Title of Proposal: Modeling and optimization of diffractive optical structures Project Summary The PI proposes training on the professional development of two Mathematical Sciences Industry-Based Graduate Research Assistants. The first objective of the training activities is to prepare the graduate students with skills and experiences that will make them strong competitors in an industrial environment. Another objective is to produce the graduate students who have qualifications that will make them important contributors to science and technology developments in a academic/industrial environment. The proposed research focuses on computational methods and numerical analysis for modeling and design of optical micro-structures in linear and nonlinear optical media. The research will extend the PI's long term collaboration with Honeywell, Inc., and develop a new collaboration with Cray Research, Inc. It will provide opportunities for the graduate assistants to engage in academic/industrial joint research programs and make important contributions to an exciting area of applied and industrial mathematics. The main topics of the proposed research are as follows: -- Computational modeling of optical coatings. Multiscale finite element methods. -- Inverse and optimal design problems in diffractive optics. -- Surface enhanced nonlinear optical effects. Optimization and design problems in nonlinear optics. These problems are motivated by industrial applications. This project is jointly supported by the MPS Office of Multidisciplinary Activities (OMA) and the Division of Mathematical Sciences (DMS)
