Three Lawrence Livermore scientists named senior members of the Optical Society

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists Félicie Albert, Eyal Feigenbaum and Bruce Warner have been named senior members of the Optical Society (OSA), an international organization for optics and photonics scientists, engineers, educators and business leaders. Senior membership status recognizes members with more than 10 years of professional experience in optics or an optics-related field.

Félicie Albert

Félicie Albert serves as a staff scientist in the National Ignition Facility and Photon Science (NIF&PS) Directorate and the Joint High Energy Density Sciences organization. She also is the deputy director for LLNL’s Center for High Energy Density Science. She joined LLNL in 2008 as a postdoctoral researcher in the photon science and applications program to work on nuclear resonance fluorescence experiments and became a permanent member of the technical staff in 2010.

She earned her Ph.D. in physics from the Ecole Polytechnique in France, her master's degree in optics from the University of Central Florida and her bachelor's degree in engineering from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Physique de Marseille, France. Her areas of expertise include the generation and applications of novel sources of electrons, X-rays and gamma-rays through laser-plasma interaction, laser-wakefield acceleration and Compton scattering. She has conducted many experiments using high-intensity lasers.

Albert was awarded a 2016 DOE Early Career Research Program Award to develop new X-ray sources for high energy density science experiments and has been leading several Laboratory Directed Research and Development projects at LLNL. She is the recipient of the 2017 APS-DPP Katherine E. Weimer Award for outstanding contributions to plasma science research and the 2017 Edouard Fabre Prize for contributions to the physics of laser-produced plasmas.

"It is a real honor for me to receive this distinction for the work we’ve been doing using short-pulse, high-intensity lasers to develop new schemes for plasma-based particle acceleration and new X-ray light sources," Albert said.

"I have been an OSA member since I was an undergraduate student at the University of Central Florida, where my professor was (now LLNL’s) Craig Siders. My first job then was to build a titanium sapphire laser, and that’s what got me into short-pulse lasers," she added. "There could not be a better time for this. The community working on high-intensity laser science is really starting to pick up in the U.S., and I am really grateful to LLNL for enabling me to work on this exciting topic of research, and to the DOE Office of Fusion Energy Sciences for funding my work. I am fortunate to have amazing and talented colleagues here at the Lab, without whom none of this would be possible"

Eyal Feigenbaum

Eyal Feigenbaum currently serves as a research scientist and project lead in LLNL’s NIF&PS Directorate, where he leads an R&D effort to develop advanced durable and scalable meta-surfaces for powerful laser applications, and an effort to develop electro-optically controlled meta-surfaces for ultra-fast steering and reshaping of laser beams. He also conducts photonics modeling for several efforts studying laser-mater interaction, mainly focused on studying laser-induced damage and beam propagation through complex photonic media.

Feigenbaum received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Israel’s Technion-IIT. Prior to joining LLNL, he held a postdoctoral position at the California Institute of Technology, studying nano-photonics and metamaterials.

He joined Lawrence Livermore as a staff scientist to help develop the physics modeling code for NIF, and later joined the optics and material science and technology group at the NIF to advance the science and technology behind the laser optics. Feigenbaum’s fields of interest include nano-photonics and meta-materials, optical wave propagation in complex media and light matter interaction and scattering. 

"This is a great honor and I am very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to help advance both the extraordinary laser optics technology developed here at the Lab and the field of nano-photonics research around the world, and build the bridges between these two fields," Feigenbaum said. "I am also privileged to work daily with very talented scientists and to have access to world-class facilities." 

Bruce Warner

Bruce Warner has served as the principal associate director for LLNL’s Global Security Directorate since 2011, where he leads a large multidisciplinary organization that develops and deploys world-class science and technology in intelligence community support, energy and homeland security, nuclear threat reduction and in addressing chemical, biological and explosive threats.

During his 40 years at LLNL, Warner has held senior positions in the Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation program, the National Ignition Facility, the Director’s Office and Global Security.

Warner received his master's degree and Ph.D. in physics from the University of Colorado, and his bachelor's degree in physics from the University of California, San Diego. Over the course of his career, he has served as a technical leader for the development, engineering and operation of laser systems and technologies for materials processing including isotope separation and other scientific applications and holds eight patents in laser technology and laser processing.

"I am honored to be recognized by the Optical Society and appreciate the support for my nomination by colleagues in NIF and Photon Science," Warner said. "From an early age, I’ve been curious about light and have a love for the natural world. Now, 40 years after starting at LLNL as a laser physicist I’ve had many opportunities to contribute. I’m very appreciative of everything that LLNL has to offer – national mission, amazing talent, team science and engineering and lasting friendships."

Founded 100 years ago, the OSA consists of more than 22,000 members from more than 100 countries, working to promote the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics.