Abstract: The physical limit for the number of pixels per color channel per frame in an optical imager is approximately equal to the aperture area in square microns. While this limit is essentially achieved in megapixel scale cell phone cameras, the limit of 100 megapixels for cm apertures, 10 gigapixels for 10 cm apertures and 1 terapixel for meter apertures is far beyond current practice. These pixel counts may be further increased by factors of 100-10,000 in spectral and 3-D imagers. At...

Abstract: The fate of an ultrashort laser pulse propagating in air depends crucially upon its peak power. Below a critical value, Pcr, group velocity dispersion and beam diffraction combine to rapidly reduce the pulse intensity. On the other hand, if P is less than Pcr, a completely different behaviour is observed. In this case, instead of decreasing, the pulse intensity increases with distance up to the point where it becomes sufficiently high (~1013 W/cm²) to ionize air. The pulse then...

Abstract: Organic semiconductor materials offer the potential of low-cost and flexible displays and lighting solutions, some of which have already made it to the marketplace. Despite this, much of the underlying optical physics remains poorly understood and hinders progress towards better and more powerful devices. In this talk, the basic properties of organic semiconductors will be reviewed and some of the outstanding issues explored. We will show how simple models based on dipole-dipole...

Abstract: We often forget in our daily life that air does not have the same optical properties as vacuum. At least in New Mexico and Arizona, we are made aware that it has an index of refraction, and that it is not the ideal homogeneous optical material. However, in daily experiments, we do not think too often of air as being a nonlinear medium, having a complex intensity dependent index of refraction, nonlinear absorption, induced birefringence, and becoming a partially conductive medium....

Abstract: Slow-servo diamond turning has revolutionized what is possible in optical fabrication. As a result, optical design provides new horizons where freeform surfaces may offer new degrees of freedom. In this talk I will provide a brief history of the emergence of freeform optics and point to a growing customer base. I will then discuss recent advances in surface shape descriptions for freeform optics from phi-polynomials to multicentric radial basis functions. Finally, I will show how...

Abstract: The National Ignition Facility, sited at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., is a 192-beam, 1.8-MJ (351 nm) laser designed to compress ~250 µg spheres of deuterium and tritium to thermonuclear ignition. Fuel compression is achieved through an ablative rocket drive mechanism where the outer wall of the fuel shell is ablatively removed by a 300 eV radiation field. The 300 eV field is produced through laser matter interactions at the wall of either a gold...

Abstract: Just past this centenary of the discovery of superconductivity, the design of new and more useful superconductors remains as enigmatic as ever. As high-density current carriers with little or no power loss, high-temperature superconductors offer unique solutions to fundamental grid challenges of the 21st century and hold great promise in addressing our global energy challenge in energy production, storage, and distribution. The recent discovery of a new class of high-temperature...

Abstract: When relatively affordable femtosecond lasers became available, a whole new field opened for the computer-aided research in extreme nonlinear optics. As theorists adopted techniques originally designed for much longer times scales, it did not take long to realize that qualitative improvements were necessary in both the pulse propagation models and in the description of light-matter interactions. While significant progress was achieved in the former, state of the art in light-matter...

Abstract: For over a thousand years, the field of optics has benefited from advances in materials and manufacturing technology. Recent advances in micro- and nanotechnology have led to a number of breakthroughs enabled by modern semiconductor processing techniques and advances in optical materials. This talk will explore a number of specific advances in optical technologies at Sandia National Laboratories enabled by the MESA facility. MESA is the U.S. government’s largest semiconductor...

Abstract: Advances in femtosecond lasers that have made it possible to generate pulses with durations on the order of one optical cycle have also made it possible to control the phase of the underlying electric field waveforms. This new capability is in turn leading to more accurate clocks and to greater precision in spectroscopy by creating broadband frequency combs. Further, by spatially resolving and rapidly modulating the many individual comb frequencies, one can generate truly arbitrary...

Abstract: Traditional CMOS and CCD imaging sensors capture two of the three fundamental properties of light: color and intensity. The third fundamental property of light, polarization, has been largely ignored by the imaging industry and research community in part by the human inability to “see” polarization properties. Nevertheless, polarization-contrast imaging has proven to be very useful in gaining additional visual information in optically scattering environments, such as target contrast...

Abstract: Precision optics manufacturing has evolved dramatically over the past few decades. For example, conventional pitch polishing has been used for decades with little change and is still the industry cornerstone for high-precision polishing and finishing. CNC polishing, single point diamond turning, magnetorheological finishing, and ion beam finishing are example of relatively new technologies that are increasing throughput, increasing precision, increasing determinism and/or enabling...

Abstract: What is a rainbow? How many are there? Why is the sky blue? Why is the setting sun red and flattened? What is a mirage? Why are there rays or spokes coming from the setting sun? What is the green flash? Can it be photographed? Why does the moon look so big on the horizon? Why do stars twinkle? What is an aurora borealis? Is it really darkest before dawn? Why are wet spots dark? What is that ring around the Sun? Why can water appear so many different colors? These and dozens of other...

Abstract: The beginning of the second decade of the 21st century has been characterized by a paradigm shift in the overall meaning of the term “information society.” First, “on-demand” communication and information exchanged at a variety of speeds, connection qualities, and underlying content has become vital. Since the Internet has become synonymous with the information era, significant efforts have been invested in making it flexible, universally accessible and affordable. Secondly, by...

Abstract: Our long-term goal is to improve telepathology images for clinical use. Over the years we have carried out a series of studies addressing a variety of key issues associated with the interpretation of virtual pathology slides. These studies will be reviewed in this lecture. The initial studies were designed to demonstrate that diagnostic accuracy was equivalent between virtual and traditional (light microscopy) viewing. Then we sought to understand how pathologists view virtual...

Abstract: Over seven million people die of cancer worldwide each year. The high mortality is mainly due to the lack of early cancer detection modalities, especially for internal organs. CT, MRI and ultrasound imaging have issues of low resolution, low contrast, safety or high cost. Several optical imaging techniques provide high-resolution cross-sectional information suitable for in vivo noninvasive early cancer diagnosis. However, these optical imaging systems are typically bulky and slow,...

ln 1871, James Clerk Maxwell proposed a thought experiment, and in 1907, Albert Einstein made a prediction. Both men concluded that the experimental realizations would be impossible. ln this talk, I will describe our recent work that relates to this history, and show how it has enabled new methods for controlling matter with light. Prof. Mark G. Raizen is Sid W. Richardson Foundation Regents Chair Professor at UT-Austin.

Nanophotonics-based optical devices have a potential for wide variety of applications. For example, in next generation hard disk drives, a flying recording head with a nano-optical transducer creates a tiny near-field optical spot inside a magnetic recording medium which enables a higher data capacity per recording disk. As the example indicates, the “near-field” is a major application area for the nanophotonics devices. As one possible approach to apply them beyond the near-field, recently...

Water probably flowed across ancient Mars, but whether it ever exists as a liquid on the surface today remains debatable. Recurring slope lineae are narrow (0.5 to 5 meters), relatively dark markings on steep (25° to 40°) slopes; repeat images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment show them to appear and incrementally grow during warm seasons and fade in cold seasons. They extend downslope from bedrock outcrops, often associated with small channels,...

Optical imaging systems have evolved with the goal of producing an isomorphic measurement of a scene. Usually, such imaging systems place the sole burden of image formation on the optical front-end while the role of detector array is relegated to sampling and digitization of the optical image. Post-processing is typically viewed as a tool to mitigate image artifacts and noise, to apply compression and enable exploitation tasks such as pattern recognition, target tracking, etc. The traditional...

Laboratory development of near-infrared fluorescence imaging and tomography for medical applications have been underway for some time. The technology is similar to nuclear medicine approaches in that photons which arise from the decay of a contrast agent administered in trace doses are detected to create an image or tomogram. NIRF imaging differs from conventional nuclear imaging technologies in that it requires the use of tissue penetrating, low energy excitation light to repeatedly activate...

Abstract: The design of the refracting telescope advanced rapidly following its invention in 1608, reaching its modern configuration in about a century. Even though the development of binoculars began almost simultaneously, nearly 300 years elapsed before practical prismatic binoculars became available. The impediments to practical binoculars were not only in optical design, but in mechanical design, manufacturing and materials. This talk will document the history of telescopes and binoculars...

Abstract: Terahertz technology has attracted intense interest recently due to its potential applications, from THz spectroscopy and imaging to homeland security. THz sources and detectors are critical for THz applications. Optical parametric process is one of the most promising approaches for tunable monochromatic THz generation and detection for THz applications. In this presentation, Dr. Shi will introduce several innovative results in THz generation and detection. He is the first to...

Dr. Sanjay Krishna is Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Associate Director, Center for High Technology Materials, University of New Mexico. Lecture presented Sept. 8, 2011. Infrared detectors operating in the 3-20 mm are important due to three main reasons. Firstly, the atmosphere is transparent in the two bands referred to as mid-wave infrared (MWIR, 3-5 mm) and long-wave infrared (8-12 mm), making it possible to see through fog and smoke under poor visibility...

The measurement of polarization information in optical imaging is made complicated by the fact that traditional optical detectors are polarization-blind and only measure intensity. In order to determine the polarization state of light across the scene, the intensity at each point must be modified in a controllable fashion over a series of measurements so that the distribution of polarization information can be inferred from these measurements. There are two general strategies for...