Dr. Ribal Georges Sabat rmc, CD, BSc, MSc, PhD Assistant Professor

Department of Physics

Georges Sabat

Office: Sawyer Building, Room 5303

Telephone: 613-541-6000 ext 6721

Fax: 613-541-6040

E-mail: Sabat@rmc.ca

Department of Physics

Royal Military College of Canada

PO Box 17000, Station Forces

Kingston, Ontario CANADA

K7K 7B4

Dr. Sabat researches the physical properties of electromechanical and optical transducer materials for use in functional devices and applications. A transducer material can transform one type of energy into another. In the case of electromechanical transducers, they transform electrical energy into mechanical energy and vice versa. Such materials include piezoelectric and electrostrictive materials. They are mostly used in sensor and actuator applications by respectively detecting or producing physical vibrations, as in the case of medical ultrasound systems and naval SONARs. In the case of optical transducer materials, these consist of transparent materials that can transform the electromagnetic energy of light into mechanical or electrical energy and vice versa. They exhibit behaviours such as the electro-optical, photovoltaic, photoresist or thermo-optical effects. These have also been used in a wide array of applications ranging from optical switches and modulators to displays and light waveguides. Dr. Sabat experimentally studies these transducer effects in bulk ceramics, polymers, organic and inorganic thin films, single crystals and composites, and solar cells, in order to measure their material coefficients and be able to predict their performance under various operating conditions. He also investigates the physical principles at work in order to try to increase or enhance the transducer materials’ performance using various techniques, such as surface plasmon resonance and nano-scaled surface relief diffraction gratings. Such research will pave the way for device engineers and manufacturers to develop applications based on these materials in areas such as optical communications, automotive industry, aerospace, medical, vibration, noise and shape control, non-destructive evaluation and monitoring of structures, and many more...

For more information, see: Laboratory for Ferroelectric and Optical Materials

Papers Recently Published in Refereed International Journals

R.G. Sabat, “Harmonic Modulation Behavior in Lead Lanthanum Zirconate Titanate Ceramics”, Journal of Applied Physics, Volume 110, Issue 7, 074108, 2011
L. Levesque, R.G. Sabat, “Thermal Lensing Investigation on Bulk Ceramics and Thin-Film PLZT Using Visible and Far-Infrared Laser Beams”, Journal of Optical Materials, Volume 33, Issue 3, p. 460-465, 2011
R.G. Sabat, M.J.L. Santos, P. Rochon, “Surface Plasmon-Induced Band Gap in the Photocurrent Response of Organic Solar Cells”, International Journal of Photoenergy, vol. 2010, Article ID 698718, 5 pages, 2010.
L. Levesque, R.G. Sabat, “Thermal Lensing Investigation on Bulk Ceramics and Thin-Film PLZT Using Visible and Far-Infrared Laser Beams”, Journal of Optical Materials, Volume 33, Issue 3, p. 460-465, 2010.
R.G. Sabat, N. Rochon, P. Rochon, “Dependence of Surface Plasmon Polarization Conversion on the Grating Pitch”, Journal of the Optical Society of America A, Volume 27, Issue 3, p. 518–522, 2010.
R.G. Sabat, P. Rochon, "Surface Relief Diffraction Gratings for Modulation Enhancement in PLZT Thin Films", Ferroelectrics Letters, Volume 36, p. 67-75, 2009.
R.G. Sabat, P. Rochon, "The Dependence of the Refractive Index Change of Clamped Relaxor Ferroelectric Lead Lanthanum Zirconate Titanate (PLZT) Ceramics on AC and DC Electric Fields Measured Using an Interferometric Method", Ferroelectrics, Volume 386, Issue 1, p. 105-117, 2009.
R.G. Sabat, P. Rochon, "Investigation of Relaxor PLZT Thin Films as Resonant Optical Waveguides and the Temperature Dependence of their Refractive Index", Applied Optics, Volume 48, Issue 14, p. 2649-2654, 2009.
R.G. Sabat, P. Rochon, "Interferometric Determination of the Temperature Dependence of the Refractive Index of Relaxor PLZT Ceramics under DC Bias", Journal of Optical Materials, Volume 31, Issue 10, p. 1454-1458, 2009.
R.G. Sabat, P. Rochon, B.K. Mukherjee, "Quasistatic Dielectric and Strain Characterization of Transparent Relaxor Ferroelectric Lead Lanthanum Zirconate Titanate (PLZT) Ceramics", Journal of Applied Physics, Volume 104, Issue 5, 054115, 2008.
R.G. Sabat, W. Ren, G. Yang, B.K. Mukherjee, "Temperature dependence of the complete material coefficients matrix of soft and hard doped PZT ceramics", Journal of Applied Physics, Volume 101, Issue 4, 064111, 2007.