Dr. Gerard O'Connor BSc PhD
Contact Details
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Biography:
| Gerard leads the NCLA laser research group at NUI Galway. This group provides graduate research training in short pulse laser material interactions and works closely with industry on applied research projects. Gerard graduated from NUI Galway in Experimental Physics (1989) and obtained a Ph.D in optical spectroscopy of semiconductor thin films, from NUI Galway in 1994. Following graduation, worked as a Materials Scientist with the National Microelectronics Research Centre (NMRC) in Cork. He returned to Galway in late 1995 when he was appointed Centre Manager for the National Centre for Laser Applications (NCLA). He continued in this role until he was appointed as a Lecturer in the Department of Experimental Physics at NUI Galway in January 2005. He was appointed Senior Lecturer School of Physics in March 2007. He leads the INSPIRE PRTLI 4 & 5 projects at NUI Galway since 2008 and 2011, respectively. He was appointed as External examiner to the University of Liverpool's Postgrauate Laser Engineering Department in 2008. He coordinates an EU IAPP Marie Curie project Laser Connect. He participates in an EU Photonics Clusters project ASPICE. Gerard is the NUI Galway Representative on the SFI supported National Access Programme at Tyndall National Institute, Cork. In January 2011, Gerard succeeded Tom Glynn as the Academic Director of NCLA laser research group. Gerard has 34 Referreed Journal papers, 44 refereed conference publications, He has successfully supervised 7 PhD graduate students and 3 MSc Students. Gerard has research team of 8 postgraduates, 1 postdoc, 2 engineers and 1 Research manager. |
Research Interests
| Short pulse laser ablation using femtosecond and nanosecond laser sources. Hybrid laser processing -particularly using approaches which enhance laser ablation. Micro- and nano-metre scale fabrication. Other interests: Technology transfer and industrial applications of laser technology. Future of advanced manufacturing in high cost economies Laser safety |
Peer Reviewed Journals
| Hughes,G.J., Roberts,L., Henry,M.O.,McGuigan,K., O'Connor,G.M., Erson,F.G., Morgan,G.P.,Glynn,T.J. (1991) 'Investigation of the passivating effect of H2S on the GaAs (100) surface'. Materials Science and Engineering, B9 :37-41. [Details] |
| OCONNOR, G,MCDONAGH, C,GLYNN, TJ (1991) 'LUMINESCENCE FROM FE-3+ IONS IN OCTAHEDRAL SITES IN LIGA5O8'. Journal Of Luminescence, 48-9 :545-548. [Details] |
| Dowling,D.P., Ahern, M.J., Kelly,T.C.,Meenan,B.J., Browne,N.M.D.,O'Connor,G.M.,Glynn,T.J. (1992) 'Characterisation study of diamond and diamond-like carbon'. Surface and Coatings Technology, 53 :177-183. [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (1994) 'Temperature dependence of the PL intensity of ordered and disordered In0.48Ga0.52P'. Applied Physics Letters, 65 :73-75. [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (1995) 'Optical and electrical characterisation of He plasma sputtered nGaAs'. Defects in Semiconductors, 4 . [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (1995) 'A method for laser based thermal diffusivity measurement of advanced multichip module ceramic material'. IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing, 18 . [Details] |
| Morrison,A.P., Considine,L., Walsh,S., Cordero,N., Lambkin,J.D., O'Connor,G.M., Daly,E.M., Glynn,T.J., Van der Poel,C.J. (1997) 'Photoluminescence investigation of carrier confining properties of multiquantum barriers'. IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, 33 (8):1338-1344. [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (1999) 'Identification and quantitative measurements of narcotics in solid mixtures using near-IR Raman spectroscopy and multivariate analysis'. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 44 :1013-1019. [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2000) 'Temperature dependence of InP/GaInP quantum dot photoluminescence'. Microelectronic Engineering, 51 :73-78. [Details] |
| Ryder,A.G., O'Connor, G.M., Glynn, T.J. (2000) 'Quantitative analysis of cocaine in solid mixtures using Raman spectroscopy and chemometric methods'. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy, 31 (3):221-227. [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2002) 'Characterisation of an antibody coated micro-cantilever as a potential immuno-based sensor'. Biosensors & Bioelectronic, 17 :201-207. [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2002) 'High Pressure diamond and diamond like carbon deposition using microwave CAP reactor'. Diamond & Related Materials, 11 . [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2004) 'Characterisation of silicon ablation using Gaussian femtosecond laser pulses and computer generated wavefront reconstruction'. Applied Surface Science, 229 :148-160. [Details] |
| Mannion,P.T., Magee,J.,Coyne,E.,O'Connor,G.M.,Glynn,T.J. (2004) 'The effect of damage accumulation behaviour on ablation thresholds and damage morphology in ultrafast laser micro-machining of common metals in air'. Applied Surface Science, 233 :275-287. [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2005) 'STEM (scanning transmission electron microscopy) analysis of femtosecond laser pulse induced damage to bulk silicon'. Applied Physics A, 81 :371-378. [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2006) 'Microfabrication of Free-Standing Gallium Nitride using Laser Micromachining'. Applied Surface Science, 252 . [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2006) 'Electrical analysis of femtosecond laser pulse absorption in silicon'. European Journal of Applied Physics, 34 :189-195. [DOI] [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2007) 'Langmuir probe diagnosis of plasma expansion in femtosecond and picosecond laser ablation of selected metals'. Journal of Physics Conference Series, 59 . [Details] |
| Mullan,C.,Favre,S.,O'Connor,G.M.,Ilie,D.,Glynn,T.J. (2007) 'Estimating spot size and relating hole diameters with fluence and number of shots for nanosecond and femtosecond laser ablation of PET'. Journal of Laser Applications, 19 (3):158-164. [Details] |
| Ilie,D.,Mullan,C.,O'Connor,G.M.,Flaherty,T.,Glynn,T.J. (2007) 'Controlled process for polymer micromachining using designed pulse trains of a UV solid state laser'. Applied Surface Science, 254 :845-849. [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2008) 'Expansion of a laser plume from a silicon wafer in a wide range of ambient gas pressures'. Applied Physics A, 92 :927-932. [DOI] [Details] |
| Williams,G.O.,Mannion, P.M.,O'Connor,G.M., Glynn,T.J. (2008) 'Langmuir probe investigation of surface contamination effects on metals during femtosecond laser ablation'. Applied Surface Science, 254 (18):5921-5926. [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2008) 'The mechanism of nanobump formation in femtosecond pulse laser nanostructuring of thin metal films'. Applied Physics A, 92 :791-796. [DOI] [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2009) 'Directional ion emission from thin films under femtosecond laser irradiation'. Appl Phys Lett, 94 :101503-101506. [DOI] [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2010) 'Nanocrystalline structure of nanobump generated by localised photoexcitation of metal film'. Jourmal of Applied Physics, 107 . [DOI] [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2010) 'Fabrication of silicon-blazed phase diffractive gratings using grey scale gallium implantation with KOH anisotropic etch, E Coyne and G.M. O'Connor'. Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, 20 . [DOI] [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2010) 'A laser direct write technique for fabricating microlens arrays on soda lime glass with a Nd:YVO4 laser'. Applied Optics, 49 (26):4979-4983. [DOI] [Details] |
Oconnor,G.M. (2011) 'Laser-Induced Liquefaction of Tetrafluoroethane and Sulfur Hexafluoride Gases'. Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 115 (12):5028-5037.  [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2011) 'Application of reconfigurable pinhole mask with excimer laser to fabricate microfluidic components'. Journal of Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, . [Details] |
Conference Publications
| Oconnor,G.M. (1993) Material characterisation using optical spectroscopic techniques Proc Conf Advanced Materials & Processing Technologies [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (1994) Energy band structure of Type I and Type II InGaP/InAlP short period superlattices Proc 22nd Inernational Conference on Physics of Semiconductors [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (1995) Characterisation of excimer lamp photodeposition of ultrathin oxynitride films Proceedings of SPIE [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (1996) Temperature dependence of the luminescence from InP/InGaAs quantum-wells Key Engineering Technologie , pp.157-163 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2000) Optical monitoring of laser generated plasma during laser heating Proceedings Conference on High-power Lasers and Applications (SPIE) , pp.132-138 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2003) Method for the determination of the focussed spot size of industrial laser beams based on the drilling of holes in mylar film Optics & Photonics Technologies and Applications, SPIE Proceedings , pp.541-552 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2003) A study of femtosecond laser interaction with wafer grade silicon Optics & Photonics Technologies and Applications, SPIE Proceedings , pp.487-499 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2003) Development & application of an ultrafast laser micro-machining workstation Optics & Photonics Technologies and Applications, SPIE Proceedings , pp.553-563 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2003) Application of Spectral Reflectivity to the Measurement of Thin-Film Thickness Optics & Photonics Technologies and Applications, SPIE Proceedings , pp.976-983 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2003) Ablation thresholds and feature quality in ultrafast laser micro-machining of common metals in air Optics & Photonics Technologies and Applications, SPIE Proceedings , pp.470-478 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2004) Analysis of debris generated during UV laser micro-machining of silicon Photon Processing in Microelectronics and Photonics III Proc SPIE , pp.241-249 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2004) Onset of phase explosion and the role of damage accumulation in ultrafast laser processing of metals in air Proc of Conference on High Power Laser Ablation , pp.961-972 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2004) Analysis of thermal damage in bulk silicon with femtosecond laser micromachining Photon Processing in Microelectronics and Photonics III, Proc SPIE Vol , pp.73-78 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2004) Analysis of entrapped debris during femtosecond machining of metals SPIE Photonics North Conference (Ottawa) , pp.632-641 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2005) Development of a prediction equation for depth, aspect ratio and trench roughness pertaining to excimer laser ablation of polymer materials SPIE OptoIreland: Laser-based Materials Processing , pp.515-522 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2005) Percussion drilling of polyimide using VUV and UV solid state lasers SPIE OptoIreland: Laser-based Materials Processing , pp.475-485 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2005) Wave-front correction of a femtosecond laser using a deformable mirror SPIE Photonics West, Jan Jose [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2005) Experimental investigation of micromachining on metals with pulse durations in the range of the electron-phonon relaxation time (pico to subpicosecond) Laser in Manufacturing 2005 , pp.521-526 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2005) Computer modelling of short pulse laser nanostructuring of metal surfaces SPIE OptoIreland: Laser-based Materials Processing , pp.457-466 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2005) The interaction of nanosecond UV laser pulses with polyimide and machining strategies for optimising micro-features Laser in Manufacturing 2005 , pp.551-556 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2005) Laser-Based Workstation for the Manufacture of Fused Biconical Tapered Coupler Device SPIE OptoIreland: Laser-based Materials Processing , pp.505-514 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2005) Langmuir probe study of plasma expansion in femtosecond pulsed laserablation of silver SPIE OptoIreland: Laser-based Materials Processing , pp.457-466 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2005) Cumulative damage effects in different machining strategies for 2.5D laser micro structuring of polyimide SPIE OptoIreland: Laser-based Materials Processing , pp.527-536 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2005) A comparative study of channel formation in polymer materials using VUV and UV nano-second laser sources for use in micro-fluidic applications SPIE Photonics Fabrication, Integration and Packaging , pp.622-633 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2005) Scope for electric and magnetic assisted removal of ablated debris from laser machined features SPIE Photonics West, Jan Jose [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2005) Excimer Laser and Lamp-based Techniques Applied to the Nanostructuring of Biomaterials SPIE OptoIreland: Laser-based Materials Processing , pp.489-504 [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2007) Benefits of Non-Polar Assist Liquids as Alternatives to Water Assist in the Laser Machining of Silicon Proc ICALEO [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2007) Characteristics of High-Aspect Ratio Nanosecond Laser Ablation of Silicon at 355nm Wavelength Proc ICALEO [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2007) Machining hole arrays in polyimide using a UV solid state laser and predetermined temporal pulse patterns SPIE Photonics West Laser-based Micro- and Nanopackaging and Assembly [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2008) Laser-induced plume expansion from a silicon wafer in a wide range of ambient gas pressure Fundamentals of Laser Assisted Micro- and Nanotechnologie [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2009) A novel fiber-based technique for inspection of holes in narrow-bore tubes SPIE Optical Measurement Systems for Industrial Inspection VI [Details] |
| Oconnor,G.M. (2010) Parallel Direct Simulation Monte Carlo of Two-Phase Gas-Droplet Laser Plume Expansion from the Bottom of a Cylindrical Cavity into an Ambient Gas Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Computational Fluid Dynamics, ICCFD6 St Petersburg, Russia, , 12-JUL-10 - 16-JUL-10 [Details] |