News & Events
Ultrafast Lasers and Ultrafast Science
Jim Kafka Spectra Physics
Friday, October 12, 2012
2 p.m.3 p.m.
Special FRIDAY Seminar Goergen 109
Abstract:
Ultrafast lasers have been used extensively in basic research. For example,
these sources were instrumental in the work of the Nobel Prize winner in
Chemistry for 1999. Ultrafast sources have found increasing use in commercial
applications as well. I will review the basic components of an ultrafast laser
system and describe how ultrafast pulses are generated. I will then present
several commercial applications for ultrafast pulses including micro-machining
and confocal microscopy.
Short
Bio:
Jim Kafka received the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Institute of Optics
at the University of Rochester in 1977 and 1983, respectively. For the last 29
years, he has been developing new products and is currently the Advanced R
& D Director for Spectra-Physics, a division of Newport Corporation. In
addition to authoring numerous journal articles, conference presentations and
seminars, he co-authored a book chapter on Ultrafast Nonlinear Optics and holds
more than 35 patents. Jim was the principal designer on three products, the
Tsunami, the Opal and the Millennia X, which have won technology achievement
awards. He has served the optics community as the Ultrafast Phenomena topical
editor for JOSA B, the co-chair for both the CLEO and ASSP conferences and is
currently on the Board of Directors of the Optical Society of America. Jim is
quite pleased to serve as a Distinguished Traveling Lecturer for the Division
of Laser Science of the APS and to be a Fellow of the OSA.