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Andrew Weiner

4:00 p.m
May 6, 2009
Tech L211

Andrew M. Weiner, Scifres Family Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University
"Optical Pulse Shaping and Applications"
Abstract:Femtosecond optical pulse shaping is by now an established technology allowing generation of essentially arbitrary ultrafast optical waveforms according to user specification. Briefly, waveform generation is accomplished via a Fourier synthesis method, in which different optical frequency components contained in an ultrashort pulse are spatially separated, manipulated using a spatial light modulator (SLM), then recombined. This results in a new waveform whose shape is determined by the Fourier transform of the phase, amplitude, and polarization information placed onto the spectrum via the SLM. Applications span lightwave communications, coherent control of quantum mechanical processes, few femtosecond pulse compression, nonlinear optical microscopy, and microwave photonics. In this talk I will first discuss the basics of pulse shaping and then survey recent topics of interest within my group at Purdue University. Such topics include: compensation of short pulse distortion effects in optical fibers, generation of ultrawide instantaneous-bandwidth radio-frequency waveforms for time-domain electromagnetics, and high spectral resolution pulse shaping systems capable of resolving individual frequencies from mode-locked laser frequency combs.

Bio:Andrew M. Weiner graduated from M.I.T. in 1984 with an Sc.D. in electrical engineering. Upon graduation he joined Bellcore, first as Member of Technical Staff and later as Manager of Ultrafast Optics and Optical Signal Processing Research. Prof. Weiner moved to Purdue University in 1992 and is currently the Scifres Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research focuses on ultrafast optics signal processing and applications to high-speed optical communications and ultrawideband wireless. He is especially well known for his pioneering work in the field of femtosecond pulse shaping. Prof. Weiner is a Fellow both of the Optical Society of America and of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. He has won numerous awards for his research, including the Hertz Foundation Doctoral Thesis Prize (1984), the Adolph Lomb Medal of the Optical Society of America (1990), the Curtis McGraw Research Award of the American Society of Engineering Education (1997), the International Commission on Optics Prize (1997), and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Award for Senior U.S. Scientists (2000). He is joint recipient, with J.P. Heritage, of the IEEE LEOS William Streifer Scientific Achievement Award (1999) and the OSA R.W. Wood Prize (2008) and has been recognized by Purdue University with the inaugural Research Excellence Award from the Schools of Engineering (2003) and with the Provost's Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor Award (2008).

Prof. Weiner is author of a textbook entitled Ultrafast Optics, to be published in 2009 by Wiley, and has published six book chapters and over 200 journal articles. He has been author or co-author of over 350 conference papers, including approximately 80 conference invited talks, and has presented nearly 100 additional invited seminars at university, industry, and government organizations. He is holder of 10 U.S. patents. Prof. Weiner has served as Co-Chair of the Conference on Lasers and Electro-optics and the International Conference on Ultrafast Phenomena and as associate editor of several journals. He has also served as Secretary/Treasurer of IEEE LEOS and as a Vice-President of the International Commission on Optics (ICO).

Read more at Prof. Weiner's website.

Hosted by Prem Kumar.
Northwestern University Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department