Short Course

Download location for short course and QEOD reception

CLEO/Europe-IQEC 2007 will present two short courses on:

- Practical Optical Parametric Oscillators, presented by Majid Ebrahim-Zadeh, ICFO, Barcelona, Spain

and

- Micro- and Nano-Machined Optics, presented by Ernst-Bernhard Kley, Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena, Germany.

Both courses will be presented in parallel on Sunday afternoon 17 June 2007 at the University of Munich. These courses are at extra cost (see rates in the conference registration fees).

Advance registration is required in order to obtain the short course material. This material will not be available for purchase during the conference. These courses are intended for engineers and scientists.

Each course is scheduled in two parts: Course Part I (1 hour ½), coffee break, Course Part II (1 hour ½).

Detailed Programme:

Sunday 17 June 2007, 14:30-18:00, Room

Short Course 1: Practical Optical Parametric Oscillators
Instructor: Majid Ebrahim-Zadeh, ICFO, Barcelona, Spain

This course is intended for researchers with little or no background in OPOs as well as for those familiar with the subject area who wish to enhance their understanding and update their knowledge of the emerging developments in the field. The course will benefit researchers in both industry and academia.

Course Description:

This course aims to provide an overview of OPO devices from basic operation principles to advanced systems. The course will begin with a discussion of the fundamental concepts and the critical design issues, leading to a review of the current status of OPO technology. The discussion will encompass devices operating in all time-scales from the CW to the ultrafast femtosecond regime.

Specifically, the course participants will learn about the basic principles of parametric generation and amplification; OPO design issues, including material and pump laser selection criteria; birefringent and quasi-phase-matched materials and devices; OPO threshold conditions, resonator design, focusing and tuning behavior; CW OPOs, including singly- and multi-resonant oscillators; externally and internally pumped devices; stability requirements; amplitude and frequency control; pulsed OPOs, including compact all-solid-state oscillators, high- and low-energy devices, linewidth control, and material damage issues; picosecond OPOs, including high-repetition-rate CW and pulsed mode-locked OPOs; all-solid-state, Nd-based, and Ti:sapphire-pumped systems; visible to mid-infrared pulse generation; quasi-phase-matched devices; femtosecond OPOs, including Ti:sapphire-pumped oscillators, noncritical, noncollinear, and compact semi-monolithic devices, quasi-phase-matched and mid-infrared OPOs, spectral and temporal control; commercial developments in OPO devices from the CW to femtosecond operating regime; and the generation of THz radiation using OPOs.

Benefits and Learning Objectives:

• Understand the basic principles of optical parametric generation and amplification of light
• Learn the operating principles of optical parametric devices, in particular optical parametric oscillators (OPOs)
• Obtain a detailed understanding of nonlinear gain, phase-matching, threshold conditions, resonator design, tuning, spectral and temporal behavior
• Identify the critical issues, particularly material and laser pump source selection, in the design of optical parametric devices
• Acquire the practical skills and apply the necessary procedures in the construction of OPO devices
• Learn the necessary techniques for spatial, spectral, and temporal control of OPO devices
• Gain a perspective of current technology of OPO devices and the important recent developments in the field

Short Course 2: Micro- and Nano-Machined Optics
Instructor: Ernst-Bernhard Kley, Inst. of Applied Physics, Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena, Germany

This course will explain the basics and provide the vision of micro- and nano-machined optics and give an overview (with an emphasis on lithography) of the relevant fabrication technologies. The course will benefit researchers in both industry and academia.

Course Description:

Miniaturization and microstructures are keywords in the modern technical world. Optical components and systems are affected by this trend, too. This means miniaturized optical lenses, prisms, gratings, and even artificial materials based on sub-wavelength structures have to be fabricated for a lot of applications. As a consequence micro- and nano-machining is challenged to realize complex micro-optical elements, as well as artificial materials, both on the base of 2-D and 3-D microstructures. In order to fabricate such optical elements and materials, special demands on lithography or micro- and nano-machining arise from the wave nature of light. This refers to the accuracy as well as to special 2-D and 3-D fabrication techniques.

Benefits and Learning Objectives:

• Understand the basics and vision of micro- and nano-machined optics
• Obtain an overview (with an emphasis on lithography) of the relevant fabrication technologies.
• Obtain an appreciation for specific problems and limitations of the technologies
• Keywords are continuous profiles, multilevel profiles, binary patterns, high aspect ration patterns, photo- and e-beam lithography, laser writing, analogue lithography (gray tone, half tone), dry etching, proportional etching, diamond turning, and replication.
• Obtain an overview of recent developments in the field