Sir David Anderson Bequest Lecture

 

“Microcavity Lasers: Light for the Information Age”

Professor Kent D. Choquette, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Tuesday 5th July 2005, Court/Senate Lecture Theatre, Collins Building, University of Strathclyde

5:15pm (tea/coffee will be served from 4:45pm)


Abstract

The infrastructure of the Information Age relies upon an efficient, fast, and inexpensive manner to distribute digital data. The emergence of photonics for data communication has enabled the interconnection of our planet. Central to the photonic revolution is the development of miniature laser sources. Recent progress in device physics and nanotechnology is leading to a new generation of high performance lasers. This presentation will discuss vertical cavity surface emitting lasers, which are among the world’s smallest laser diodes. We will also report novel new devices, such as photonic crystal and composite resonator vertical cavity lasers, which will lead to improved performance for data communication applications.

 

Biography:

Kent D. Choquette received B.S. degrees in Engineering Physics and Applied Mathematics from the University of Colorado-Boulder in 1984 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1985 and 1990, respectively. In 1990 he held a postdoctoral appointment at AT&T Bell Laboratories at Murray Hill, NJ. In 1992 he joined Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM, as a postdoctoral researcher and in 1993 as a Principal Member of Technical Staff. He became a Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2000. His research group is centered around the design, fabrication and characterization of vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs), novel microcavity light sources, nano-fabrication technologies, and hybrid integration techniques. From 2000-2002 he was a IEEE/LEOS Distinguished Lecturer. Professor Choquette has authored over 150 publications and 3 book chapters, and has presented numerous invited talks and tutorials on VCSELs. He has served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, guest Editor of IEEE J. Sel. Topics in Quantum Electronics, and presently is an Associate Editor of the IEEE Photonic Technology Letters. He is a Fellow of IEEE/Lasers and Electro-Optics Society (LEOS) and a Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA).


Page last updated by Graham Turnbull:  13 May 2005