Lasers and Optics Activities at Stanford University

This is a brief overview of research and teaching activities involving lasers, optics or electro-optics carried out in any of the academic Schools or Departments at Stanford University. It is available on the web at This page was first set up by Prof. A. E. Siegman (send email). Other interested sites or organizations are invited to link to it. Its last major update was on 11/27/98, and so not all of the course information given below has been updated for the current academic year; students should check course information with the departments involved, or with the Stanford University web page..

Departments and Schools listed below include:

Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory (EE & Applied Physics)

A large range of research and teaching activities in lasers and optics are carried out by Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics faculty members located in the Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory:
Professor Robert Byer
Diode-pumped solid-state lasers, nonlinear optics, LIGO (laser interferometric gravity-wave observations)
Professor Marty Fejer
Guided-wave optics, nonlinear optics, optical materials and sensors
Professor Steve Harris
Short wavelength lasers and laser physics
Professor Pierre Khuri-Yakub
Nondestructive testing, acoustics, optical microcroscopy
Professor Gordon Kino {emeritus]
Laser microscopy; fiber optics
Professor David A. B. Miller
Quantum well optics and optoelectronics. Use of optics in switching, interconnection and computing systems, including "smart pixel" technologies.
Professor Richard Pantell {emeritus]
Electron beam/electromagnetic wave interactions nonlinear fiber optics
Professor John Shaw {emeritus]
Fiber optical devices, fiber gyroscopes, erbium-fiber laser amplifiers
Professor Tony Siegman {emeritus]
Laser beams and resonators; definition and measurement of laser beam quality; measurements of excess quantum noise in nonhermitian systems (Professor Siegman is now emeritus and not regularly taking on new PhD students or reseasrch projects)
Professor Yoshi Yamamoto ERATO Quantum Fluctuation Project
Mesoscopic physics, quantum optics, squeezing and cavity QED.

Course offerings:

Lasers and optics courses taught by Ginzton Lab faculty members include:

Weekly Seminar, and Lasers and Optics Mailing List

A weekly "Optics and Electronics Seminar" open to interested individuals from all departments at Stanford and from local industry is held at 4:15 pm on most Monday afternoons during the academic year in the AP 200 lecture room.

If you would like to be added to an electronic mailing list for announcements of this and other optics and laser -related seminars at Stanford, send an email message to Judy Clark.

Optical Society of America Student Chapter

There is an active Student Chapter of the Optical Society of America run by graduate students from the Ginzton Laboratory and other research groups on campus. Activities of the OSA Student Chapter include a regular Tuesday Luncheon Seminar Series, invited speakers, local industry trips, outreach activies to local schools, and occasional parties. For further information on 1995-96 activities contact Andrew Merriam.

Department of Electrical Engineering:

Additional faculty members in the Department of Electrical Engineering with research interests related to optics and lasers include:
Professor Joe Goodman
Optical data processing and optical interconnects
Professor Jim Harris
MBE, quantum well lasers and optoelectronics
Professor Bert Hesselink Holography & Optical Data Storage Lab
Optical signal processing, photorefractive devices, holographic data storage, 3-D displays
Professor Abbas El Gamal
Optical imaging chips, digital camera project
Professor Leonid Kazovsky
Fiber optic communications systems
Professor Simon Wong
Diode lasers, optical interconnects for ICs

Course offerings:

Additional lasers and optics-related courses taught by this group of faculty include

The Center for Telecommunications at Stanford

The Center for Telecommunications at Stanford supports a research program in collaboration with industrial affiliates focused on optical systems and networking, wireless communications, and computer networking. In the optical area, current topics include optical fiber communications, optical networks, wavelength-division-multiplexing, and nonlinear effects in optical fibers.

School of Engineering:

Faculty members in several other Departments of the Stanford School of Engineering
also make extensive use of lasers or optical technology in their research, including:
Professor Mark Cappelli (Mechanical Engineering) cap@navier.stanford.edu
The use of lasers to study plasmas important in satellite propulsion, and in materials processing; continuous wave and pulsed laser-induced fluorescence (single and multi-photon) and laser-Raman spectroscopy.
Professor Robert Feigelson (Materials Science)
Preparation and growth of nonlinear optical crystals, and growth of single crystal optical fibers using a CO2 laser heating technique.
Professor Ron Hanson (Mechanical Engineering)
Laser diagnostics, spectroscopy in gases
Professor Marc Levoy (Computer Science)
The "Michaelangelo Project": Three-dimensional imaging and graphics, for example of statues and sculptures, using laser profiling tools for data gathering
Professor Friedrich Prinz (Mechanical Engineering)
Shape deposition manufacturing using lasers.

Course offerings:

Center for Materials Research:

The Center for Materials Research, an NSF-funded Center at Stanford University, maintains a number of central facilities including crystal growth facilities for linear and nonlinear optical materials, and a complete laser Raman spectrometer facility which is available for campus-wide use.

Department of Physics (School of Humanities & Sciences):

Research in basic physics and spectroscopy involving lasers is carried out in the Stanford University Department of Physics by
Professor Steven Chu
Laser cooling and trapping; biophysics and polymer physics with single molecules

Course offerings:

Department of Chemistry (School of Humanities & Sciences):

Several faculty members in the Stanford Chemistry Department make extensive use of lasers in their research, including:
Professor Steve Boxer: sboxer@leland
Laser spectroscopy of biological systems
Professor William E. Moerner: Moerner group
Use of lasers in single-molecule nanophotonics and biophysics, and in photorefractive polymer research.
Professor Mike Fayer: Fayer group
Dynamics of molecules; ultrafast optical measurement techniques; picosecond and femtosecond laser spectroscopy; applications of free-electron lasers to chemistry.
Professor William E. Moerner: Moerner group
Use of lasers in single-molecule nanophotonics and biophysics
Photorefractive polymer research.
Professor Dick Zare: Zare Lab
Laser chemistry: fundamental chemical reaction dynamics and optical detection of chemical species.
Professor Bob Pecora
Laser light scattering

Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory (HEPL):

The Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory of the Department of Physics (HEPL) carries out an extensive program in Free Electron Lasers and Accelerator Science, including the development and operation of free-electron lasers, and scientific and medical applications of FELs. Primary faculty members include:
Professor Alan Schwettman
Free electron lasers

Nonlinear optics in the mid and far infrared
Vibrational dynamics in condensed matter systems
Infrared near field microscopy
Professor Todd Smith
FEL device development

Laser-electron beam interactions
Laser beams and optical resonators

Link to Free Electron Lasers Home Page.

Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC):

A study is currently underway for a free-electron laser which may be built at SLAC in the future:
Professor Herman Winick: winick@slac
Potential use of a high brightness 15-20 GeV electron beam from the SLAC linac to drive a short wavelength (down to 1.5 A) FEL using amplified spontaneous emission.

Department of Geophysics (School of Earth Sciences):

Another interesting application of lasers in scientific research, this time in Geophysics:
Professor Michael McWilliams
Geological age determination by isotopic analysis of noble gases released from minerals by laser heating;

Stanford School of Medicine

Laser-related activities in the Stanford School of Medicine include:
Professor Leonard Hetzenberg (Department of Genetics) (lenherz@darwin)
Laser-fluorescence-activitated cell sorting
Professor Lubert Stryer (Department of Neurobiology)
Biological experiments using lasers; Raman spectroscopy and optical properties of retinal and rhodopsin

Graduate School of Business

Faculty members in the Graduate School of Business interested in the management and product development aspects of laser devices include:
Professor Sam Wood (wood@gsb-quetzal.Stanford.edu)
Studies of the early development and mass production of diode lasers, in the U.S. and Japan

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