To inquire about events in this list or to add a new entry, please select from Astro seminars, AMO seminars, CMP seminars, Geo seminars, PAN seminars, colloquia, Katzenstein lectures, Pollack lectures, Reynolds lectures, and all other events.
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Jun
28
PhD Dissertation Defense2:00pm
PhD Dissertation Defense
Tuesday, June 28th, 2022
02:00 PM - 04:00 PM
Storrs Campus GS-119
Graduate Student Bradley Clarke, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut
Development of an Amplified Chirp System and its Application to Ultracold Molecules
We have developed a system for producing amplified pulses of frequency-chirped light at 780 nm on nanosecond timescales for use in ultracold 87Rb photoassociation (PA) experiments. The system starts with tunable cw laser light and employs a pair of fiber-based phase modulators, a semiconductor optical amplifier, and a tapered amplifier to generate arbitrary optical frequency chirps with peak powers greater than 1 W. Driving the modulators with an arbitrary waveform generator enables arbitrary chirp shapes, such as one/two-frequency linear chirps, which enhance the rate of PA molecule formation compared to unchirped light. We overcome the optical power limitations of the modulators by duty cycling and avoid unseeded operation of the tapered amplifier by multiplexing the chirped pulses with “dummy” light from a separate diode laser. Despite amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) making up only 3% of the amplified chirp system's output, its presence can be a considerable hindrance to PA experiments. However, advantageous use of ASE has helped to illuminate the mechanisms for 87Rb magneto-optical-trap formed ultracold molecules.
Webex URL: https://uconn-cmr.webex.com/uconn-cmr/j.php?MTID=m9e6a251aaa194fda7c0a8aefa5048d9f
YepiXUFD529Contact Information: Prof. P. Gould
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Sep
23
Katzenstein Distinguished Lecture Series4:00pm
Katzenstein Distinguished Lecture Series
Friday, September 23rd, 2022
04:00 PM - 05:00 PM
Storrs Campus SU Ballroom 330
Katzenstein Distinguished Physics Lecture
“Generating High-Intensity, Ultrashort Optical Pulses”
Dr. Donna Strickland
Nobel Laureate 2018
Department of Physics & Astronomy
University of Waterloo
With the invention of lasers, the intensity of a light wave was increased by orders of magnitude over what had been achieved with a light bulb or sunlight. This much higher intensity led to new phenomena being observed, such as violet light coming out when red light went into the material. After Gérard Mourou and I developed chirped pulse amplification, also known as CPA, the intensity again increased by more than a factor of 1,000 and it once again made new types of interactions possible between light and matter. We developed a laser that could deliver short pulses of light that knocked the electrons off their atoms. This new understanding of laser-matter interactions, led to the development of new machining techniques that are used in laser eye surgery or micromachining of glass used in cell phones.
Friday, September 23, 2022
4:00 p.m.
Student Union Ballroom,
Room 330/331
Refreshments will be prior to the talk at 3:00 p.m. in the
Gant Science Complex Light CourtContact Information: Prof. Nora Berrah
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Oct
21
UConn Physics Colloquium3:30pm
UConn Physics Colloquium
Friday, October 21st, 2022
03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Storrs Campus GW-001
Dr. William D. Ratcliff, NIST
Title and abstract TBAContact Information: Prof. P. Mannheim
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Oct
28
Dr. Roopali Kukreja (UConn Physics Colloquium)3:30pm
Dr. Roopali Kukreja (UConn Physics Colloquium)
Friday, October 28th, 2022
03:30 PM - 04:30 PM
Storrs Campus TBD
Dr. Roopali Kukreja
University of California, Davis
Title and abstract: ForthcomingContact Information: Menka Jain
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