Tuesday, June 21, 2011 - 1:00 PM EST
The Future of Lasers: Two Perspectives brings together two expert viewpoints on the future of quantum cascade lasers, fiber lasers and next-generation solid-state lasers.

Our Expert Panel:

Federico Capasso 
Federico Capasso, one of the inventors of the quantum cascade laser, presents "The Quantum Cascade Laser Revolution and Its Future," in which he discusses QCLs from their invention to exciting advances in the physics, applications and commercialization of these revolutionary lasers that cover the mid- and far-IR spectrum and are impacting sensing, spectroscopy and subwavelength photonics.

Capasso joined Harvard in 2003 after a 26-year career at Bell Labs. His research includes the design of new artificial materials and novel devices, plasmonics, nanophotonics, and the investigation of Casimir forces. He is co-inventor of the quantum cascade laser (QCL), a fundamentally new light source that has now been commercialized. He will discuss QCLs from their invention to exciting advances in the physics, applications and commercialization of these revolutionary lasers that cover the mid- and far-ir spectrum and are impacting sensing, spectroscopy and sub-wavelength photonics.

Dr. Martin C. Richardson 
In his presentation, "The Future of Solid-State Lasers," Dr. Martin C. Richardson, director of the Townes Laser Institute at the University of Central Florida, discusses the early days of laser, and how moving from flashlamp pumping to diode-pumping revolutionized the field in the 1990s. He talks of the rise of fiber lasers and solid-state ultrafast lasers, and how transformative technologies such as new laser materials, new pump sources and new fiber architectures will once again revolutionize the industry.

In 1990, Richardson and William Silfvast established the Laser Plasma Laboratory at CREOL, the Center of Research in Electro-Optics & Lasers at the University of Central Florida, developing research programs in ultrafast laser development, laser-plasma studies, EUV/X-ray lithography and microscopy and laser materials processing. He became the founding director of the Townes Laser Institute in 2007. The Townes Laser Institute and the college maintain major research programs in high-power fiber lasers, photonic crystal fibers and structures, ultrafast lasers and advanced photonic and communications devices. Richardson will discuss fiber lasers and next-generation solid-state lasers, including ceramic lasers and ceramic-fiber lasers.