Lecture Announcement

Organizer: IEEE Lasers and Electro-Optics Society
Title: From Femtoseconds to Attoseconds --- from Coulomb
         Explosions to Writing Waveguides
Speaker:
  Dr. Paul Corkum
Steacie Institute for Molecular Science
National Research Council, Ottawa                                                                                                                                                                         
Time and Location:
Friday, April 5, 2002   at 3:30 pm
University of Toronto,
Galbraith Building, Room 244
35 St. George Street, Toronto

Refreshments will be served
                                                                                                                                      
Abstract:
Even a low energy femtosecond pulse (now as short as 5 fs) can reach very high power and can be focussed to such high intensity that no material can withstand it. Focussed onto atoms we have a method for producing attosecond pulses. The world record is 650 attoseconds. Focussed onto molecules we can remove many electrons before the ions can react. Only after the pulse is over can the molecule explode under Coulomb repulsion. Coulomb explosion gives a method for "imaging" the 3-D structure of molecules. Focussed onto a surface, the material is machined with very little peripheral damage. Focussed into the bulk of a transparent dielectric we can gently and controllably modify it. We change the refractive index of transparent dielectric materials without otherwise damaging them. We can write excellent waveguides anywhere in three-dimensional space, even with low power lasers. The intensities can easily be reached with lasers operating anywhere between 1 Hz and 200,000 Hz.

Biography:
Paul Corkum started his career as a theoretical physicist but changed to experiment when he arrived at NRC. At NRC he honed his experimental skills by developing laser technology. With the rapid advance of high power laser technology, intense femtosecond laser pulses are now being applied in every discipline. Dr. Corkum introduced many of the concepts on which strong field science is built. In his talk he will outline some of the science and technology that he and his colleagues are developing at NRC

For more information contact Emanuel Istrate, e.istrate@ieee.org.


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