NIT >> Event Archive
Several NIT Events have been archived for future viewing, please visit our Webcast Archive for details.
Microphotonics: Hardware for the Information Age
Professor Lionel C. Kimerling
Thomas
Lord Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Director, Materials Processing Center and MIT
Microphotonics Center
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Friday
September 30, 2005
3:00 pm-4:00 pm
University of Toronto
Sandford Fleming
Building, Room 1105
10 King's College Road
Abstract
The
optical components industry stands at the threshold of a major expansion that
will restructure its business processes and sustain its profitability for the
next three decades.
This growth will establish a cost effective platform for the partitioning
of electronic and photonic functionality to extend the processing power of
integrated circuits and the performance of optical communications networks.
The traditional dimensional shrink approach to the scaling of
microprocessor technology is encountering barriers in materials and power
dissipation that dictate more distributed architectures.
Before 2015 the performance requirements for this short link
interconnection will cross the 10 MBp/s km threshold that dictates optical
carrier utilization. This
business direction will ignite a major change in leadership of the industry from
information transmission (telecom) to information processing (computing,
imaging); and it will open significant new markets with high volume
applications.
The
talk will include an overview of the technology platform challenges in design,
fabrication, packaging and test.
Brief Biography
Lionel
Kimerling was Head, Materials Physics Research at ATT Bell Laboratories until
1990 when joined the MIT faculty as the Thomas Lord Professor of Materials
Science and Engineering.
He is currently Director of the
Additional
information about Prof. Kimerling
The Nortel Institute for Telecommunications along with IEEE-LEOS and the Optical Society of America Present:
Nonlinear Nanoscale Playgrounds in Molecular Photonics for Applied and Fundamental Physics, Chemistry, and Biology
Professor
Joseph Zyss
Director,
Laboratory for Quantum Molecular Photonics and Institut d'Alembert
Ecole
Normale Supérieure, Cachan, France
Monday
September 12, 2005
Abstract
1.
Micro-Lasers and Nonlinear Wave Dynamics: A recent spin-off of polymer based
waveguide technology has been the development
of polymer-based whispering gallery mode (WGM) micro-lasers. A driving force for
our research has been to establish a connection between the variable contour of
the outer boundary of the micro-cavity and its emission properties of the
out-coupled beam. Recent results will be discussed which shed light on basic
nonlinear wave dynamics phenomena in the paradigmatic case of fully unstable
stadium shaped cavities with different shapes.
2.
Nonlinear Tensorial Optical Memories: Recent
results on new nonlinear optical multi-valued optical
memories allow for high density data storage. Direct implementation of abstract
irreducible tensor algebra, in adequately coupled photonic and molecular states,
will be shown to govern practical applications and configurations as well as
more fundamental aspects.
3.
Advances in Nonlinear Optical Imaging in Nanoscience and Nanobiotechnologies:
Combining coherent and non-coherent multiphoton effects under the
confocal microscope with polarization and phase resolution allows map-out with
sub-micron resolution of order parameters of inhomogeneous matter with
unprecedented accuracy. A new imaging scheme will be discussed which provides
striking evidence of the direct connection between telecom and life science.
This scheme may be viewed as an original optical patch-clamp system directly
derived from the linear electro-optic Pockels effect. Preliminary results will
be presented which aim to provide direct non-contact dynamic imaging of electric
action potentials in synapses under a contact-less sub-mW CW level of laser
power, in strong contrast to the currently used more aggressive techniques.
Biography
Dr.
Zyss' personal research over the past three decades has spanned different
domains of light-matter interactions in molecular media. He has authored or
co-authored more than 300 research papers and has pioneered research in
nonlinear molecular photonics, including both fundamental and
technology-oriented developments, theory, and experiments with particular focus
on pointing-out, formalizing, and exploiting tensorial dimensions within a
so-called comprehensive all-optical multipolar approach.
Dr. Zyss is a fellow of the OSA and is a member of OSA international
council. He has received various awards including the IBM prize of the French
Physical Society and has been a visiting scientist at MIT, the Weizmann
Institute and ATT Bell Laboratories among others.
Along with Marie d’Iorio (NRC, Ottawa), Dr. Zyss is currently
co-directing the OPEN (Organic and
Photonic Electronic Network) initiative which brings together the work of a
number of CNRS and NRC laboratories. He
has been involved in a variety of international collaborations including ongoing
work with
colleagues at the University of Toronto.
Laboratory for Quantum Molecular Photonics
Recent
Advances in Fiber-Optic Parametric Amplifiers
Professor
Govind P. Agrawal
Institute
of Optics, University of Rochester
Friday April 15, 2005
2:00-3:00 pm
Location: Sandford Fleming Building, Room 1105, 10
King's College Road, University of Toronto
Abstract
Optical
communication systems have traditionally used erbium-doped fiber amplifiers and
have only recently begun to deploy Raman amplifiers. A third
possibility consists of using parametric amplifiers. This talk will focus
on recent advances in the field of fiber-optic parametric amplifiers. These are
lightwave devices that are useful for a variety of signal-processing
applications such as optical amplification, phase conjugation, and wavelength
conversion. Background information on the physics behind the nonlinear
phenomenon of four-wave mixing will be provided. This will be followed by a
discussion of the performance of recently developed double-pump parametric
amplifiers. The impact of several factors that degrade the amplifier performance
will also be discussed.
Biography
Govind P. Agrawal received a B.S.
degree from the University of Lucknow in 1969 and M.S. and Ph.D.
degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi in 1971
and 1974 respectively. After holding positions at the Ecole Polytechnique, France,
the City University of New York, New York, and AT&T Bell
Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, Dr. Agrawal joined the faculty of the
Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester in 1989, where he
is currently Professor of Optics.
His research interests focus on optical communications,
nonlinear optics, and laser physics. He is an author or coauthor of
more than 300 research papers, several book chapters and review
articles, and seven books.
Professor Agrawal has participated
in organizing various technical conferences. He was the Program Co-chair in
1999 and the General Co-chair in 2001 for the Quantum Electronics and Laser
Science Conference and was a member of the Program committee in 2004 and 2005
for the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO). Professor Agrawal is a
Fellow of both the Optical society of America (OSA) and the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Additional information about Prof. Agrawal's research
The Perfect Lens: Resolution Beyond the Limits of Wavelength
Professor Sir John B. Pendry
Imperial College London
Thursday
November 4, 2004 4:00-5:00 pm
Location: Earth Sciences
Auditorium, Room 1050, 33 Willcocks Street, University of Toronto
Abstract
The lens is one of the most basic
tools of optics but the resolution achieved is limited, as if the
wavelength of light defined the width of a pencil used to draw
the images. This limit intrudes in all kinds of ways: it defines the
storage capacity of DVDs where the laser can only 'see' details of
the order of the wavelength; the lithographic processes by which
integrated circuits are prepared suffers from a similar limitation.
In fact, electronics in general has fast run ahead of optics in the
race to miniaturization: electrons can be controlled at the level of
nanometers, whereas the length scale of optical devices is scarcely
sub-micron. There are two types of light associated with a luminous
object: the near field and the far field. True to its name, the far
field escapes from the object and is easily captured and manipulated
by a lens. Unfortunately high resolution details are hidden in the
near field and remain localized near the source and cannot be
captured by a conventional lens. To control the near field we have
developed a new class of materials with properties not found in
nature. These new materials derive their properties not from the
atomic and molecular constituents of the solid, but from
microstructures which can be designed to give a wide range of novel
electromagnetic properties. The lecture will describe the new
materials and the principles behind them and show how they may be
used to control and manipulate the near field. Finally a
prescription will be given for a lens whose resolution is unlimited
by wavelength provided that the ideal prescription for the
constituent materials is met.
Biography
Sir John Pendry is a condensed matter
theorist. He has worked at the Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College
London, since 1981. He began his career in the Cavendish Laboratory,
Cambridge, followed by six years at the Daresbury Laboratory where
he headed the theoretical group. He has worked extensively on
electronic and structural properties of surfaces, developing the
theory of low energy diffraction and of electronic surface states.
Another interest is transport in disordered systems where he
produced a complete theory of the statistics of transport in
one-dimensional systems. In 1992, he turned his attention to
photonics materials and developed some of the first computer codes
capable of handling these novel materials. This interest led to his
present research, the subject of his lecture, which concerns the
remarkable electromagnetic properties of materials where the normal
response to electromagnetic fields is reversed leading to negative
values for the refractive index. This innocent description hides a
wealth of fascinating complications. In collaboration with
scientists at The Marconi Company, he designed a series of 'metamaterials'
whose properties owed more to their micro-structure than to the
constituent materials. These made accessible completely novel
materials with properties not found in nature. Successively,
metamaterials with negative electrical permittivity, then with
negative magnetic permeability were designed and constructed. These
designs were subsequently the basis for the first materials with a
negative refractive index, a property predicted 40 years ago by a
Russian scientist, but unrealized because of the absence of suitable
materials. He went on to explore the surface excitations of the new
negative materials and showed that these were part of the surface
plasmon excitations familiar in metals. This project culminated in
the proposal for a 'perfect lens' whose resolution is unlimited by
wavelength. These concepts have stimulated further theoretical
investigations and many experiments which have confirmed the
predicted properties. The simplicity of the new concepts together
with their radical consequences have caught the imagination of the
world's media generating much positive publicity for science in
general.
Additional information about Prof. Pendry
Slides from Prof. Pendry's Talk
Contact: Prof. George V. Eleftheriades, gelefth@waves.utoronto.ca
Toronto, ON March, 2004
|
Transmitters for Wireless Communication
Dave Rutledge Caltech, Pasadena, California March 23, 2004, 3 p.m. Caltech is a small private university in Pasadena, California, with an emphasis on science and engineering. There are 200 new undergraduates each year and a similar number of entering graduate students. Despite its size, Caltech students and professors have made an impact on scientific research: they have won 30 Nobel prizes. I will talk about current teaching and research programs in Electrical Engineering at Caltech, including a privately funded initiative in advanced network research, the Lee Center for advanced networking. In addition, I will discuss recent results in my research group in new transmitters for wireless communications. We have demonstrated a single-chip amplifier with a 5-W output at 34GHz. The device uses a quasi-optical array to combine the outputs of 512 gallium-arsenide transistors. The feed for the grid is waveguide mode converter with a TE01 input. The chip was fabricated at the Rockwell Science Center. This chip could have applications for satellite Internet uplinks. Recently, we have built a grid amplifier for the 80-GHz frequency range with Northrop-Grumman’s InP technology. At low frequencies in the HF, range, we have demonstrated a new type of switching amplifier called Class E/F that combines the soft-switching characteristics of Class E with the harmonic control of class F. We have used this approach to make an amplifier with an output of 200 W at 7 MHz and a drain efficiency of 83%. At microwave frequencies, we have been concerned with the problem of how to make a high-power transmitter that is suitable for wireless network connections for notebook computers. We have demonstrated Class E/F CMOS amplifiers in the 2-GHz range with output powers greater than 2W and a power-added efficiency of 50%. This work has been done in collaboration with Professor Ali Hajimiri. The design is an active transformer with eight transistors distributed around a single turn. It is a fully-integrated chip with no bond-wire inductors or off-chip components. Biography Professor Rutledge is the Tomiyasu Professor of Electrical Engineering at Caltech. He is Director of Caltech’s Lee Center for Advanced Networking. He received the B.A. in Mathematics from Williams College; the M.A. in Electrical Sciences from Cambridge University; and the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. His research has been in integrated-circuit antennas, active quasi-optics, computer-aided design, and high-efficiency power amplifiers. He has won the Microwave Prize, the Distinguished Educator Award of the Microwave Theory and Techniques Society, the Teaching Award of the Associated Students of Caltech, the Doug DeMaw award of the ARRL, the Third Millennium Award of the IEEE, and he is a Fellow of the IEEE. He was an Editor of the Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, and a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society. He is author of the electronics textbook, The Electronics of Radio, published by Cambridge University Press, and co-author of the microwave computer-aided-design software package, Puff, which has sold 30,000 copies.
|
WiFi Industry and Technology Analysis
|
|
Nonlinear Optical Spectroscopy
Eric W. Van Stryland Professor of Optics and Director, School of Optics/CREOL University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida Friday, October 3, 2003 Location: Bahen Centre, Room 1190 University of Toronto 40 St. George St. Abstract I will discuss experimental methods for characterizing the nonlinear absorptive and nonlinear refractive properties of materials from semiconductors to organics, e.g. transmission, Z-scan, femtosecond pump - white light continuum probe. This latter method allows the relatively rapid determination of the nondegenerate nonlinear absorption spectra from which nonlinear refraction may be determined via nonlinear Kramers-Kronig relations. These relations will also be discussed. I will end with a brief discussion of optical limiting. Biography Eric W. Van Stryland is Professor of Optics, Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering in School of Optics/CREOL, University of Central Florida. Eric Van Stryland received the Physics PhD degree in 1976, from the University of Arizona, Optical Sciences Center, Tucson, AZ, where he worked on optical coherent transients and photon counting statistics. He worked in the areas of femtosecond pulse production, multiphoton absorption in solids, and laser induced damage at the Center for Laser Studies at the University of Southern California. He joined the physics department at the University of North Texas in 1978 helping to form the Center for Applied Quantum Electronics. In l987 he joined the newly formed CREOL (Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers) at the University of Central Florida where he was Professor of Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering. His current research interests are in the characterization of the nonlinear optical properties of materials and their temporal response as well as the applications of these nonlinear materials properties for sensor protection, switching, beam control etc. He helped develop the Z-scan technique with Mansoor Sheik-Bahae with whom he also established the methodology for apply Kramers-Kronig relations to ultrafast nonlinearities. He is a fellow of the Optical Society of America, a former member of their Board of Directors and co-chair of the Science and Engineering Council, a senior member of the Laser Institute of America and a former board member, a senior member of IEEE LEOS and a member of the SPIE, and MRS. He also served as a topical editor for Optics Letters. He has been Director of the School of Optics/CREOL since July 1999. In cooperation with  |
|
|
Quantum Cascade Lasers
Dr. Claire Gmachl Lucent Technologies April 9, 2003 University of Toronto Abstract Semiconductor intersubband Quantum Cascade (QC) lasers are a new and rapidly evolving technology. Some of their strengths are the intrinsic mid infrared wavelength tailorability, high-speed modulation capabilities, and fascinating design potential. After a short introduction into the basics of QC-lasers and their applications, several recent aspects will be discussed. We will present a monolithic "supercontinuum" QC-laser. Cooperating, individual, but all-dissimilar intersubband optical transitions have been designed to provide broadband optical gain from 5 to 8 micrometers wavelength. Laser action with a Fabry-Perot spectrum covering all wavelengths from 6 to 8 micrometers simultaneously has been demonstrated. Lasers, which emit light over such an extremely wide wavelength range, are of interest for applications as varied as terabit optical data communications or ultra-precision metrology and spectroscopy. Another particular interest in QC-lasers concerns their high-speed modulation capabilities and potential application to free-space optical wireless systems. This is a recent addition to the more common and well-proven use of the lasers in mid-infrared trace gas sensors, such as environmental, automotive, or medical applications. Finally, there is considerable interest in extending the wavelength range of QC-lasers to the fiber optic wavelength. We will briefly discuss the potential of group III nitrides for short wavelength intersubband lasers and photonics devices based on intersubband transitions. Time permitting I will briefly discuss our recent work on non-linear generation of light in QC-lasers. Biography Claire Gmachl received the Ph.D. degree (sub auspicies praesidentis) in electrical engineering from the Technical University of Vienna, Austria, in 1995. Her studies focused on integrated optical modulators and tunable surface-emitting lasers. In 1996, she joined Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ, as Post-Doctoral Member of Technical Staff to work on quantum cascade laser devices and microcavity lasers. She is currently a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff in the Semiconductor Physics Research Department, working on quantum cascade laser devices and applications and on intersubband photonic devices. Dr. Gmachl has co- authored over 120 publications in peer-reviewed journals, has given numerous invited talks, and holds 15 patents. She has been named a Bell Labs Distinguished Member of Staff in 2002; she is a 2002/03 IEEE/LEOS Distinguished Lecturer and one of MIT's "TR100" of 2002, she is also a co- recipient of the 2000 "NASA Group Achievement Award", and a recipient of the 1996 "Solid State Physics Award" of the Austrian Physical Society, and the "1995 Christian Doppler Award" for engineering sciences including environmental sciences. She is senior member of IEEE LEOS, and a member of numerous other professional societies. In cooperation with |
|
| |
|
Negative Refractive Index Metamaterials Using Periodically Loaded Transmission Lines
Professor George Eleftheriades Nortel Instiute for Telecommunications Thrust Leader, Advanced Wireless/Mobility Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto Abstract Recently there has been intense research interest in man-made materials with superior electrical properties that cannot be found in nature. For this reason these materials are currently referred to as "metamaterials" ("meta" means "beyond" in Greek). The feasibility of constructing man-made media that simultaneously exhibit negative permittivity and negative permeability, hence a negative refractive index, has been known since the sixties. In negative refractive index (NRI) metamaterials, waves can be thought of as propagating backwards instead of forwards. When interfaced with conventional dielectric materials, incident waves become focused on a point instead of diverging outwards. Materials with such peculiar properties have the potential to significantly change the world of wireless communications, radar, and optical lithography through sub-wavelength resolution. In this presentation it will be demonstrated that NRI metamaterials can be synthesized using planar networks of periodically L.rC loaded transmission lines. Such cellular metamaterial structures are compact, planar and can be easily constructed using lumped capacitors and inductors. Since no resonators are explicitly involved they offer very wide operating bandwidths. Based on this approach, completely planar NRI metamaterial lenses at RF frequencies operating over an octave bandwidth will be presented. A number of other unusual RF devices enabled by NRI metamaterials will also be discussed. Biography George V. Eleftheriades earned his Ph.D. and M.S.EE degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbour, in 1993 and 1989 respectively. He received a diploma in Electrical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece in 1988. During 1994-1997 he was with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Currently he is an Associate Professor at the Department of ECE at the University of Toronto. Dr. Eleftheriades has authored or co-authored more than 70 articles in refereed journals and conference proceedings. He was a co-recipient of the Best Paper Award at the 6th International Symposium on Antennas (JINA),. France 1990. More recently, his graduate students won Student Paper Awards in the 2000 “Antenna Technology and Applied Electromagnetics” symposium, the 2002 IEEE Intl. Microwave Symposium and the 2002 IEEE Intl. Symposium on Antennas and Propagation. Dr. Eleftheriades received the Ontario Premier’s Research Excellence Award in 2001. His research interests lie in the areas of microwave and optical metamaterials, mm-wave IC antennas and components for broadband wireless communications, low-loss silicon micromachined components for satellite communications, wave electronics, sub-mm-wave radiometric receivers, and electromagnetic design for high-speed digital circuits. Thursday, January 30th, 2003 Bahen Centre for Information Technology University of Toronto |
|
2002
2001
2000
