Triveni Rao Receives Tenure
March 13, 2009
Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA) granted tenure effective December 1, 2008, to eight Brookhaven scientists. They are Elaine DiMasi, National Synchrotron Light Source; Rita Goldstein, Medical Department; Yangang Liu, Environmental Sciences Department; Hong Ma, Physics Department; Cedomir Petrovic, Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department (CMPMS); Triveni Rao, Instrumentation Division; Tonica Valla, CMPMS; and Paul Vaska, Medical. Tenure appointments are granted by action of the BSA Board after a rigorous selection procedure overseen by the BSA Science & Technology Steering Committee. In making tenure decisions, the BSA Board is advised by members of the Brookhaven Council, an elected body that advises the Director on matters affecting the scientific staff. This is the sixth in a series of profiles.
Triveni Rao
Triveni Rao of the Instrumentation Division was granted tenure based on her significant, original contributions in developing new instrumentation techniques in lasers, accelerator technology, and materials science, and in their application to critical experimental programs.
Says Veljko Radeka, who heads Instrumentation, "Triveni is an outstanding asset to BNL. She is internationally recognized for her research and development on metal photocathodes for high brightness electron beams, interaction of high intensity short laser pulses with matter, and ultra short laser pulse and beam bunch characterization. She has enhanced BNL's reputation in these areas and has become an essential resource for the BNL research program. She is sought frequently by scientists from other laboratories and industry for advice and as a collaborator, as well as an advisor by students."
Rao's pioneering work on surface preparation processes and laser cleaning made possible a new technology using metal cathodes for high brightness electron sources. Based on her achievement, a local company won a DOE-supported grant to build instrumentation for these sources. Now, metal photocathodes from her work are in use in the electron sources of many state-of-the-art facilities.
Rao is also recognized for her work on electro-optical charged particle beam diagnostic techniques and detectors. Her solutions to challenging problems have resulted from extremely difficult measurements being taken for the first time.
An inventor or co-inventor on several patents, Rao has also built up a unique laser laboratory and vibrant research group for investigations in the field of high-current photoemission.
Having obtained her Ph.D. in laser physics at the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1983, Rao joined BNL in 1985 as an assistant physicist. She became an associate physicist in 1987, a physicist in 1990, and received a continuing appointment in 1992.
2009-1118 | INT/EXT | Newsroom
