OSC Colloquium: Richard Youngworth colloquium, "What All Optical Scientists Should Know..."

Sept. 8, 2021
Richard Youngworth

Topic: What All Optical Scientists Should Know about (Optics) Standards 

Host: Dalziel Wilson 

Co-Host: Jose Sasian 

Visit our website for future lecture dates and speaker information: http://www.optics.arizona.edu/news-ev... For a list of our archived lectures: http://www.optics.arizona.edu/news-ev... 

Abstract(s): 

In this presentation we give a “crash course” into what everyone should know about how standards affect optical sciences and industry. Standards have a long rich history of successful application, including setting scientific norms like weights and measures, units, safety, providing quality guarantees, and making life easier for complex industries with communication and testing protocols. Our approach will be a fast-paced and entertaining look at multiple facets of standards: their history, how and why standards are applied, the organization of relevant standards groups, the process of developing standards, the future of standards, and how you can get involved and become one of the critical workers helping to develop optics standards. The talk is a great opportunity to gain exposure to this broad and important career topic. 

Speaker Bio(s): 

Richard N. Youngworth, Ph.D. is Founder and Chief Engineer of Riyo LLC, an optical design and engineering firm and through Riyo is Staff Technical Consultant for Lambda Research Corporation. Dr. Youngworth is a Fellow of SPIE and OSA and has been honored to be an Adjunct Associate Professor at the James C. Wyant College of Optical Sciences since 2012. David M Aikens is Founder and Chief Engineer of Savvy Optics Corp, which is dedicated to reducing confusion and waste in the optics industry through standards, training, and practical products to address the troubling problem of surface imperfection specifications. He is a Fellow of SPIE and this year's recipient of the prestigious A. E. Conrady Award for optical engineering.

 

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Dec
05
Donna Strickland Colloquium
OSC Colloquium: Donna Strickland, "High Intensity Fiber lasers for Nonlinear Optics"
3:30 – 5 p.m., Dec. 5, 2024

Ti:sapphire lasers offer the largest bandwidths and therefore the shortest pulses.   The highest laser intensities have been achieved using Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA) of large diameter solid state lasers.  CPA was needed to avoid damage from the nonlinear process of self-focusing.  The disadvantage of solid-state lasers is the limited average power.  On the other hand, diode pumped fiber laser systems offer significantly higher average power than solid state lasers. Self-focusing is eliminated in single mode fibers by guiding and so nonlinear optics can be beneficial rather than detrimental and used to broaden the gain bandwidth.  Single fiber laser amplifiers will not reach the highest intensities offered by solid state lasers, but in this talk, I will discuss developing fiber laser amplifiers for nonlinear optical interactions such as mid-infrared generation and laser acceleration of electrons that require high intensity and benefit from high average power.

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