Events

Ultrafast Semiconductor Diode Lasers; From Short Pulse and High Power Operation to Stabilized Optical Frequency Comb for Communications and Signal Processing

Peter Delfyett

University Trustee Chair, Pegasus Professor of Optics &

Photonics, ECE & Physics; Director, Townes Laser Institute

CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics

Zoom Virtual Setting

Abstract:  Semiconductor diode lasers are ubiquitous in society.  Their use as pump sources in optical fiber amplifiers and high power lasers impacts society, from fueling the internet, to enabling advanced laser manufacturing, autonomous driving vehicles and laser-based defense systems.  This presentation will focus on the application of semiconductor diode lasers to an area that is typically uncommon for this type of source, and that is in ultrafast optical science and technology.  We show that the underlying characteristics of diode lasers that limit their performance can be circumvented by employing novel concepts, which result in performance levels that are orders of magnitudes beyond that of standard approaches.  Specifically, we show how to generate sub 200 fsec optical pulses, output pulse energies of > 1 microjoule, and generate stabilized optical frequency combs spanning the telecommunication window, with femtosecond level timing jitter, and comb tooth linewidths of 1 Hz on a 10 GHz frequency grid.  We then exploit these wide frequency grids to enable applications in communications and signal processing, specifically in waveform generation, matched filtering, sampling and novel modulation schemes.

Peter Delfyett received the B.E.(E.E.) degree from The City College of New York (1981), the M.S. degree in EE from The University of Rochester (1983), the M. Phil and Ph.D. degrees from The Graduate School & University Center of the City University of New York (1988).   His  PhD was focused on developing and utilizing a real time ultrafast spectroscopic probe to study molecular and phonon dynamics in condensed matter, using both supercontinuum and optical phase conjugation techniques.   After obtaining the Ph.D. degree, he joined Bell Communication Research as a Member of the Technical Staff, where he concentrated his efforts towards generating ultrafast high power optical pulses from semiconductor diode lasers, for applications in ultra-wideband optical signal processing and communications.  In 1993, he moved to University of Central Florida, where he is Pegasus Professor and Trustee Chair Professor of Optics, EE & Physics in CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, and is currently serving as the Director of the Townes Laser Institute. In 2003, Dr. Delfyett founded “Raydiance, Inc.” a spin-off company developing high power, ultrafast laser systems, based on his research, for applications in medicine, consumer electronics, defense, material processing, biotechnology, automotive and other key technological markets.  He is a Fellow of the APS, IEEE, NAI, NSBP, OSA, and SPIE.  He is also the recipient of the NSF PECASE Award, the APS Edward Bouchet Award, the 2014 Medalist from the Florida Academy of Science, the 2018 Townsend Harris Award, the 2020 IEEE Photonics Society’s William Streifer Scientific Achievement Award, and most recently, the 2021 APS Arthur L Schawlow Prize in Laser Science.  He has over 800 scientific publications, conference proceedings and presentations, and 43 US patents.