{"id":5151,"date":"2026-05-13T15:07:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T19:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/?post_type=profiles&#038;p=5151"},"modified":"2026-08-11T17:10:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T21:10:35","slug":"alejandro-rodriguez","status":"publish","type":"profiles","link":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/profiles\/alejandro-rodriguez\/","title":{"rendered":"Alejandro Rodriguez"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"599\" src=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Rodriguez-Alejandro.jpg\" alt=\"by Corban Swain\" class=\"wp-image-5628\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1;object-fit:cover;width:200px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Rodriguez-Alejandro.jpg 400w, https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/Rodriguez-Alejandro-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>University of Central Florida<\/strong><br>Faculty Advisor: Prof. Karl Berggren<br>Research Supervisor: Gian Luca Dolso<br>Department: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:0px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Biography<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alejandro Rodriguez is a rising senior studying Photonic Science and Engineering at the<br>University of Central Florida. He is a first-generation student who is deeply motivated by the<br>potential of optics to redefine the future of computation. Previously, as a research assistant in<br>Dr. Mihai Vaida\u2019s lab at the UCF Department of Physics, he used femtosecond laser systems<br>to investigate photocatalytic chemical reactions. This introduction to the nanoscale world<br>inspired him to leverage nanotechnology to tackle broader energy-efficiency challenges.<br>Currently at MIT, he is working with Dr. Karl Berggren\u2019s Quantum Nanostructures and<br>Nanofabrication Group to investigate more efficient extreme ultraviolet light generation, a<br>critical bottleneck for the semiconductor industry. Ultimately, Alejandro seeks to apply his<br>experience in nanotechnology to photonic computing. As traditional electronic architectures<br>reach their physical limits, he aims to develop the next-generation photonic processors required<br>to introduce a faster, more energy-efficient computing paradigm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br><strong>Optimizing EUV Outcoupling in Plasmon-Enhanced Solid-State HHG<br>Alejandro Rodriguez1, Gian Luca Dolso2, Phillip D. Keathley2, and Karl K. Berggren2<\/strong><br>1CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida<br>2Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br>High harmonic generation (HHG) in solids is a promising approach for creating compact extreme<br>ultraviolet (EUV) light sources for advanced semiconductor lithography. Surface plasmon polaritons<br>(SPPs) can intensely concentrate a driving laser field to boost conversion efficiency without inducing<br>optical damage, but the resulting EUV light remains trapped at the surface as an evanescent, nonpropagating<br>wave. To extract this radiation into free space, a nanoscale diffraction grating must be<br>engineered to scatter the light outward without disrupting the underlying plasmon resonance. Here<br>we show that a two-step 2D Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) simulation can successfully<br>model and optimize high harmonic outcoupling without sacrificing local field amplification.<br>By implementing a source model that inherits the phase and localized amplitude profiles of the<br>fundamental driver, we established a predictive numerical framework capable of evaluating<br>field enhancement and far-field extraction across a wide range of multilayer geometries. This<br>approach provides a crucial roadmap to directly inform nanofabrication and experimental testing,<br>advancing the development of compact and efficient EUV systems for next-generation microchip<br>manufacturing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5430,"template":"","profile_category":[25],"class_list":["post-5151","profiles","type-profiles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","profile_category-2026-interns"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/profiles"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5745,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/5151\/revisions\/5745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"profile_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_category?post=5151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}