Hamburg 2009 – scientific programme

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SYDI: Symposium Dissertationspreis

SYDI 1: Dissertation Prize Symposium

SYDI 1.4: Invited Talk

Tuesday, March 3, 2009, 12:00–12:30, VMP 8 HS

Discrete optics in femtosecond-laser written photonic structures — •Alexander Szameit — Institut of Applied Physics, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Max-Wien-Platz 1, 07743 Jena, Germany

Tailoring the fundamental properties of light is a basic requirement for a majority of optical applications, in terms of technological aspects as well as fundamental research. During the last years it was theoretically shown that arrays of evanescently coupled waveguides are a particular representation of a functionalized optical material, in which the temporal and spatial dispersion of propagating light can be specifically tuned. A novel technique, with which waveguides can be directly "written" into various optical bulk materials using femtosecond laser pulses, allows for the realization of a variety of these innovative concepts. This includes applications with a more technical background, such as schemes for imaging, all-optical routing and switching, as well as fundamental problems, e.g. analogs to similar physical systems like Bose-Einstein condensates, solids or abstract quantum-mechanical settings, and even optics on a non-euclidian curved topology. In this presentation I will review recent results and give a short outlook on future activities.