CLEO/Europe-IQEC 2007 Topics and Chairs

CLEO/Europe Topics

CA) Solid-state Lasers
Advances in solid-state lasers: novel solid-state lasers; high-efficiency and small quantum defect lasers; high power operation (including amplifiers); solid-state micro-chip and nanolasers; random lasers; pulse generation; short wavelength lasers; mid-infrared lasers; intracavity wavelength conversion; upconversion lasers; tunable lasers; thermal handling, beam quality characterization and improvements; novel pump sources and pumping techniques; laser resonator design; spectroscopic characterization of solid-state gain media; advanced laser crystals and glasses; linewidth reduction and tuning techniques; amplitude and frequency stability; laser characterization and modelling.
Chair: Irina Sorokina, Technical University of Vienna, Austria

CB) Semiconductor Lasers
Technology, new devices and applications; nonlinear dynamics of semiconductor lasers: optical feedback, coupled lasers, spatial and temporal instabilities, synchronization, multimode dynamics; modelling of semiconductor lasers; vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, photonic crystal lasers, micro-cavity lasers; quantum dot/quantum dash lasers; optical amplifiers; high power and high brightness laser diodes; near-infrared long wavelength lasers; mid-infrared and far-infrared semiconductor lasers: quantum cascade lasers and THz lasers; short-pulse generation, mode locking, switching, clock recovery; harnessing nonlinear dynamics for novel applications: chaos communication, incoherent sources; short wavelength lasers: blue and green; semiconductor laser physics related investigations.
Chair: Ingo Fischer, Vrije Universiteit, VUB, Brussels, Belgium

CC) Holography, Adaptive Optics, Optical Storage and Photorefractives
Organic and inorganic materials and applications for dynamic optics; Wave mixing, dynamic holography and phase conjugation; Resonant and off-resonance optical effects, optical amplification, nonlinear scattering, photorefractive effect, photochromic effect and
photopolymerization; Application to spatial and temporal dynamic optics, light polarization control, solitons, optical data storage, optical data processing, adaptative laser resonators…
Chair: Loïc Mager, CNRS, Institut de Physique et de Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg, France

CD) Applications of Nonlinear Optics
Novel applications of nonlinear optical phenomena and new devices; nonlinear frequency conversion for the UV, visible and IR; telecommunications applications and all-optical switching; all-optical delay lines and slow light; optical parametric devices such as optical parametric amplifiers and oscillators; nonlinear optics in waveguides and fibres, including photonic crystal structures and microstructured optical fibres; quasi-phasematched materials and devices; novel nonlinear materials and structures; stimulated scattering processes and devices; optical limiting; applications of spatial and spatio-temporal nonlinearities including localization phenomena; electro-optic and Kerr devices in crystals and semiconductors; Raman based devices including amplifiers and lasers, beam deflectors and spatial light modulators; nonlinear probing of surfaces; two-photon imaging.
Chair: Neil Broderick, University of Southampton, UK

CE) Optical Materials, Fabrication and Characterization
Crystal growth and epitaxy of optical materials; new crystalline and glass laser materials in bulk, fiber and waveguide geometry; micro- and nano-fabrication and -engineering techniques; optical characterisation of laser and nonlinear materials, micro-structured fiber and photonic crystal waveguides, quantum-wells, -wires and -dots, nano-crystalline materials, nano-tubes and innovative molecules such as fullerenes; optical modulators; polymer, organic, and related light absorbers, emitters, LEDs, and lasers
Chair: Markus Pollnau, University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands

CF) Ultrafast Optics and Applications
Femtosecond and picosecond pulse generation from solid state, fiber and waveguide sources; mode-locked and Q-switched lasers; optical few-cycle pulses; ultrashort-pulse semiconductor lasers and devices; ultrafast parametric and nonlinear optical conversion of short pulses; ultrashort-pulse mid-IR and THz radiation; pulse compression; super-continuum generation; dispersion compensation; pulse-shaping; carrier-envelope effects; ultrafast characterization methods and measurement techniques, ultrafast optoelectronic systems and devices; applications of ultrafast technology.
Chair: Günter Steinmeyer, Max-Born-Institute, Berlin, Germany

CG) High-field Laser Physics and Applications
Laser and parametric chirped-pulse amplification; compression and carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stabilisation of Terawatt pulses; carrier-envelope phase metrology; characterization and manipulation of high-intensity femtosecond light pulses; optical field ionization and attosecond xuv/x-ray pulse generation; generation of high brightness attosecond pulse trains using surface harmonic generation, optimal control of ultrafast non-linear processes, time-resolved measurement of Auger decay, XUV/soft x-ray spectroscopy, metrology, interferometry and microscopy; time-resolved Coulomb explosion imaging, electron dynamics in strongly driven molecules, attosecond and femtosecond electron diffraction imaging of molecular structures, dynamics in fixed-in-space molecules, ultrafast electron dynamics in bulk media and quantum-confined structures, probing of surface physiochemical processes via time-resolved UPS/soft XPS; time-resolved XAS, XANES & EXAFS; femtosecond-laser-produced plasmas; relativistic nonlinear optics; laser-driven particle acceleration.
Chair: Marc Vrakking, FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMOLF), Amsterdam, Netherlands

CH) Optical Sensing and Metrology
Optical sensing and metrology allow for non-contact inspection of a wide range of objects, from the macroscopic to the nanometric scale. This topic area focuses on recent progress in all aspects of optical sensing and metrology, particularly in new photonic sensor technologies and applications. Papers are solicited on the following and related topics: new trends in optical remote sensing; fiber sensors using conventional and photonic crystal fibers; active multispectral and hyperspectral imaging; sensor multiplexing; novel spectroscopic techniques, applications and systems; optical precision metrology; novel measurement methods and devices based on interferometry, diffractometry or scatterometry; critical dimension metrology; virtual metrology; multiscale surface metrology; UV and DUV microscopy; resolution enhancement technologies in microscopy; inverse problems; phase retrieval.
Chair: Hanne Ludvigsen, Helsinki University of Technology, Espoo, Finland

CI) Optical Technologies for Lightwave Communications and Networks
Fibre devices including dispersion compensating fibres, non-linear fibres, fibre propagation effects, fibre amplifiers and fibre lasers, fibre gratings and fibre grating-based devices; semiconductor devices that may be employed in lightwave communications for generation, processing and detection of optical signals including laser sources, detectors and modulators, performance monitoring devices, switches, picosecond and femtosecond pulse sources; optical components for enabling WDM and OTDM systems including filtering and switching devices; optical sub-systems including clock recovery techniques, packet/burst switching subsystems, modulation formats,
microwave photonic technologies and optical regeneration.
Chair: Liam Barry, Dublin City University, Ireland

CJ) Fibre and Guided Wave Lasers and Amplifiers
Waveguide and fibre laser oscillator and amplifiers including novel waveguide and fibre geometries; power scaling of waveguide and fibre lasers - including beam combination techniques (for both pump and signal beams) and new waveguide coupling approaches; upconversion lasers; nonlinear effects in waveguides and fibres - including nonlinear frequency conversion and pulse generation and compression; advances in fibre waveguide materials; fabrication techniques for doped waveguide and fibre devices; active microstructured fibre and waveguide laser devices; novel waveguide and fibre sources for industrial applications.
Chair: J.R. Taylor, Imperial College, UK

CK) Photonic Crystals, Photonic Nanostructures and Integrated Optics
The intensive research nowadays being carried out in the area of nanostructured materials for photonic applications has branched in many directions but keeps a common goal. This is learning and profiting form the novel phenomena occurring when light is created, transported and detected in environments where either dimensionality or size are reduced and, in particular, when light-matter interaction occurs in regions smaller than or similar to the wavelength of light. This trend has earned the term nanophotonics. Such a vast field includes but is not restricted to photonic band gaps in various dimensions and new phenomena originating from periodicity or quasi-periodicity; materials aspects and fabrication techniques, including single molecules and nanocrystals in photonic band gap environments; issues related to order/disorder in nanostructured materials; and applications tending to the integration into photonic devices for biology, generation, routing, switching, modulating and detecting light, etc.
Chair: Cefe Lopez, Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (CSIC), Madrid, Spain

CL) Biophotonics and Applications
This topic area addresses emerging concepts in biophotonics: single particle detection and tracking; spatio-temporal manipulation of light fields; enhanced linear and non linear detection; micro-fluidics and micro-optics; new optical probes for local measurements – including organic and inorganic nano-crystals, electric fields and temperature measurements etc; new routes for optical detection in biophotonics: non linear processes; squeezed states; twin photons; phase conjugation time reversal etc; physics of optical phenomena in biological media: scattering; coherence; polarization; symmetry and invariance; coupling of optical fields with flows and acoustic fields.
Chair: Benoît C. Forget, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris France

CM) Fundamentals and Modelling of Materials Processing with Lasers
Fundamental physics during materials processing with lasers; welding; surface treatment; cutting; ablation; LPVD; LCVD; interaction light-matter; surface and plasma absorption; heat conduction and convection; phase transformations solid-liquid and liquid-vapour; metallurgy; chemical reactions and diffusion; plasma formation; fluid flow of melt, gas, vapour and plasma; stress formation and strain; mathematical modelling of the physical processes; interaction front; process geometry; analytical modelling; numerical methods and FEA.
Chair: Alexander Kaplan, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden

TECH-FOCUS SESSION on:

TF1) Industrial Application of Ultrafast Technologies
Ultrafast laser technologies are now reaching a stage of maturity such that they are having a significant impact on industry, and this Technical Focus Session will present a representative overview of both existing and emerging industrial applications. The Session will aim at providing a comprehensive introduction to the field for the non-specialist as well as identifying key new directions for future research. The invited speakers will cover topics including: ultrafast fiber and solid state lasers, the search for higher power and more compact sources, femtosecond micromachining applications, THz generation and imaging, optical communication systems, femtosecond biophotonics and more.
Chair: Wilson Sibbett, University of St. Andrews, UK

JOINT CLEO/Europe-IQEC 2007 SYMPOSIA:

JSI) Cryptographic Techniques in Photonics
This Joint Symposium welcomes contributions on any topic
relevant to the application of photonic and optical technologies for
cryptography. Topics include, but are not restricted to, the following:
chaotic emitter and receiver sources; compact and integrated devices; optical chaos cryptography; quantum key distribution; schemes for information encryption; evaluation of transmission characteristics: bit rate, bit error rate, maximum transmission distance, dispersion compensation techniques; synchronization improvements; free-space and fiber implementations; security aspects: evaluation and characterization; information-theoretic security; key distribution; bidirectional communications; exploitation of correlations via public discussion protocol; single photon sources; use of coherent states for cryptography.
Co-Chairs: Nobuyuki Imoto, Osaka University, Japan and Claudio Mirasso, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Palma de Mallorca, Spain

JSII) Nanophotonics and Metamaterials: From Concepts to Devices
Nanophotonics and Metamaterials are overlapping areas of photonics research that have rapidly grown in importance in recent years. The symposium will be concerned with wavelength scale and sub-wavelength scale photonics - and, more generally, with optical structures and devices where the response is determined by nanoscale features. Interest in metamaterials that operate at optical frequencies has increased greatly since deterministic fabrication technology that can produce specific properties reproducibly has now emerged. The symposium will cover basic physics, new phenomena, materials properties, fabrication technologies, modelling, device design and characterization - applied in a nanophotonics environment. The symposium will seek to capture the excitement and diversity of this field by gathering experts and newcomers alike to present their latest research developments (both fundamental and applied) in the above-mentioned areas. Submissions that address specific areas of potential application will be especially welcome.
Co-Chairs: Ted Sargent, University of Toronto, Canada and Nikolay I. Zheludev, Southampton University, UK

JSIII) Optical Frequency Combs and Applications
Optical frequency combs based on femtosecond mode-locked lasers have brought about a revolution in optical frequency metrology, providing a simple and robust means of connecting the optical and microwave domains of the electromagnetic spectrum. This has made possible the direct counting of optical cycles, which is a critical milestone in the creation of next-generation optical atomic clocks and techniques of precision spectroscopy. Indeed, the importance of these recent developments, as pioneered by T.W. Hänsch and J.L. Hall, was recognized in the award of the 2005 Nobel Prize in physics. Beyond applications in precise time/frequency metrology and tests of fundamental theories, such combs have opened new research avenues in precise length metrology, remote ranging and sensing, novel broadband spectroscopy techniques, and the synthesis of low-noise/low-jitter waveforms. Moreover, these applications have synergistically motivated important developments in carrier-envelope stabilized femtosecond lasers, coherent linking of multiple broadband sources and nonlinear broadening and frequency conversion techniques that have now pushed frequency combs into new spectral regimes from the XUV to far-IR. This joint symposium will seek to capture the excitement and diversity of this field by gathering experts and newcomers alike to present their latest research developments (both fundamental and applied) in the above-mentioned areas.
Co-Chairs: Scott Diddams, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO, USA and Harald Telle, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig, Germany

IQEC Topics

IA) Microstructured Devices for Quantum and Atom Optics
Cold atoms and Bose Einstein condensates can be confined in extremely small magnetic traps and guides on atom chips, made using microfabricated current-carrying wires or micro-structured patterns of permanent magnetisation. Switched magnetic, electrostatic and radiofrequency fields add further options for atom manipulation. Alternatively atoms may be trapped and manipulated on the microscopic scale in optical lattices, which may be free-standing or integrated into an atom chip. When coupled to high-finesse optical micro-resonators, trapped atoms offer possibilities for quantum coherent control, including quantum logic gates and quantum memories and with an interconnect to flying optical qubits. This conference topic covers all such effort to miniaturise quantum atom optics and to realise applications such as interferometry, metrology and quantum information processing.
Chair: Ed Hinds, Imperial College, London, UK

IB) Cold Atoms and Molecules
Quantum degenerate Bose and Fermi gases -- Bose-Einstein condensation, multi-component and spinor gases, Fermi degeneracy, superfluid Bose and Fermi gases, the BEC-BCS crossover regime, gases in restricted geometries, effects of disordered potentials, effects of quantum degeneracy on atom-light interactions and atomic coherence, coherent and quantum atom optics, trapping and cooling techniques; quantum gases in optical lattices -- internal state/spin dynamics, quantum phases and transitions, single- and multi-band gas models, controlled collisions and photoassociation; cold molecules -- production and detection methods, manipulating molecular motion, trapping schemes; ultracold polar molecules, scattering and chemistry; applications of quantum gases -- metrology, precision measurements, testing of fundamental symmetries.
Chair: Dan Stamper-Kurn, UC Berkeley, USA

IC) Quantum Information
Quantum information processing has progressed rapidly in the past decade, and grown into a large interdisciplinary activity. The conference program will highlight recent innovations in all areas of the field, from algorithm development to experimental implementations of quantum computers. Of especial interest are results in quantum communications systems and in quantum cryptography, including entanglement distribution and distillation, conversion of information between static and flying qubits, and quantum memories, both for individual particles and ensembles. In addition, novel platforms, devices and materials for quantum information processing, such as photonic bandgaps, micro-mechanics, ion-trap arrays, superconducting structures, quantum dots and nonlinear optical processes will be covered. 
Chair: Ian A. Walmsley, University of Oxford, UK

ID) Photonics Applications in Fundamental Physics
Novel laser-spectroscopy techniques, high-resolution spectroscopy, nonlinear spectroscopy, nonlinear magneto- and electro-optical effects, and their applications to metrology; novel frequency standards; measurements of fundamental constants, and searches for their temporal variation; fundamental-symmetry tests.
Chair: Dmitry Budker, UC Berkeley, USA

IE) Nonlinear Optics and Ultrafast Phenomena
Fundamentals of nonlinear optics; fundamentals of ultrashort optical fields; frequency conversion, parametric processes and wavemixing; novel nonlinear optical materials, processes and effects; temporal and spatial solitons; ultrafast spectroscopy; ultrafast dynamics in condensed matter and molecules; control of chemical reactions; electromagnetic induced transparency, lasing without inversion, slow light and dark states.
Chair: Steve Cundiff, JILA, University of Colorado and NIST, Boulder, USA

IF) Quantum Optics
Photons in confined structures and cavity QED; quantum correlation and quantum noise reduction; entangled states and decoherence; single photon and nonclassical light sources and applications; QND measurements; quantum imaging, quantum metrology and quantum lithography.
Chair: Hans A. Bachor, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

IG) Dynamics, Instabilities and Patterns
Pattern forming optical systems: localized and extended structures; novel optical systems for non linear dynamics such as quantum dot lasers, hybrid devices, microlasers, fiber lasers; dynamics of nonlinear optical systems such as lasers, OPOs, optical valves; instabilities in semiconductor lasers: injected signal, optical feedback, multimode dynamics; control, synchronisation and applications of chaos in optical systems.
Chair: Fedor Mitschke, University of Rostock, Germany