deformation of a diffraction grating heated by a Gaussian laser beam,” Journal of the Optical Society of America A 24, 659–668 (2007). Link
T. Plettner, P.P. Lu, R.L. Byer, “Proposed few-optical cycle laser-driven particle accelerator
K.-X. Sun, P. Lu, R.L. Byer, “A robust, symmetric grating angular sensor for space flights,” American Institute of Physics Conference Proceedings 873, 384–388 (2006). Link
P. Lu, K.-X. Sun, R.L. Byer, “Grating fabrication for gravitational-wave interferometers and LISA GRS,” American Institute of Physics Conference Proceedings 873, 359–363 (2006).
K.-X. Sun, G. Allen, S. Buchman, R.L. Byer, J.W. Conklin, D.B. DeBra, D. Gill, A. Goh, S. Higuchi, P. Lu, N.A. Robertson, A.J. Swank, “Progress in developing the Modular Gravitational Reference Sensor,” American Institute of Physics Conference Proceedings 873, 515–521 (2006).
Dissertation
A copy of my Stanford University Ph.D. thesis can be found here. Link