ROCKY MOUNTAIN SECTION OPTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
                              &
           IEEE LASERS AND ELECTROOPTICS SOCIETY


                 Dec. Meeting & Holiday Party

Date:  Thursday, 13 Dec. 2001
Time:  6:30 PM party, 7:30 PM talk
Place: CU's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics
       1234 Innovation Dr., Boulder, CO
       Main Auditorium (Rm 295)


Title: Ultrafast Optics

       Prof. Erich P. Ippen
       Dept of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science 
       Dept of Physics
       Research Laboratory of Electronics
       Massachusetts Institute of Technology
       Cambridge, MA 02139


Abstract:

A technology revolution in ultrafast optics had made it 
possible to generate femtosecond-duration pulses of light 
over a wide range of wavelengths and with compact all-solid-
state systems. Pulses comprised of fewer than 2 optical 
cycles are being generated, with phase-locked spectra that 
span more than 250 THz.  These advances are creating new 
opportunities for scientific measurement, for optical 
frequency standards, for optics in medicine and for ultra-
broadband optical communications.  This talk will provide a 
brief overview of the state- of-the-art in this field and 
provide illustrations of some recent applications. 


Biography:

Erich P. Ippen received his S.B. degree in Electrical 
Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 
1962 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in the same field from the 
University of California in 1965 and 1968 respectively.  He 
was a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories in 
Holmdel, NJ from 1968 to 1980.  In 1980 he joined the faculty 
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he is now 
Elihu Thomson Professor of Electrical Engineering and 
Professor of Physics.  His research interests have included 
nonlinear optics in fibers, femtosecond pulse generation, 
ultrafast processes in materials and devices, photonic-
bandgap structures and ultrashort-pulse fiber devices. He is 
a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the IEEE, and the 
Optical Society of America; and he is a member of the 
National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of 
Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.