Lahsen Assoufid has been made a Fellow of the Optical Society (OSA) “For contributions and leadership in x-ray optics, metrology, and nanofocusing optics development.” He is Section Leader for Mirror Multilayer and Metrology in the X-ray Science Division (XSD) Optics and Detectors Group at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.

OSA members who have served with distinction in the advancement of optics may be proposed for election to the class of Fellow. This honor is reserved to no more than 10% of the total membership. Assoufid and the other newly elected Fellow Members will be announced in December 2010 and will be recognized at OSA conferences throughout 2011.

Assoufid received his Ph.D. in physics in 1991 from the University of Paris, France, and did his graduate research work at Cornell University. He joined the Advanced Photon Source as Visiting Scientist in 1992 to work on high-power-load x-ray synchrotron radiation optics while contributing to the development of phase plates for circularly polarized hard x-rays, and to experiments on magnetic Compton scattering, and was hired for a regular staff position in 1993. In 1996 he became the Principal Investigator for the X-ray Optics Metrology Laboratory in the Argonne X-ray Facilities Division (now XSD). His contributions to his field include the development of stitching interferometry for large x-ray mirrors and the development of the first fully automated stitching interference microscope for characterizing x-ray nanofocusing grazing incidence elliptical mirrors. Assoufid is author or co-author on more than 50 publications, and has organized and chaired a number of conferences on x-ray optics and instrumentations, including the first major international workshop for x-ray and neutron optics. He founded and served as Chair for the International Society of Optical Engineers (SPIE) conference in Advances in Metrology for X-ray and EUV Optics, and served in the leadership of the Chicago Chapter of SPIE during 2004-7, contributing to optics and educational outreach activities in the Chicago area. He has been an active member of the OSA for nearly 10 years. In 2009 he served as Program co-Chair for the OSA’s 2009 Frontiers in Optics Annual Meeting. He is a member of the American Physical Society, the OSA, and SPIE.

Informed of Assoufid’s nomination to OSA Fellow, XSD Director Linda Young said, “XSD is truly fortunate to have an x-ray optics and metrology expert of Lahsen’s caliber. His development of novel methods to quantitatively characterize nano-focusing optics will keep the APS at the forefront of x-ray imaging.”

The Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory is one of five national synchrotron radiation light sources supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (DOE-BES). The APS is the source of the Western Hemisphere’s brightest high-energy x-ray beams for research in virtually every scientific discipline. More than 3,500 scientists representing universities, industry, and academic institutions from every U.S. state and several foreign nations visit the APS each year to carry out applied and basic research in support of the BES mission to understand, predict, and ultimately control matter and energy at the electronic, atomic, and molecular levels in order to provide the foundations for new energy technologies and to support DOE missions in energy, environment, and national security. To learn more about the Office of Basic Energy Sciences and its x-ray user facilities.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.