Boston Chapter of the IEEE Photonics Society

Abstract:  Modern Optically-Pumped Semiconductor Vertical-External-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers, OPS-VECSELs, were first demonstrated in the mid 1990’s, when they were transformed from a scientific curiosity to today’s powerful tool of science and technology. They have since developed into a versatile laser platform with a very wide range of selectable operating parameters: on-demand wavelength coverage from deep UV, through visible, to mid-IR and even Terahertz wavelength range, high output powers from mW to 100 W, high quality circular Gaussian beams, CW single frequency narrow linewidth and tunable wavelength operation, modelocked femtosecond pulse single and dual frequency combs, dual wavelength operation, etc. VECSEL scientific and commercial applications include photoluminescence excitation for biomedical microscopy and flow cytometry, therapeutic medical photo-coagulation with high-power yellow lasers, solid-state laser pumping, entertainment laser shows, two-photon optical microscopy, laser sources for quantum atomic information processing applications, laser guide star in astronomy, etc. In this talk I will review the fundamental principles of these lasers and discuss their different regimes of operation and current and future applications.

Biography:  Mark Kuznetsov received his Sc.D. from MIT and his professional career has ranged from AT&T Bell Laboratories and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, to Micracor and Axsun / Excelitas Technologies. He has worked on a range of laser and photonic technologies, including electronically tunable semiconductor lasers for WDM optical networks, WDM fiber optical network architecture and transmission issues, wavelength tunable Si MEMS filters for signal monitoring in WDM networks, and fast swept-source semiconductor lasers for Optical Coherence Tomography OCT medical imaging. While at Micracor, he demonstrated the first modern high power optically-pumped semiconductor vertical-external-cavity surface emitting lasers, OPS-VECSELs.

Location:  MIT Lincoln Laboratory Forbes Road