Jesse Frantz has been a physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) since 2004 where his research is focused on the development of novel optical thin film materials. He studies selenide- and sulfide-based films for applications including infrared planar waveguides, metamaterials, and flexible photovoltaics. He helped establish a new vacuum deposition cluster system facility – a major capital equipment facility in NRL’s Optical Sciences Division that is being used for a variety of projects including the fabrication of advanced, multi-layer thin films for photovoltaic applications.