Dr Verónica González Fernández

Assistant Professor at Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Verónica González-Fernández holds a degree in Physics (Univ. of Valladolid, 2008-2013), Master in Optical and Imaging Technologies (Univ. Complutense Madrid, 2013-2014). Master Thesis at the Institute of Optics (CSIC); on the use of adaptive optics.

PhD in Physics (Univ. de Valladolid 2014-2018), supervised by Inmaculada de la Rosa and Andreas Steiger. Her thesis “High precision two-photon spectroscopy of hydrogen isotopes for the measurement of the electric field in plasmas generated in hollow cathode discharges” focused on the diagnosis of hydrogen and deuterium plasmas by laser spectroscopy. The influence of cathode diameter and material (tungsten and stainless steel), and the effect of sputtering were studied. The diagnostics was performed by measuring the plasma electric field with an extraordinary spatial resolution (100 µm), injecting ad-hoc generated 243 nm radiation (including OPO, OPAs and sum of frequencies). The 1S-2S transition of hydrogen and deuterium was induced, and the electric field was determined by displacement and splitting of the 2S level by the Stark effect. She completed two stays (4 months) with Dr. Andreas Steiger at PTB Berlin.

In December 2018, she started two-year postdoc at the PIIM Laboratory (CNRS-EUROFusion), implementing a spectrotomography system to measure plasma electron density and temperature. After, she was hired as a researcher-teacher at the Univ. of Aix-Marseille, designing a system to measure the electric field in a magnetized plasma column via Lyman-α stimulated photon emission, with applications in measurements on edge plasmas in a Tokamak.

Since September 2020, she is Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Optics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where she looks to open a research line in plasma physics, while collaborating with different researchers in the department.

She is involved in outreach projects and gender issues initiatives, being the president of the Women in Optics and Photonics Area of the Spanish Optical Society.