| On the Future of Quantum Networks |
Today at FiO + LS, don't miss the plenary talk from Ronald Hanson (pictured), Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, who discusses the concepts, current status and prospects of quantum internet research. The talk, which is held in the Science + Industry Showcase Theater, is preceded by an update on the National Quantum Initiative, offered by University of Maryland quantum physicist Christopher Monroe.
There are two Visionary Speakers presenting this morning: Steven Cundiff on multidimensional coherent spectroscopy of semiconductor nanostructures, and John Martinis on quantum computing.
It's the last day for the Science + Industry Showcase, which means one more opportunity to meet with exhibitors and to find out just what those wildly animated attendees are ducking and weaving from virtually in the Facebook Reality Labs booth.
After hearing so much about quantum technologies this week, you may be wondering about market opportunities. By no coincidence, we offer the Quantum Photonics Market Opportunities Panel, which promises a robust discussion on technology trends and, well, market opportunities. Finally, did you know there was an international quantum shorts film festival? We're presenting four of the best shorts from the 2018 festival tonight. |
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| Mohan M. Trivedi, University of California, San Diego, USA |
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Autonomous Vehicles — A Look at the Past and Future Applications for Safety and Reliability
Just how safe and reliable are autonomous or self-driving vehicles? Gone are the days in which autonomous vehicles can be considered merely a staple of science fiction. Rather, the technology inherent to these vehicles reflect a consumer trend that is very much in the present and will continue to shape our future. In an illuminating Visionary Speaker presentation at FiO + LS, Mohan M. Trivedi of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), USA, delivered a deep-dive look into the past research of autonomous systems and the extension of these technologies in vehicles present on roads, today.
These systems include such technologies as range sensors, GPS units, vehicle dynamic sensors and visible cameras that track everything from lane deviations to the position of the driver’s foot. Many of these technologies help shape the current trends in autonomous-vehicle development. Ranging from food delivery trucks in Houston, Texas, to a completely self-driving car that trekked down the same stretch of highway in Germany that the Benz family used in their first cars, autonomous vehicles have reached consumer markets at an ever-growing pace.
In spite of these advances, many consumers still have concerns about autonomous vehicles safety and reliability. Trivedi and his team at the UCSD Laboratory for Intelligent and Safe Automobiles are focusing their research on developing the computational and engineering-related techniques that help to address these concerns. |
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Nanophotonic Design, Optimized
Integrated nanophotonics promises a generation of spiffy, miniaturized optical components that could drive new capabilities, in applications from communications to lidar to quantum technology. But getting there requires packing huge optical functionality into a very small footprint—and that’s been a formidable challenge in design, fabrication and time.
In a Visionary Speakers talk at FiO + LS, Jelena Vuckovic of Stanford University, USA, showed how her research group and others are attacking the problem with techniques that can slash the design time of creating fab-ready nanophotonic components. The secret: Put some clever computer optimization, blazing-fast custom-written software, and machine learning on the case.
The fundamental question, as Vuckovic put it, is “really whether photonics can go through [the] same revolution that electronics went through in the 20th century,” when computers shrank from room-size to pocket-size. Thus far, however, photonics has not been especially cooperative, and photonic devices frequently still don’t outperform their electronic counterparts.
To get to better integrated nanophotonic components — and to dramatically speed up the time to design them — Vuckovic’s team has developed inverse methods and computer codes in which high-speed electromagnetic-equation solvers iteratively calculate the optical behavior for light in a “black box,” and, guided by machine-learning techniques, rapidly converge on a device structure that will produce the desired behavior.
Often, she noted, the computer comes up with solutions that “aren’t intuitive at all.” But her team has tested the approach from end to end, working with commercial semiconductor foundries to establish that the designs can be scaled up to work in the established semiconductor infrastructure. And she sees potential for using the technique to create new kinds of nanophotonic devices, in both the classical and the quantum realms.
Read extended coverage at OSA's Optics & Photonics News. > |
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A Nobel Application of Fundamental Optics Research
The first plenary lecture of this year’s FiO + LS conference was presented by 2013 OSA President and 2018 Nobel Laureate Donna Strickland, who gave attendees a compelling, first-hand account of how groundbreaking innovations can come from fundamental science and research. Her talk covered the early foundations of her field of research, beginning with Albert Einstein’s work on the photoelectric effect. In tracing these building blocks, Strickland highlighted the initial questions that ignited her enduring interest in the fields of optics and photonics.
Strickland recounted how her work with fellow Nobel Laureate Gérard Mourou led to the development of chirped pulse amplification (CPA), which produced the shortest and most intense laser pulses ever generated — without destroying the amplifying material. This breakthrough technique involved first stretching the laser pulses, then amplifying them, and finally compressing them, which dramatically increased the intensity of the laser pulse.
At the time of her research, Strickland wasn’t focusing on CPA’s potential applications. But as is often the case with truly trailblazing research, the applications quickly become apparent. “We were really trying to see how does light interact with matter when you turn the intensity up. We weren’t trying to do something applied,” she noted following her talk.
In the case of CPA, perhaps the most relatable current application of the technology can be seen in millions of corrective eye surgeries that are performed each year. |
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| Silvia Vignolini, University of Cambridge, UK |
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Color: From Nature to Applications
In a morning session on “Nonlinear Nano- and Biophotonics” at FiO + LS, Silvia Vignolini of Cambridge University, UK, reviewed her work in the world of structural color — using arrays of light-scattering nanostructures to create colors without dyes or pigments.
This approach to constructing colors is well developed in the natural world — from the squid to the peacock to the blue morpho butterfly. Vignolini and others have used these natural examples to develop toolkits for creating structural colors that could offer a more sustainable alternative to conventional pigments, the production of which can have baleful impacts on the environment.
In her talk, Vignolini looked at the basics of these engineered colors, and how parameters evolved in natural systems — such as hierarchies of nanostructures and the careful tuning of disorder — offer control knobs for achieving structural-color effects. Recently, to move toward an environmentally sustainable approach to color, she’s been exploring the use of bacteria as factories for nanophotonic building blocks, and of natural cellulose fibers as the basis for structural-color materials.
OSA’s Optics & Photonics News chatted with Vignolini after her talk about her work and what motivates it.
Read the interview. > |
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| Jon Zuegel, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, USA |
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Checking In with the Brightest Light Initiative
In March, leading experts from the United States ultrafast laser community met at OSA Headquarters in Washington, District of Columbia, USA, to participate in the Brightest Light Initiative (BLI) workshop, where they identified future opportunities for the science and technology of high-brightness lasers.
In December 2017, the U.S. National Academies released a report stating that the United States had fallen behind in ultrafast-laser technology, and that Europe and Asia had surpassed the United States to dominate this field. Less than a year later, the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics recognized a major milestone that helped enable ultrafast lasers — chirped-pulse amplification.
These two events acted as a swift kick of encouragement to rally the U.S.’s laser scientists together behind a common goal. This culminated in the BLI workshop, where the U.S. ultrafast-laser community convened to respond to the National Academies’ report and to discuss a path forward.
Read more at OSA's Optics & Photonics News >. |
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Enjoy the Day.
frontiersinoptics.org
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Technical Conference
15 – 19 September 2019
Science + Industry Showcase
17 – 18 September 2019
Marriott Wardman Park
2660 Woodley Road, NW
Washington, DC 20008
USA
Map & Directions |
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Registration
Atrium (Lower Level)
Wednesday, 18 September
07:30 – 17:30
Thursday, 19 September
07:30 – 11:00 |
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Science + Industry Showcase
Hall B and C South (Lower Level)
Wednesday, 18 September
10:00 – 15:30 |
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Complimentary WiFi Access
SSID: Marriott Conference
Password: FIOLS2019 |
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For More Information
Visit the FiO + LS website for up-to-date meeting information, or contact us at custserv@osa.org.
You can also visit the onsite OSA Booth located near Registration (Atrium, Lower Level). |
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Sponsored by: |
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Managed by:
The Optical Society
2010 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, D.C., 20036
USA
osa.org |
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