Sergio Carbajo

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Sergio Carbajo
Carbajo.CNSI.jpg
Carbajo as a panelist at a California NanoSystems Institute event, October 7, 2024 (Photo taken by Penny Jennings)
Born
Sergio Carbajo Garcia

Donostia-San Sebastian [1]
EducationM.Eng. in Telecom Engineering, M.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Ph.D. in Physics
Alma mater Universidad de Navarra, Colorado State University,University of Hamburg, Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron
Occupation Scientist & Educator
Known forAssistant professor at the UCLA Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE)

Sergio Carbajo Garcia is an assistant professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), with concurrent faculty appointments in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering and the Department of Physics & Astronomy. [2] [3] He founded and directs the Quantum Light-Matter Cooperative (QLMC) at UCLA, a consortium focusing on understanding, designing, and controlling light-driven physical processes to help solve interconnected socio-technological challenges. [4] He is a faculty member of the California NanoSystems Institute and the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering (CQSE), a multi-institutional program that coordinates research and develops new teaching approaches in quantum information science. [5] The CQSE will have a new research center in the upcoming UCLA Research Park, which was announced near the end of December 2023. [6] [7]

Contents

He is also a visiting professor at Stanford University’s Photon Science Division at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. [8]

Carbajo’s research involves documenting and filming quantum interactions. [9] He helps create videos of molecules in action, capturing atomic and molecular motions as they dissociate and transform. [10] [11] These films, created with atomic-level resolution and ultrafast snapshots, produce numerous frames that depict quantum-level interactions.

Carbajo is also a strong advocate for equity in STEM disciplines and actively works to promote underrepresented backgrounds and diverse ways of knowing and learning. [12] He is the director of diversity for UCLA’s Electrical & Computer Engineering department. [13] Carbajo is also the founder of UCLA’s Queered Science and Technology Center (QSTC), which focuses on frameworks that address issues of diversity and critical representation in STEM through queer, radical feminist, and black analyses of the impact of science & technology in society. [14]

Early life and education

Carbajo was born on October 4, 1985, in Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain, and grew up in Hernani, Gipuzkoa. From 2001 to 2003, he attended Barandiaran Lizeoa High School. From elementary school to high school, Carbajo was classically trained in music. He releases music under the stage name Julian Telleria. [1]

In 2009, he received an M.Eng. in telecommunications engineering from Tecnun, the University of Navarra, School of Engineering in San Sebastián, Spain. In 2012, Carbajo earned an M.Sc. in electrical and computer engineering from Colorado State University. Afterward, he completed a Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.) in physics from the University of Hamburg in Germany. [2] [8]

Career

After receiving his Ph.D., Carbajo began working as an associate staff scientist for the Lasers in Science Division at Stanford’s SLAC. In 2018, he was promoted to staff scientist and also became department head for the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) Lasers for Accelerators Research and Development department until 2021. [9] As of 2022, he is a visiting professor for Stanford’s SLAC Photon Science department. In this capacity, Carbajo bridges expertise across disciplines in photon sciences and accelerator physics for the advancement of XFEL technology and science, namely LCLS and LCLS-II science and instrumentation. His work at SLAC is central to his research career, combining quantum and nonlinear optics and laser-matter interactions to develop scientific instruments and processes. [9]

At UCLA, Carbajo primarily teaches courses on photonics, such as Principles of Photonics and Photonic Devices and Circuits. He also teaches courses that combine humanities with STEM, which includes the course Humanities-Informed STEM Studies and various other seminars. [15] [16] [17]

From 2019 to 2021, Carbajo was an affiliated faculty in the Department of Physics at Colorado School of Mines. [18] He has also been a visiting scientist for the Donostia International Physics Center since 2023, researching topological nanophotonics. [19]

Research

Carbajo has expertise in generating and manipulating ultrashort, high-intensity laser pulses. He has worked extensively with techniques such as optical parametric amplification (OPA), frequency comb generation, and pulse shaping to create tailored light fields for varied applications. [20] [21] Carbajo’s work has focused on using these advanced laser systems to investigate ultrafast phenomena in materials and to drive novel electron beam sources. [22] [23]

Carbajo has also conducted extensive research on particle accelerators and free-electron lasers (FELs), which are powerful tools for generating intense X-ray pulses. His contributions include developing novel laser-based techniques for electron beam generation, shaping, and conditioning. [24] He has investigated methods for microbunching instability suppression, seeded X-ray FEL emission, and high-brightness electron beam production. [25] [26]

In ultrafast X-ray science, Carbajo's research has focused on using ultrafast X-ray pulses generated by FELs to investigate the dynamics of molecules and materials on very short timescales. [27] [28] He has been involved in studies using techniques such as time-resolved X-ray scattering to investigate phenomena such as photochemical reactions, protein structural dynamics, and charge transfer processes. [29] [30]

Some of Carbajo’s other works explore the intersection of ultrafast photonics and quantum science. He is working on developing quantum sensing technologies and exploring quantum phenomena in light-matter interactions. [31] His research aims to investigate topics such as high-harmonic generation, strong-field terahertz science, and the use of quantum materials for advanced applications. [32] [33] [34]

NLighten Photonics LLC

Carbajo is the founder of NLighten Photonics LLC. [35] The company researches and develops photonic quantum computing platforms in collaboration with emerging corporations in photonics quantum computing and aims to bring their innovative discoveries to the marketplace.[ citation needed ] NLighten Photonics specializes in providing advanced digital twin services, supporting novel methodologies in quantum photonics platforms for computing and information sciences, photocatalytic chemistry, advanced spectroscopies, and quantum sensing systems. Carbajo also has an intellectual property portfolio with a total of about a dozen patents (current and pending) that cover these innovations in laser technology and software development. [36] [37] [38]

Notable honors and awards

Carbajo's contributions to quantum science have been recognized by the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program. This award supports his research in gas and aerosol sensing from afar using quantum optics. Carbajo’s work involves sending squeezed light into the atmosphere and analyzing the returning light to gather information about its composition. [39] [40]

Carbajo's accomplishments in photonics and quantum research have also been acknowledged through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Award. This award supports Carbajo's work on quantum X-ray production, which involves developing compact X-ray sources using principles of quantum mechanics. His research aims to create a more efficient and accessible alternative to traditional, large-scale X-ray facilities like the LCLS at SLAC. [41] [42]

Carbajo was also a 2024 Nature Light Science and Applications Rising Star winner for his work in optics and photonics. [43] He was a 2024 Humboldt Foundation Fellow and was provided funding for research in Germany for three years. [44] He was also a 2021 co-recipient of the Horizon Prize from the United Kingdom's Royal Society of Chemistry and was a 2021 SPIE Early Career Achievement Award recipient in "Industry/Government Focus", among other achievements. [45] [46]

List of honors and awards

YearAward/Honor
2024Nature Light Science and Applications Rising Star Award [43]
2024Humboldt Foundation Fellow [44]
2024Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award [39] [47]
2023 IEEE Senior Member
2023 UCLA Innovation Fellow
2023AFOSR Young Investigator Program Award
2021Co-recipient of Horizon Prize from the (UK) Royal Society of Chemistry
2021SPIE Early Career Achievement Award in recognition of capacity to unify ultrafast and quantum optics with X-ray science to advance the mission of Basic Energy Sciences facilities [48]
2021 Sigma Xi Member
2020 Optica Senior Member
2020OSA Foundation Congressional Policy Fellow
2019 Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellow at RIKEN Attosecond Research Center
2018SRI Young Scientist Award
2015PIER Helmholtz Foundation Dissertation Award
2014PIER Helmholtz Graduate School Mobility Award for Young Investigators
2014US Particle Accelerator School Fellow
2011Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Grant Awardee
2010-2014Basque Research Excellence Scholarship
2010 Colorado State University Program of Research and Scholarly Excellence Scholar
2008-2009Universidad de Valladolid FARO Global Scholar

Equity and inclusion in STEM

Since 2022, Carbajo has been the director of diversity for UCLA's Electrical & Computer Engineering department. [13] Carbajo has also been a faculty sponsor for the QWER Hacks student organization at UCLA, a student-led group promoting diversity and inclusion in computer science. [49] [ non-primary source needed ]

Carbajo is queer and is a founding member and chair of the LGBTQ+ employee resource group at SLAC.[ citation needed ] He co-organized the workshop "Inclusive Diversity in Science: Guidelines for Research Teams" at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and was an executive committee member of APS-IDEA (American Physical Society - Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Alliance) at Stanford and SLAC from 2020 to 2021. Some of his initiatives here included paid fellowships for people of color and the establishment of gender-neutral bathrooms. [50] He also played a role in organizing the first pride event at SLAC. [51]

Carbajo is also an active member of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) INCLUDES National Network], a program that aims to "catalyze the STEM enterprise to work collaboratively for inclusive change, which will result in a STEM workforce that reflects the population of the Nation."[ citation needed ]

References

  1. 1 2 Stories, Local (2023-03-22). "Meet Sergio Carbajo". Voyage LA Magazine | LA City Guide. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Sergio Carbajo" . Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  3. ↑ "UCLA Physics & Astronomy: Affiliated Faculty". UCLA Physics & Astronomy. March 3, 2025. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  4. ↑ "People – The Quantum Light-Matter Cooperative". light-matter.seas.ucla.edu. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Team - CQSE". www.cqse.ucla.edu. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  6. ↑ "UCLA acquires L.A.'s former Westside Pavilion to transform empty mall into the UCLA Research Park". UCLA. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  7. ↑ "The UCLA Research Park: Quantum science and engineering". UCLA. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Sergio Carbajo (Visiting) | SLAC Faculty". faculty.slac.stanford.edu. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  9. 1 2 3 "Sergio Carbajo – Exploring Your Universe" . Retrieved April 29, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Pri Narang and Sergio Carbajo look to advance quantum science for next-gen sensors". UCLA. Retrieved April 29, 2025.
  11. ↑ "UCI-UCLA Kick-Start Collaborative Projects Funded by Samueli Foundation | Samueli School of Engineering at UC Irvine". engineering.uci.edu. Retrieved April 29, 2025.
  12. ↑ Carbajo, Sergio (January 2025). "Nurturing Deeper Ways of Knowing in Science". Issues in Science and Technology. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  13. 1 2 "Office of Director of Diversity | Samueli Electrical and Computer Engineering" . Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Queered Science and Technology Center: Director". eScholarship. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Principles of Photonics". catalog.registrar.ucla.edu. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  16. ↑ "Photonic Devices and Circuits". catalog.registrar.ucla.edu. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  17. ↑ "Humanities-Informed Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics". catalog.registrar.ucla.edu. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
  18. ↑ "Sergio Carbajo". Physics Department. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  19. ↑ "Sergio Carbajo". Donostia International Physics Center. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  20. ↑ Lu, Brittany; Shiri, Abbas; Wernsing, Keith; Carbajo, Sergio (2024-02-01). "High-efficiency, single-stage tunable optical parametric amplifier for visible photocathode applications". Optics Letters. 49 (3): 450–453. Bibcode:2024OptL...49..450L. doi:10.1364/OL.509766. ISSN   1539-4794. PMID   38300028.
  21. ↑ Liu, Wei; Robinson, Joseph; Fry, Alan; Carbajo, Sergio (2018-05-13). "4D Pulse Shaping of Discretized Beam Arrays" . Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (2018), Paper JTh2A.169. Optica Publishing Group: JTh2A.169. doi:10.1364/CLEO_AT.2018.JTh2A.169. ISBN   978-1-943580-42-2.
  22. ↑ Cesar, D.; Anakru, A.; Carbajo, S.; Duris, J.; Franz, P.; Li, S.; Sudar, N.; Zhang, Z.; Marinelli, A. (2021-11-29). "Electron beam shaping via laser heater temporal shaping". Physical Review Accelerators and Beams. 24 (11): 110703. arXiv: 2106.04022 . Bibcode:2021PhRvS..24k0703C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevAccelBeams.24.110703.
  23. ↑ Grünbein, Marie Luise; Gorel, Alexander; Foucar, Lutz; Carbajo, Sergio; Colocho, William; Gilevich, Sasha; Hartmann, Elisabeth; Hilpert, Mario; Hunter, Mark; Kloos, Marco; Koglin, Jason E.; Lane, Thomas J.; Lewandowski, Jim; Lutman, Alberto; Nass, Karol (2021-03-15). "Effect of X-ray free-electron laser-induced shockwaves on haemoglobin microcrystals delivered in a liquid jet". Nature Communications. 12 (1): 1672. Bibcode:2021NatCo..12.1672G. doi:10.1038/s41467-021-21819-8. ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   7960726 . PMID   33723266.
  24. ↑ Carbajo, Sergio (2021-01-01). "Light by Design for Next-Generation Electron Beams Sources and X-ray Free Electron Lasers". APS. 2021: H71.252. Bibcode:2021APS..MARH71252C – via Astrophysics Data System.
  25. ↑ Tang, Jingyi; Lemons, Randy; Liu, Wei; Vetter, Sharon; Maxwell, Timothy; Decker, Franz-Josef; Lutman, Alberto; Krzywinski, Jacek; Marcus, Gabriel; Moeller, Stefan; Huang, Zhirong; Ratner, Daniel; Carbajo, Sergio (2020-03-30). "Laguerre-Gaussian Mode Laser Heater for Microbunching Instability Suppression in Free-Electron Lasers". Physical Review Letters. 124 (13): 134801. Bibcode:2020PhRvL.124m4801T. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.134801 . PMID   32302180.
  26. ↑ Varma, Ravi; Lemons, Randy; Carbajo, Sergio (2023). "Bessel-Gaussian laser heater mode for microbunching instability suppression in free-electron lasers". In Dudley, Angela; Laskin, Alexander V. (eds.). Laser Beam Shaping XXIII. Vol. 12667. p. 14. doi:10.1117/12.2676222. ISBN   978-1-5106-6548-4.{{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  27. ↑ Salamin, Yousef; Carbajo, Sergio (2023-05-05), Electron acceleration by exponentially-chirped laser pulses, Optica Open, doi:10.1364/opticaopen.22766891.v1 , retrieved April 3, 2025
  28. ↑ Ibrahim, Mohamed; Fransson, Thomas; Chatterjee, Ruchira; Cheah, Mun Hon; Hussein, Rana; Lassalle, Louise; Sutherlin, Kyle D.; Young, Iris D.; Fuller, Franklin D.; Gul, Sheraz; Kim, In-Sik; Simon, Philipp S.; de Lichtenberg, Casper; Chernev, Petko; Bogacz, Isabel (2020-06-09). "Untangling the sequence of events during the S2 → S3 transition in photosystem II and implications for the water oxidation mechanism". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (23): 12624–12635. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2000529117 . PMC   7293653 . PMID   32434915.
  29. ↑ Yong, Haiwang; Zotev, Nikola; Ruddock, Jennifer M.; Stankus, Brian; Simmermacher, Mats; Carrascosa, Andrés Moreno; Du, Wenpeng; Goff, Nathan; Chang, Yu; Bellshaw, Darren; Liang, Mengning; Carbajo, Sergio; Koglin, Jason E.; Robinson, Joseph S.; Boutet, Sébastien (2020-05-01). "Observation of the molecular response to light upon photoexcitation". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 2157. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.2157Y. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-15680-4. ISSN   2041-1723. PMC   7195484 . PMID   32358535.
  30. ↑ Ishigami, Izumi; Carbajo, Sergio; Zatsepin, Nadia; Hikita, Masahide; Conrad, Chelsie E.; Nelson, Garrett; Coe, Jesse; Basu, Shibom; Grant, Thomas; Seaberg, Matthew H.; Sierra, Raymond G.; Hunter, Mark S.; Fromme, Petra; Fromme, Raimund; Rousseau, Denis L. (2023-10-18). "Detection of a Geminate Photoproduct of Bovine Cytochrome c Oxidase by Time-Resolved Serial Femtosecond Crystallography". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 145 (41): 22305–22309. Bibcode:2023JAChS.14522305I. doi:10.1021/jacs.3c07803. ISSN   1520-5126. PMC   10814876 . PMID   37695261.
  31. ↑ "Invited Speakers | Optica". www.optica.org. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  32. ↑ Ahr, Frederike; Jolly, Spencer W.; Matlis, Nicholas H.; Carbajo, Sergio; Kroh, Tobias; Ravi, Koustuban; Schimpf, Damian N.; Schulte, Jan; Ishizuki, Hideki; Taira, Takunori; Maier, Andreas R.; Kärtner, Franz X. (2017-06-01). "Narrowband terahertz generation with chirped-and-delayed laser pulses in periodically poled lithium niobate". Optics Letters. 42 (11): 2118–2121. Bibcode:2017OptL...42.2118A. doi:10.1364/OL.42.002118. ISSN   1539-4794. PMID   28569860.
  33. ↑ Carbajo, Sergio; Schulte, Jan; Wu, Xiaojun; Ravi, Koustuban; Schimpf, Damian N.; Kärtner, Franz X. (2015-12-15). "Efficient narrowband terahertz generation in cryogenically cooled periodically poled lithium niobate". Optics Letters. 40 (24): 5762–5765. Bibcode:2015OptL...40.5762C. doi:10.1364/OL.40.005762. ISSN   1539-4794. PMID   26670506.
  34. ↑ Li, Zairui; Carbajo, Sergio; Sims, Wesley; Mitchell Allen Jordan Coney Gabrielle Bell Team (2023-01-01). "Development of Attosecond Cross-Correlator for Evaluation of High-Harmonic Generation". APS. 2023: S71.012. Bibcode:2023APS..MARS71012L.
  35. ↑ "NLIGHTEN PHOTONICS LLC in Boulder Creek, CA | Company Info & Reviews". www.bizapedia.com. 2025-04-02. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  36. ↑ "Technology -2022-286 Optical Pulse Temporal Shaping Through Nonlinear Mixing". ucla.technologypublisher.com. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  37. ↑ "Technology -Copyright: Machine Learning-Assisted Design of High Power Laser Systems (Case No. 2024-067)". ucla.technologypublisher.com. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  38. ↑ "Technology -Method for Simultaneous Nonlinear Frequency Conversion and Spectro-Temporal Shaping of Lightwaves (Case No. 2024-254)". ucla.technologypublisher.com. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  39. 1 2 "2024 Young Investigator Award Recipients". Office of Naval Research. 2023-09-27. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  40. ↑ "Directed Energy Weapons: Ultra-Short Pulse Laser and Atmospheric Characterization". Office of Naval Research. 2022-03-18. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  41. ↑ "AFRL/AFOSR awards $25 million via Young Investigator Research Program". WIN THE FUTURE. Archived from the original on 2025-03-31. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  42. ↑ www.afrl.af.mil http://web.archive.org/web/20240630194416/https://www.afrl.af.mil/Portals/90/Documents/AFOSR/AFRL_AFOSR_2023%20YIP.pdf?ver=mzxed9igpLbwIKnPUpY54Q%3D%3D. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-06-30. Retrieved April 4, 2025.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  43. 1 2 "2024 | Light: Science & Applications". www.nature.com. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  44. 1 2 "Prof. Dr. Sergio Carbajo". www.humboldt-foundation.de. Retrieved April 4, 2025.
  45. ↑ "Ultrafast X-ray scattering | 2021 Faraday Division Horizon Prize winner". Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  46. ↑ "Sergio Carbajo: The 2021 Early Career Achievement Award - Industry/Government Focus". spie.org. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  47. ↑ "UCLA Engineering Professors Receive Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Awards". UCLA Samueli School of Engineering.
  48. ↑ "Sergio Carbajo: The 2021 Early Career Achievement Award". spie.org. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  49. ↑ "#lgbtqia #hackathon #hackathons | Sergio Carbajo". 2025-04-15. Archived from the original on 2025-04-15. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
  50. ↑ "All-gender restrooms at SLAC | Employee Resource Groups". web.slac.stanford.edu. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
  51. ↑ "Pride Month Wrap-Up | Employee Resource Groups". web.slac.stanford.edu. Retrieved April 15, 2025.
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