Short Courses

With a strong commitment to continuing technical education, Frontiers in Optics (FiO) Short Courses are designed to advance your research and career goals by increasing your knowledge of a specific subject. This year’s top-quality instructors bring you to the cutting-edge of what is new in optics. An added benefit of attending a Short Course is the availability of Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

Continuing Education Units (CEUs)

Short Course attendees who successfully complete a course are eligible to receive continuing education units (CEUs). The CEU is a nationally recognized unit of measure for continuing education and training programs that meet established criteria. To earn CEUs, a participant must complete the CEU credit form and course evaluation and return them to the course instructor at the end of the course. CEUs will be calculated and certificates will be mailed to participants.

Registration

Tuition for the Short Course is a separate fee. Advance registration is recommended, as the number of seats in each course is limited. There will not be a waiting list for Short Courses. New this year, OSA and APS student members will have an opportunity to take a Short Course for free! More details coming soon.

Courses will be offered on Sunday, October 19, 2008. Register now!

Schedule

Sunday, October 19, 2008, 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

SC196 Light Emitting Diodes and Solid-State Lighting, E. Fred Schubert; Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., USA.

NEW! SC321 Principles of Far-Field Fluorescence Nanoscopy, Andreas Schoenle; Max Planck Inst. for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany.

NEW! SC322 Silicon Nanophotonics, Jelena Vuckovic; Edward L. Ginzton Lab, Stanford Univ., USA.

NEW! SC323 Latest Trends in Optical Manufacturing, Paul Dumas; QED Technologies, USA.

Sunday, October 19, 2008, 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

SC235 Nanophotonics: Materials, Fabrication and Characterization, Joseph W. Haus, Andrew Sarangan, Qiwen Zhan; Univ. of Dayton, USA.

SC306 Exploring Optical Aberrations, Virendra N. Mahajan; Aerospace Corp., USA.

NEW! SC320 Polarization Engineering of Optical Fields, Thomas G. Brown; Inst. of Optics, Univ. of Rochester, USA.

NEW! SC324 Plasmonics, Stefan Maier; Experimental Solid State Group, Dept. of Physics, Imperial College London, UK.

 

Course Descriptions

SC196 Light Emitting Diodes and Solid-State Lighting

Sunday, October 19, 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
E. Fred Schubert; Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., USA
Level: Intermediate (prior knowledge of topic is necessary to appreciate course material)

Course Description
Due to their broad range of advantages, semiconductor light emitting diodes (LEDs) are rapidly becoming the dominant light source. LEDs are suitable for a constantly broadening range of applications. This Short Course will present the fundamentals of light-emitting diodes and solid-state lighting. It will include basic optical, carrier recombination, light extraction, electrical and current transport concepts. Also discussed will be the properties of major III-V material systems used in LEDs, such as III-V nitrides, phosphides and arsenides. For solid-state lighting applications, we will present topics related to human vision including photometry, colorimetry and color rendition.

Benefits and Learning Objectives
This course should enable you to:

  • Understand principles of light-emitting diodes.
  • Understand the field of solid-state lighting.
  • Learn about human vision.

Intended Audience
Professionals and students working with light-emitting diodes.

Instructor Biography
E. Fred Schubert is the Wellfleet Senior Constellation Professor of the Future Chip Constellation at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has made pioneering contributions to the field of compound semiconductors, in particular to alloy broadening, delta-doping, resonant-cavity light-emitting diodes, enhanced spontaneous emission in Er-doped Si/SiO2 microcavities, photonic crystal light-emitting diodes, elimination of heterojunction band discontinuities, p-type superlattice doping in AlGaN, polarization-enhanced ohmic contacts, omni-directional reflectors for LEDs, and perfect anti-reflection coatings. He received his doctorate in 1986. He is co-inventor of 28 U.S. patents and co-author of more than 250 publications. He wrote the books Doping in III-V Semiconductors (1992), Delta Doping of Semiconductors (1996) and Light-Emitting Diodes (1st edition 2003 and 2nd edition 2006). He is a Fellow of the APS, IEEE, OSA and SPIE, and has received several awards.

SC235 Nanophotonics: Materials, Fabrication and Characterization

Sunday, October 19, 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Joseph W. Haus, Andrew Sarangan, Qiwen Zhan; Univ. of Dayton, USA
Level: Advanced Beginner (basic understanding of topic is necessary to follow course material)

Course Description
Nanophotonics is an emerging multidisciplinary field that deals with optics on the nanoscale. Recent progress in nanophotonics has created new and exciting technological opportunities. The interaction of light with nanoscale matter can provide greater functionality for photonic devices and render unique information about their structural and dynamical properties.
This nanophotonics course examines the key issues of optics on the nanometer scale. The course covers novel materials such as photonic crystals, quantum dots, plasmonics, and metamaterials and their applications; it then identifies and explains selected fabrication and synthesis techniques. Photonic devices that exploit nanoscale effects, such as nonlinear optical effects and quantum confinement, will be discussed. Finally, various nanocharacterization techniques used in metrology, nondestructive evaluation and biomedical applications will be explained.

Benefits and Learning Objectives
This course should enable you to:

  • Explain the basic linear and nonlinear optical properties of photonic crystals and metals.
  • Learn how nanoscale effects are exploited in photonic devices.
  • Discuss nanofabrication and design tools.
  • Learn the principles of nanocharacterization tools.
  • Describe computational and modeling techniques used in nanophotonics.
  • Identify the latest advances in the field of nanophotonics.

Intended Audience
This course is intended for optics professionals who are interested in learning the fundamentals of nanoscale light-matter interactions, nanophotonic devices, fabrication, synthesis and nanocharacterization techniques.

Instructor Biographies
Joseph W. Haus is professor and director of the Electro-Optics Program at the University of Dayton. His current research is concentrated on the linear and nonlinear optical properties of photonic crystals, especially novel photonic sensors, modulators and coherent light sources from THz to UV based on electromagnetic resonance effects. Andrew M. Sarangan is an associate professor of the Electro-Optics Graduate Program at the University of Dayton. His research interests are in the general area of semiconductor devices, integrated optics and computational electromagnetics. His current research is focused on photonic crystals devices, specifically on novel nanophotonic resonator structures for applications in diode lasers and detectors. Qiwen Zhan is an associate professor of the Electro-Optics Graduate Program at the University of Dayton. He received his master’s and doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota. Zhan's research interests are in the general area of physical optics, including nanophotonics, optical metrology and sensors techniques. His current research mainly focuses on developing new polarization sensing and manipulation techniques for nanotechnology applications.

SC306 Exploring Optical Aberrations

Sunday, October 19, 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Virendra N. Mahajan1,2; 1Aerospace Corp., USA, 2College of Optical Sciences, Univ. of Arizona, USA
Level: Advanced Beginner (basic understanding of topic is necessary to follow course material)

Course Description
The quality of an optical system is determined by its aberrations. This course will explore the effect of aberrations on image quality. Starting with basic aberrations of optical systems, we will discuss how they affect central irradiance on a target, energy on a detector, and line of sight and resolution of a system. The importance of the use of Zernike polynomials in optical testing and design, spot diagrams in optical system analysis, and Strehl ratio for aberration tolerance will be covered. The chromatic aberrations and the polychromatic PSF and OTF will be explained.

Benefits and Learning Objectives
This course should enable you to:

  • Acquire a working knowledge of aberrations and their effect on energy on detector, line of sight error and MTF.
  • Determine aberration tolerance based on Strehl ratio and Rayleigh’s quarter wave rule.
  • Specify fabrication and assembly errors based on a certain aberration tolerance.
  • Understand the significance and use of the Zernike polynomials in optical design and testing.
  • Develop an effective working interface between system engineers/engineering managers and optical designers.
  • Communicate effectively with optical engineers and designers.

Intended Audience
Anyone interested in acquiring a working knowledge of aberrations. Those who have a background in lens and optical system design or optical testing will also benefit from this course. Managers and system engineers will learn to communicate effectively with optical engineers and designers.

Instructor Biography
Virendra (Vini) N. Mahajan, Ph.D., is a graduate of the College of Optical Sciences, University of Arizona, where he is an adjunct professor teaching courses on aberrations. He has 33 years of experience working on space optical systems, the last 25 with Aerospace Corp. He is a Fellow of OSA, SPIE and the Optical Society of India, and the winner of SPIE's 2006 Conrady award. He is the author of Aberration Theory Made Simple (1991), the editor of Selected Papers on Effects of Aberrations in Optical Imaging (1993), and the author of Optical Imaging and Aberrations, Part I: Ray Geometrical Optics (1998) and Part II: Wave Diffraction Optics (2001), all published by SPIE Press. He is also an associate editor of OSA’s Handbook of Optics in the area of classical optics.

NEW! SC320 Polarization Engineering of Optical Fields

Sunday, October 19, 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Thomas G. Brown; Inst. of Optics, Univ. of Rochester, USA

Course Description
The polarization of an optical beam is of great fundamental and practical importance in optical science and engineering. Polarization can impact such diverse areas as nano-optics, confocal microscopy, optical coherence tomography, laser cooling and trapping, and quantum entanglement. This course will begin with a basic understanding of polarized light, present ways of experimentally controlling the polarization of a beam of light, and examine what happens to the polarization under diffraction and focusing. It will include some elementary (tutorial style) electromagnetic theory, MatLab™ code for take-home simulations, and will conclude with a section on optomechanics and its influence on laser beam polarization.

Benefits and Learning Objectives
This course should enable you to:

  • Understand the uses of polarization in laser-based instrumentation.
  • Employ simple numerical models to describe pupils having inhomogeneous polarization states.
  • Learn about experimental techniques using inhomogeneously polarized beams.

Intended Audience
Engineers and scientists interested in polarization effects in laser-based instrumentation, including biomedical imaging, inspection/microscopy and nano-optics.

Instructor Biography
Thomas G. Brown has been on the faculty of the Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, since July 1987 and currently serves as Chair of undergraduate studies. While at Rochester, he has conducted research in semiconductor optoelectronics, optical fiber microstructures, optical polarization and optical metrology. His recent research activities have included focusing and coherence properites of polarization vortex beams, optical vortices induced by stress birefringent elements, high Q resonators in SOI waveguides, modeling and characterization of photonic crystal fibers, and optical properties of quantum amplified isomers for photopolymers. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, is President of the Rochester chapter of OSA, and currently serves as Chair of the polarization engineering technical group of the OSA.

NEW! SC321 Principles of Far-Field Fluorescence Nanoscopy

Sunday, October 19, 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Andreas Schoenle; Max Planck Inst. for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany
Level: Advanced Beginner (basic understanding of topic is necessary to follow course material)

Course Description
The course will give an overview of the concepts underlying far-field fluorescence microscopy at nanometer resolution. To image details less than 200nm (half the wavelength used), all super-resolution techniques have to overcome the so-called diffraction-limit. This is impossible using purely optical techniques for fundamental reasons. Nevertheless, since recently, imaging with resolutions down to ~15 nm is possible.

The course will briefly review the physical reason for the diffraction limit and its fundamental nature. It will then explain the common physical principle underlying all known successful super-resolution techniques: Turning fluorescent labels on and off allows one to read out information sequentially from areas too small to be resolved by conventional methods. The fundamental implications of this time-multiplexing for imaging performance are discussed. Currently, two major implementations of this basic principle can be identified. We will discuss both, ensemble based techniques (STED/RESOLFT) and single emitter based techniques (PALM/STORM/fPALM/PALMIRA), and put them into context. The mechanisms currently limiting their resolution and imaging speed will be described and the principle advantages and disadvantages of the various methods will be discussed. In this context, issues concerning the interpretation of super-resolved image data and image-restoration will also be addressed. Finally, the setup of several types of super-resolving microscopes will be reviewed in detail, going though the requirements for setting up a STED or a PALMIRA microscope and successfully operating it.

Benefits and Learning Objectives
This course should enable you to:

  • Explain the basic physical principle underlying far-field fluorescence microscopy with resolution well beyond the diffraction limit.
  • List current implementations of this principle and identify ensemble based and single emitter based approaches.
  • Compare these two complementary approaches and list their particular advantages and disadvantages.
  • Determine the most appropriate implementation of the super-resolution principle to solve your imaging problem or the imaging problems of your clients and colleagues.
  • Design a super-resolving STED or PALM/STORM microscope, list the necessary components and set up the experiment.
  • Explain which parameters are currently limiting the performance of subdiffraction microscopes.
  • Calculate the expected resolution and imaging speed of a setup given its components.

Intended Audience
Participants of this course should have basic knowledge of optics. Knowledge of imaging theory such as the concept of a PSF and fluorophores will be helpful. The course will be useful for scientists and engineers in research and development. Individuals intending to implement or apply super-resolving microscopes, both decision makers and those designing and building the experiments or devices, will gain necessary practical and theoretical knowledge.

Instructor Biography
Andreas Schönle, Ph.D., is a senior researcher in the department of nanobiophotonics at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany, which has been specializing in far-field optical nanoscopy for more than a decade. In these years, he made significant contributions to the design, optimization and characterization of numerous super-resolving microscopes. In particular, he made key contributions to their theoretical description and to the mathematical analysis of nanoscopy image data.

NEW! SC322 Silicon Nanophotonics

Sunday, October 19, 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Jelena Vuckovic; Edward L. Ginzton Lab, Stanford Univ., USA

Course Description
Strong localization of light in nanophotonic structures leads to enhanced light-matter interaction, which can be employed in a variety of applications, ranging from improved (higher speed, lower threshold) optoelectronic devices to biophotonics, quantum information and low threshold nonlinear optics. In addition to these new or improved functionalities, such miniaturized photonic devices can also be integrated with high density on chip. In particular, it is interesting to explore combining nanophotonics with silicon to achieve a range of high performance silicon (preferably CMOS compatible) devices, including photodetectors, electro-optic modulators, optical switches, Raman lasers, LEDs and possibly even lasers.
This course will review interesting physics of nanophotonic devices (including Purcell effect and reduction of Raman lasing threshold) and describe the state of the art in active and passive silicon nanohotonics, including photonic crystals, plasmonic and microring resonators/slot waveguides platforms. Interesting applications of such devices in optical interconnects, quantum information processing and biosensing will also be discussed. Combination of silicon with other materials (including germanium, silicon nanoparticles and colloidal quantum dots) as a route to build active devices (including lasers and amplifiers) will be addressed.

Benefits and Learning Objectives
This course should enable you to:

  • Understand the physics of nanophotonic devices.
  • Understand the benefits of employing nanophotonics for certain applications.
  • Discuss the state of the art in silicon nanophotonics.

Intended Audience
Scientists and engineers interested in photonic devices in general. Some background in electromagnetics, quantum mechanics and optoelectronics is helpful, but not required.

Instructor Biography
Jelena Vuckovic received her doctorate from Caltech in 2002. In 2003, she joined the faculty in the Electrical engineering department and Ginzton Laboratory at Stanford University, where she leads the nanoscale and quantum photonics research group. Her research focuses on experimental nanophotonics and quantum photonics, including photonic crystals and solid-state photonic quantum information systems. She has published more than 70 journal publications, seven book chapters, six issued and several pending U.S. patents, and given more than 70 invited talks and one plenary talk. Vuckovic is a recipient of several awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE)--the highest honor for young scientists and engineers in the United States, the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, the DARPA Young Faculty Award, the Okawa Foundation Research Grant, and the Frederic E. Terman Fellowship given to the most promising young faculty in sciences and engineering at Stanford.

NEW! SC323 Latest Trends in Optical Manufacturing

Sunday, October 19, 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Paul Dumas; QED Technologies, USA
Level: Beginner (no background or minimal training is necessary to understand course material)

Course Description
This course will provide an overview of the latest manufacturing techniques for precision optics, focusing mainly on the polishing, finishing and metrology aspects of fabrication. Precision optics manufacturing has evolved dramatically over the past few decades. For example, conventional pitch polishing has been used for decades with little change and is still the industry cornerstone for high-precision polishing and finishing. CNC Polishing, Single Point Diamond Turning (SPDT), Magnetorheological Finishing (MRF) and Ion Beam Finishing (IBF) are examples of relatively new technologies that are increasing throughput, increasing precision, increasing determinism, and/or enabling the finishing of more complicated geometries.

The course will focus more on “complex” and “traditionally difficult” geometries, as opposed to “standard spheres.” We will discuss the strengths and limitations of the various technologies, and highlight how some optical designs that were previously considered cost-prohibitive or just plain impossible are becoming in reach of today’s optic shops. Aspheres represent a perfect example of one class of precision optics that has been hard to polish, hard to measure and therefore very expensive to manufacture. Their benefits to optical design (increased performance, reduced system weight, reduced system size) have been known for years, but their use has only been exploited when their added cost could be justified. A transformation has occurred in infrared (IR) systems, where SPDT and profilometry can provide the necessary precision and flexibility to fabricate aspheres as cost effectively as spheres. As new technologies (such as those discussed in this course) become more pervasive, it is only a matter of time for similar transformations to occur in the higher precision visible and UV markets.

Benefits and Learning Objectives
This course should enable you to:

  • Describe the latest array of fabrication and metrology technologies available to the precision optics market.
  • Compare the strengths and limitations of these new technologies.
  • Identify classes of aspheres that can be manufactured (almost) as easily as spheres with these new technologies.
  • Define three uses for “perfectly bad” surfaces.
  • Identify ways to optimize manufacturing process flow by leveraging the strengths and avoiding the limitations of various technologies.
  • Determine what optical materials are compatible with various manufacturing technologies.

Intended Audience
The course is intended for optics manufacturers interested in learning about novel optical manufacturing techniques and how they might increase flexibility, reduce variation, reduce production times and/or increase precision, as well as optical designers interested in learning how design constraints are changing due to these new manufacturing capabilities. A general understanding of optics manufacturing and/or design is helpful, but no specific technical experience is necessary.

Instructor Biography
Paul Dumas received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in optical engineering from the University of Rochester in the early 1990s. He began supporting the magnetorehological finishing (MRF) research program at the Center for Optics Manufacturing (COM) in 1994 through software and process development activities. In 1997 he became a founding member of QED Technologies. For more than 10 years he has been supporting optics manufacturers around the world through his various roles at QED, and he was recognized in 2003 with the OSA Engineering Excellence Award for these contributions.

NEW! SC324 Plasmonics

Sunday, October 19, 1:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Stefan Maier; Experimental Solid State Group, Dept. of Physics, Imperial College London, UK
Level: Beginner (no background or minimal training is necessary to understand course material)

Course Description
Plasmonics, the study and exploitation of surface plasmon polaritons and localized surface plasmon modes, has the potential to underpin optical sciences and technology of the 21st century by opening up the nanoscale for optical manipulation. The field is currently at the forefront of a revolution in the optical sciences, spanning various research disciplines from fundamental optical studies to the provision of nanophotonic tools for materials science, biological sensing and optical engineering. This course will provide an introduction into the field, taking the basic description of these modes via Maxwell’s equations as the starting point. Prominent applications such as surface enhanced sensing, nanophotonics waveguiding, extraordinary transmission through hole arrays and plasmonic metamaterials will be discussed, amongst others. The course is partially based on the book Plasmonics--Fundamentals and Applications by the presenter.

Benefits and Learning Objectives
This course should enable you to:

  • Develop a basic understanding of both localized and propagating surface plasmons.
  • Apply design criteria for the development of nanophotonic waveguides and cavities.
  • Handle basic electromagnetic design tools for nanophotonics.
  • Transfer gained knowledge on plasmonics into a variety of reserach disciplines.

Intended Audience
This course is aimed at students and researchers in the optical sciences, with a basic knowledge of electromagnetism.

Instructor Biography
Stefan Maier is a member of academic staff in the physics department at Imperial College, having held previous positions at the University of Bath and at Caltech. His main research interests lie in plasmonics in metamaterials, particularly in plasmon waveguides, sensors and far-infrared plasmonic metamaterials. He frequently gives invited talks and tutorials on the subject, and is the author of the highly successful introductory text Plasmonics--Fundamentals and Applications.