Karthick Kumar

09 March 2026

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Education / Work History

• Optical Physicist, Forbes Marshall, Pune Bengaluru, Karnataka, India (present)
• Scientist, General Electric, Bangalore (2016-2017)
• Postdoc, University of California (2013-2015)
• Postdoc, Stanford University (2010-2013)
• Ph.D. Scholar, IIT Kanpur (2004-2009)
• M.Sc., The American College (2000-2002)
• B.Sc., Madhurai Kamaraj University (1996-1999)

Thesis Abstract

Development of Ultrafast Multidimensional Optical Spectroscopy in Solution Phase

The present thesis concerns with spectrally resolved photon echo spectroscopy, a multidimensional technique to study the vibrational and electronic dynamics in complex molecules. Also details about the construction of a two-dimensional Fourier transform spectrometer using acousto-optic modulator based pulse shaper are presented. Spectrally resolved femtosecond three pulse photon echo signal from some metal-octaethyl porphyrins (OEPs) like Zn(II)-OEP, Ni(II)-OEP, Co(II)-OEP is reported. Excited state dynamics is studied by time evolving photon echo spectra for different values of coherence and population relaxation times. Dependence on the spectrally resolved photon echo spectra on varying metal center is also analyzed. For all these metallo-porphyrins, the electronic relaxation timescales are found to be limited by our laser pulse-width of 50 femtoseconds whereas the timescale for intramolecular vibrational relaxation, occurring within the Q00 band, was within a few hundreds of femtoseconds. Spectrally resolved photon echo spectroscopy was used to further explore the biologically relevant molecule Astaxanthin (a carotenoid which is responsible for coloration of lobsters) and some laser dyes like Rhodamine 6G and Fluorescein. Detailed description of design and construction of a molecular beam chamber with a time of flight massspectrometer is presented. Effect of chirping a femtosecond laser pulse on the fragmentation of n-propyl benzene is discussed.

Research Topic / Interest

Contact me to know my current interests.

Publications

These include only those published in our lab.

1. Chirp and Polarization Control of Femtosecond Molecular Fragmentation. T. Goswami, D. K. Das, S. K. Karthick Kumar, and D. Goswami, Indian Journal of Physics 86(3), 181–185 (2012) [BibTeX]

    BibTeX: @article{goswamiChirpPolarizationControl2012,
     title = {Chirp and Polarization Control of Femtosecond Molecular Fragmentation},
     author = {Goswami, T. and Das, D. K. and Karthick Kumar, S. K. and Goswami, D.},
     year = {2012},
     month = mar,
     journal = {Indian Journal of Physics},
     volume = {86},
     number = {3},
     pages = {181--185},
     issn = {0974-9845},
     doi = {10/f3xs5c},
     urldate = {2019-08-02},
     langid = {english},
     annotation = {GSCC: 0000003 \\
     3 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
     00003}
   }
   

2. Control of Laser Induced Molecular Fragmentation of N-Propyl Benzene Using Chirped Femtosecond Laser Pulses. T. Goswami, S. K. Karthick Kumar, A. Dutta, and D. Goswami, Chemical Physics 360(1), 47–52 (2009) [BibTeX]

    BibTeX: @article{goswamiControlLaserInduced2009,
     title = {Control of Laser Induced Molecular Fragmentation of N-Propyl Benzene Using Chirped Femtosecond Laser Pulses},
     author = {Goswami, Tapas and Karthick Kumar, S. K. and Dutta, Aveek and Goswami, Debabrata},
     year = {2009},
     month = jun,
     journal = {Chemical Physics},
     volume = {360},
     number = {1},
     pages = {47--52},
     issn = {0301-0104},
     doi = {10/b2h79c},
     urldate = {2019-08-14},
     annotation = {GSCC: 0000026 \\
     16 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
     00023}
   }
   

3. Femtosecond Spatio-Temporal Control. D. Goswami, T. Goswami, A. K. De, D. Roy, D. Das, and S. K. K. Kumar, International Conference on Optics and Photonics 4 (2009) [BibTeX]

    BibTeX: @article{goswamiFemtosecondSpatioTemporalControl2009,
     title = {Femtosecond {{Spatio-Temporal Control}}},
     author = {Goswami, Debabrata and Goswami, T and De, A K and Roy, D and Das, D and Kumar, S K Karthick},
     year = {2009},
     journal = {International Conference on Optics and Photonics},
     pages = {4},
     langid = {english},
     annotation = {GSCC: 0000005 \\
     00000}
   }
   

4. Probing the Ultrafast Solution Dynamics of a Cyanine Dye in an Organic Solvent Interfaced with Water. T. Goswami, S. K. K. Kumar, A. Dutta, and D. Goswami, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 113(51), 16332–16336 (2009) [BibTeX]

    BibTeX: @article{goswamiProbingUltrafastSolution2009,
     title = {Probing the {{Ultrafast Solution Dynamics}} of a {{Cyanine Dye}} in an {{Organic Solvent Interfaced}} with {{Water}}},
     author = {Goswami, Tapas and Kumar, S. K. Karthick and Dutta, Aveek and Goswami, Debabrata},
     year = {2009},
     month = dec,
     journal = {The Journal of Physical Chemistry B},
     volume = {113},
     number = {51},
     pages = {16332--16336},
     issn = {1520-6106},
     doi = {10/dc3b67},
     urldate = {2019-08-14},
     annotation = {9 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
     00007}
   }
   

5. Towards Using Molecular States as Qubits. D. Goswami, T. Goswami, S. K. K. Kumar, and D. K. Das, AIP Conference Proceedings 1384(1), 251–253 (2011) [BibTeX]

    BibTeX: @article{goswamiUsingMolecularStates2011,
     title = {Towards {{Using Molecular States}} as {{Qubits}}},
     author = {Goswami, Debabrata and Goswami, Tapas and Kumar, S. K. Karthick and Das, Dipak K.},
     year = {2011},
     month = sep,
     journal = {AIP Conference Proceedings},
     volume = {1384},
     number = {1},
     pages = {251--253},
     issn = {0094-243X},
     doi = {10/bfnp4m},
     urldate = {2019-08-02},
     annotation = {GSCC: 0000000 \\
     0 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
     00000}
   }
   

6. Spectrally Resolved Photon Echo Spectroscopy of Zn(II), Co(II) and Ni(II)–Octaethyl Porphyrins. S. K. Karthick Kumar, V. Tiwari, T. Goswami, and D. Goswami, Chemical Physics Letters 476(1), 31–36 (2009) [BibTeX]

    BibTeX: @article{karthickkumarSpectrallyResolvedPhoton2009,
     title = {Spectrally Resolved Photon Echo Spectroscopy of {{Zn}}({{II}}), {{Co}}({{II}}) and {{Ni}}({{II}})--Octaethyl Porphyrins},
     author = {Karthick Kumar, S. K. and Tiwari, Vivek and Goswami, Tapas and Goswami, Debabrata},
     year = {2009},
     month = jul,
     journal = {Chemical Physics Letters},
     volume = {476},
     number = {1},
     pages = {31--36},
     issn = {0009-2614},
     doi = {10/fpmh7d},
     urldate = {2019-08-14},
     annotation = {GSCC: 0000004 \\
     4 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
     00004}
   }
   

7. Ultrafast Pulse Shaping Developments for Quantum Computation. S. K. Karthick Kumar and D. Goswami, in Current Topics in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (WORLD SCIENTIFIC, 2006), pp. 133–141 [BibTeX]

    BibTeX: @incollection{karthickkumarUltrafastPulseShaping2006,
     title = {Ultrafast Pulse Shaping Developments for Quantum Computation},
     booktitle = {Current {{Topics}} in {{Atomic}}, {{Molecular}} and {{Optical Physics}}},
     author = {Karthick Kumar, S. K. and Goswami, Debabrata},
     year = {2006},
     month = dec,
     pages = {133--141},
     publisher = {WORLD SCIENTIFIC},
     doi = {10.1142/9789812772510_0010},
     urldate = {2019-08-14},
     isbn = {978-981-270-379-8},
     annotation = {GSCC: 0000000 \\
     00000}
   }
   

8. Spectrally Resolved Femtosecond Photon Echo Spectroscopy of Astaxanthin. A. Kumar, S. K. K. Kumar, A. Gupta, and D. Goswami, in Photonics 2010: Tenth International Conference on Fiber Optics and Photonics (International Society for Optics and Photonics, 2011), 8173, p. 817325 [BibTeX]

    BibTeX: @inproceedings{kumarSpectrallyResolvedFemtosecond2011,
     title = {Spectrally Resolved Femtosecond Photon Echo Spectroscopy of Astaxanthin},
     booktitle = {Photonics 2010: {{Tenth International Conference}} on {{Fiber Optics}} and {{Photonics}}},
     author = {Kumar, Ajitesh and Kumar, S. K. Karthick and Gupta, Aditya and Goswami, Debabrata},
     year = {2011},
     month = aug,
     volume = {8173},
     pages = {817325},
     publisher = {{International Society for Optics and Photonics}},
     doi = {10/fs3jxj},
     urldate = {2019-08-02},
     annotation = {GSCC: 0000000 \\
     0 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
     00000}
   }
   

9. Spectrally Resolved Photon-Echo Spectroscopy of Rhodamine-6G. A. Kumar, S. K. Karthick, and D. Goswami, Journal of spectroscopy and dynamics 3(1), 2 (2013) [BibTeX]

    BibTeX: @article{kumarSpectrallyResolvedPhotonecho2013,
     title = {Spectrally Resolved Photon-Echo Spectroscopy of {{Rhodamine-6G}}},
     author = {Kumar, Ajitesh and Karthick, S. K. and Goswami, D.},
     year = {2013},
     month = feb,
     journal = {Journal of spectroscopy and dynamics},
     volume = {3},
     number = {1},
     pages = {2},
     issn = {2249-2704},
     urldate = {2019-08-02},
     pmcid = {PMC3790070},
     pmid = {24098869},
     annotation = {GSCC: 0000001 \\
     00000}
   }
   

10. Study of Two Xanthene Dyes Using Spectrally Resolved Three-Pulse Photon Echo Spectroscopy. A. Kumar, S. K. K. Kumar, S. Singhal, and D. Goswami, Current Science 108(10), 1801–1803 (2015) [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @article{kumarStudyTwoXanthene2015,
      title = {Study of Two Xanthene Dyes Using Spectrally Resolved Three-Pulse Photon Echo Spectroscopy},
      author = {Kumar, Ajitesh and Kumar, S. K. Karthick and Singhal, Sumit and Goswami, Debabrata},
      year = {2015},
      journal = {Current Science},
      volume = {108},
      number = {10},
      eprint = {24905603},
      eprinttype = {jstor},
      pages = {1801--1803},
      issn = {0011-3891},
      urldate = {2019-08-01},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000000 \\
      00000}
    }
    

11. Time Comb Pulses Through Ultrafast Pulse Shaping. S. K. K. Kumar and D. Goswami, in Controlling Light with Light: Photorefractive Effects, Photosensitivity, Fiber Gratings, Photonic Materials and More (2007), Paper MB61 (Optical Society of America, 2007), p. MB61 [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @inproceedings{kumarTimeCombPulses2007,
      title = {Time {{Comb Pulses Through Ultrafast Pulse Shaping}}},
      booktitle = {Controlling {{Light}} with {{Light}}: {{Photorefractive Effects}}, {{Photosensitivity}}, {{Fiber Gratings}}, {{Photonic Materials}} and {{More}} (2007), Paper {{MB61}}},
      author = {Kumar, S. K. Karthick and Goswami, D.},
      year = {2007},
      month = oct,
      pages = {MB61},
      publisher = {Optical Society of America},
      doi = {10/gf6c9f},
      urldate = {2019-08-14},
      copyright = {\&\#169; 2007 Optical Society of America},
      langid = {english},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000053 \\
      0 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
      00000}
    }
    

12. Visible 20-Femtosecond Pulse Generation by Double-Pass Non-Collinear Optical Parametric Amplifier. S. K. K. Kumar, T. Goswami, I. Bhattacharyya, and D. Goswami, Current Science 96(11), 1496–1500 (2009) [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @article{kumarVisible20femtosecondPulse2009,
      title = {Visible 20-Femtosecond Pulse Generation by Double-Pass Non-Collinear Optical Parametric Amplifier},
      author = {Kumar, S. K. Karthick and Goswami, T. and Bhattacharyya, I. and Goswami, D.},
      year = {2009},
      journal = {Current Science},
      volume = {96},
      number = {11},
      eprint = {24104778},
      eprinttype = {jstor},
      pages = {1496--1500},
      issn = {0011-3891},
      urldate = {2019-08-14},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000004 \\
      00002}
    }
    

13. Femtosecond Spatio-Temporal Control. D. Goswami, T. Goswami, A. K. De, D. Roy, D. Das, and S. K. K. Kumar, International Conference on Optics and Photonics 4 (2009) [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @article{goswamiFemtosecondSpatioTemporalControl2010,
      title = {Femtosecond {{Spatio-Temporal Control}}},
      author = {Goswami, Debabrata and Goswami, T and De, A K and Roy, D and Das, D and Kumar, S K Karthick},
      year = {2009},
      journal = {International Conference on Optics and Photonics},
      pages = {4},
      langid = {english},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000005 \\
      00000}
    }
    

14. Chirp and Polarization Control of Femtosecond Molecular Fragmentation. T. Goswami, D. K. Das, S. K. Karthick Kumar, and D. Goswami, Indian Journal of Physics 86(3), 181–185 (2012) [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @article{goswamiChirpPolarizationControl2013,
      title = {Chirp and Polarization Control of Femtosecond Molecular Fragmentation},
      author = {Goswami, T. and Das, D. K. and Karthick Kumar, S. K. and Goswami, D.},
      year = {2012},
      month = mar,
      journal = {Indian Journal of Physics},
      volume = {86},
      number = {3},
      pages = {181--185},
      issn = {0974-9845},
      doi = {10/f3xs5c},
      urldate = {2019-08-02},
      langid = {english},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000003 \\
      3 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
      00003}
    }
    

15. Control of Laser Induced Molecular Fragmentation of N-Propyl Benzene Using Chirped Femtosecond Laser Pulses. T. Goswami, S. K. Karthick Kumar, A. Dutta, and D. Goswami, Chemical Physics 360(1), 47–52 (2009) [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @article{goswamiControlLaserInduced2010,
      title = {Control of Laser Induced Molecular Fragmentation of N-Propyl Benzene Using Chirped Femtosecond Laser Pulses},
      author = {Goswami, Tapas and Karthick Kumar, S. K. and Dutta, Aveek and Goswami, Debabrata},
      year = {2009},
      month = jun,
      journal = {Chemical Physics},
      volume = {360},
      number = {1},
      pages = {47--52},
      issn = {0301-0104},
      doi = {10/b2h79c},
      urldate = {2019-08-14},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000026 \\
      16 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
      00023}
    }
    

16. Probing the Ultrafast Solution Dynamics of a Cyanine Dye in an Organic Solvent Interfaced with Water. T. Goswami, S. K. K. Kumar, A. Dutta, and D. Goswami, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 113(51), 16332–16336 (2009) [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @article{goswamiProbingUltrafastSolution2010,
      title = {Probing the {{Ultrafast Solution Dynamics}} of a {{Cyanine Dye}} in an {{Organic Solvent Interfaced}} with {{Water}}},
      author = {Goswami, Tapas and Kumar, S. K. Karthick and Dutta, Aveek and Goswami, Debabrata},
      year = {2009},
      month = dec,
      journal = {The Journal of Physical Chemistry B},
      volume = {113},
      number = {51},
      pages = {16332--16336},
      issn = {1520-6106},
      doi = {10/dc3b67},
      urldate = {2019-08-14},
      annotation = {9 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
      00007}
    }
    

17. Towards Using Molecular States as Qubits. D. Goswami, T. Goswami, S. K. K. Kumar, and D. K. Das, AIP Conference Proceedings 1384(1), 251–253 (2011) [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @article{goswamiUsingMolecularStates2012,
      title = {Towards {{Using Molecular States}} as {{Qubits}}},
      author = {Goswami, Debabrata and Goswami, Tapas and Kumar, S. K. Karthick and Das, Dipak K.},
      year = {2011},
      month = sep,
      journal = {AIP Conference Proceedings},
      volume = {1384},
      number = {1},
      pages = {251--253},
      issn = {0094-243X},
      doi = {10/bfnp4m},
      urldate = {2019-08-02},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000000 \\
      0 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
      00000}
    }
    

18. Spectrally Resolved Photon Echo Spectroscopy of Zn(II), Co(II) and Ni(II)–Octaethyl Porphyrins. S. K. Karthick Kumar, V. Tiwari, T. Goswami, and D. Goswami, Chemical Physics Letters 476(1), 31–36 (2009) [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @article{karthickkumarSpectrallyResolvedPhoton2010,
      title = {Spectrally Resolved Photon Echo Spectroscopy of {{Zn}}({{II}}), {{Co}}({{II}}) and {{Ni}}({{II}})--Octaethyl Porphyrins},
      author = {Karthick Kumar, S. K. and Tiwari, Vivek and Goswami, Tapas and Goswami, Debabrata},
      year = {2009},
      month = jul,
      journal = {Chemical Physics Letters},
      volume = {476},
      number = {1},
      pages = {31--36},
      issn = {0009-2614},
      doi = {10/fpmh7d},
      urldate = {2019-08-14},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000004 \\
      4 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
      00004}
    }
    

19. Ultrafast Pulse Shaping Developments for Quantum Computation. S. K. Karthick Kumar and D. Goswami, in Current Topics in Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (WORLD SCIENTIFIC, 2006), pp. 133–141 [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @incollection{karthickkumarUltrafastPulseShaping2007,
      title = {Ultrafast Pulse Shaping Developments for Quantum Computation},
      booktitle = {Current {{Topics}} in {{Atomic}}, {{Molecular}} and {{Optical Physics}}},
      author = {Karthick Kumar, S. K. and Goswami, Debabrata},
      year = {2006},
      month = dec,
      pages = {133--141},
      publisher = {WORLD SCIENTIFIC},
      doi = {10.1142/9789812772510_0010},
      urldate = {2019-08-14},
      isbn = {978-981-270-379-8},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000000 \\
      00000}
    }
    

20. Spectrally Resolved Femtosecond Photon Echo Spectroscopy of Astaxanthin. A. Kumar, S. K. K. Kumar, A. Gupta, and D. Goswami, in Photonics 2010: Tenth International Conference on Fiber Optics and Photonics (International Society for Optics and Photonics, 2011), 8173, p. 817325 [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @inproceedings{kumarSpectrallyResolvedFemtosecond2012,
      title = {Spectrally Resolved Femtosecond Photon Echo Spectroscopy of Astaxanthin},
      booktitle = {Photonics 2010: {{Tenth International Conference}} on {{Fiber Optics}} and {{Photonics}}},
      author = {Kumar, Ajitesh and Kumar, S. K. Karthick and Gupta, Aditya and Goswami, Debabrata},
      year = {2011},
      month = aug,
      volume = {8173},
      pages = {817325},
      publisher = {{International Society for Optics and Photonics}},
      doi = {10/fs3jxj},
      urldate = {2019-08-02},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000000 \\
      0 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
      00000}
    }
    

21. Spectrally Resolved Photon-Echo Spectroscopy of Rhodamine-6G. A. Kumar, S. K. Karthick, and D. Goswami, Journal of spectroscopy and dynamics 3(1), 2 (2013) [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @article{kumarSpectrallyResolvedPhotonecho2014,
      title = {Spectrally Resolved Photon-Echo Spectroscopy of {{Rhodamine-6G}}},
      author = {Kumar, Ajitesh and Karthick, S. K. and Goswami, D.},
      year = {2013},
      month = feb,
      journal = {Journal of spectroscopy and dynamics},
      volume = {3},
      number = {1},
      pages = {2},
      issn = {2249-2704},
      urldate = {2019-08-02},
      pmcid = {PMC3790070},
      pmid = {24098869},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000001 \\
      00000}
    }
    

22. Study of Two Xanthene Dyes Using Spectrally Resolved Three-Pulse Photon Echo Spectroscopy. A. Kumar, S. K. K. Kumar, S. Singhal, and D. Goswami, Current Science 108(10), 1801–1803 (2015) [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @article{kumarStudyTwoXanthene2016,
      title = {Study of Two Xanthene Dyes Using Spectrally Resolved Three-Pulse Photon Echo Spectroscopy},
      author = {Kumar, Ajitesh and Kumar, S. K. Karthick and Singhal, Sumit and Goswami, Debabrata},
      year = {2015},
      journal = {Current Science},
      volume = {108},
      number = {10},
      eprint = {24905603},
      eprinttype = {jstor},
      pages = {1801--1803},
      issn = {0011-3891},
      urldate = {2019-08-01},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000000 \\
      00000}
    }
    

23. Time Comb Pulses Through Ultrafast Pulse Shaping. S. K. K. Kumar and D. Goswami, in Controlling Light with Light: Photorefractive Effects, Photosensitivity, Fiber Gratings, Photonic Materials and More (2007), Paper MB61 (Optical Society of America, 2007), p. MB61 [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @inproceedings{kumarTimeCombPulses2008,
      title = {Time {{Comb Pulses Through Ultrafast Pulse Shaping}}},
      booktitle = {Controlling {{Light}} with {{Light}}: {{Photorefractive Effects}}, {{Photosensitivity}}, {{Fiber Gratings}}, {{Photonic Materials}} and {{More}} (2007), Paper {{MB61}}},
      author = {Kumar, S. K. Karthick and Goswami, D.},
      year = {2007},
      month = oct,
      pages = {MB61},
      publisher = {Optical Society of America},
      doi = {10/gf6c9f},
      urldate = {2019-08-14},
      copyright = {\&\#169; 2007 Optical Society of America},
      langid = {english},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000053 \\
      0 citations (Crossref) [2024-05-28]\\
      00000}
    }
    

24. Visible 20-Femtosecond Pulse Generation by Double-Pass Non-Collinear Optical Parametric Amplifier. S. K. K. Kumar, T. Goswami, I. Bhattacharyya, and D. Goswami, Current Science 96(11), 1496–1500 (2009) [BibTeX]

     BibTeX: @article{kumarVisible20femtosecondPulse2010,
      title = {Visible 20-Femtosecond Pulse Generation by Double-Pass Non-Collinear Optical Parametric Amplifier},
      author = {Kumar, S. K. Karthick and Goswami, T. and Bhattacharyya, I. and Goswami, D.},
      year = {2009},
      journal = {Current Science},
      volume = {96},
      number = {11},
      eprint = {24104778},
      eprinttype = {jstor},
      pages = {1496--1500},
      issn = {0011-3891},
      urldate = {2019-08-14},
      annotation = {GSCC: 0000004 \\
      00002}
    }