Rate My Professor Bruce Garetz

His research group studies the interaction of light with molecules and materials, including polarization effects, nonlinear optical effects, laser light scattering, and laser-induced nucleation. They use depolarized light scattering to probe the micrometer-scale grain structure of block copolymer materials with applications as viscoelastic, adhesive, optical, and electrical materials, and investigate integrated static light scattering from polymer blends to determine miscibility for lithium battery electrolytes. Garetz collaborates with Prof. Ryan Hartman to study laser-induced nucleation in microfluidic devices. Crystallization processes are vital in chemical and pharmaceutical industries for controlling crystal size, morphology, and polymorphism. Key publications include "Polarization switching of crystal structure in the non-photochemical light-induced nucleation of supersaturated aqueous glycine solutions" (Phys. Rev. Lett., 2002), "Intensity, Wavelength, and Polarization Dependence of Nonphotochemical Laser-Induced Nucleation in Supersaturated Aqueous Urea Solutions" (Cryst. Growth Des., 2005), "Supersaturation and Polarization Dependence of Nonphotochemical Laser-Induced Nucleation in Supersaturated Aqueous Glycine" (Cryst. Growth Des., 2006), "Observation of Nematic Texture in a Diblock Copolymer Melt" (Macromolecules, 2006), and studies on block copolymer grain structures such as "Grain Structure in Block Copolymer Thin Films Studied by Guided Wave Depolarized Light Scattering" (Macromolecules, 2005). He received the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in 1984, Polytechnic Institute of NYU Distinguished Teacher Awards in 1988 and 2000, and Sigma Xi Distinguished Faculty Research Award in 1996.