Australian Institute of Physics - Tasmanian Branch
AIP Women in Physics Lecture 2006

Light, Particles, Action
Professor Deb Kane
Department of Physics, Macquarie University, Sydney

8:00PM, Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Physics Lecture Theatre 1
Sandy Bay Campus, University of Tasmania


ABSTRACT: 

We bask in direct light from the sun most days. It warms us and enables us, with the use of our own sophisticated optical imaging system (the eye and brain), to see the world. But, we don’t expect to move boulders with sunbeams. However, when we replace the sun with a pulsed laser beam; scale the boulder down to a micro- or nano-sized particle sitting on a surface; things change significantly. Come and hear about laser/particle/surface interactions, laser cleaning, laser/particle micro- and nano-patterning and how micro- and nano-optics can be very different than our understanding of optics on the macro-scale (such as our own eye/brain system, microscopes, telescopes, cameras etc). The science described is fascinating in its own right but also has technological application in areas such as semiconductor fabrication, manufacturing industries, and art & cultural heritage conservation.

SPEAKER PROFILE:

Prof. Deb M Kane has a Personal Chair in Physics and an international profile in the areas of
1. Semiconductor laser physics
2. Laser cleaning and surface modification
3. Development of novel Ultra Violet and Vacuum Ultraviolet (UV/VUV) sources and their application to surface cleaning/treatments.
This broad range of research areas spans pure and applied physics, basic, strategic, and directly industrially relevant research (she is the co/author of more than 170 publications and monographs). In addition to her contribution to research, Deb Kane has served as Head of the Department of Physics at Macquarie University, contributes fully as a university teacher, and is a most dedicated and regular contributor to outreach programs including most recently the 2006 Siemens Science Experience,  HSC Enrichment Day, and school visits. In addition she applied successfully for funding, organised and led the Young Women and Physics Residential Schools held at Macquarie University in all years 1990-1996.

The Australian Institute of Physics International Women in Physics Lecture Series was instituted to celebrate the contribution of women to advances in physics. Under this scheme, a woman who has made a significant contribution in a field of physics will give a series of lectures, including a Public Lecture arranged by each participating branch of the AIP. The Lecture will be of interest to a non-specialist physics audience and is expected to increase awareness among students and their families of the possibilities offered by continuing to study physics.
Further information is available from Dr. Marc Duldig, ph. (03)6232-3333 e-mail: Marc.Duldig-at-aad.gov.au or Dr Elizabeth Chelkowska, ph. (03)6226-2725, e-mail: Elizabeth.Chelkowska-at-utas.edu.au . Details appear on the web pages of the AIP Tasmanian Branch: http://tas.aip.org.au/

ALL WELCOME