Femtosecond fiber lasers, with their compact size, high efficiency, and maintenance-free operation are challenging the bulk solid-state lasers in many areas of science and technology, including fundamental research, material processing, high-speed optical communication, metrology, and medical imaging. Furthermore, with their ease of manufacture and high-power capabilities, the potential of femtosecond fiber lasers is far from being exhausted. In this talk, the principle operation of ultrafast fiber lasers and chirped-pulse fiber amplifiers will be described. Next, various scientific and commercial applications will be reviewed focusing particularly on femtosecond fiber lasers for phase-stabilized optical frequency comb technology. The talk will conclude with possible future directions.

Jacob Lasri received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering at the Technion in Haifa, Israel in 1999 and 2002, respectively. From 2002 to 2004 he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the ECE Department at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, developing low noise optical pulse generators and microwave sources using specialty optical fibers and optoelectronic devices. In 2004, he joined Precision Photonics Corp. in Boulder, CO, where he is currently the product manager for ultrafast lasers, leading the design and production of femtosecond fiber lasers, amplifiers and related products.