Abstract:  Energetic picosecond-duration optical pulses are desired for a range of applications, from nonlinear biological imaging to precision material processing. The generation of transform-limited picosecond pulses is commonly limited by the accumulation of excess nonlinear phase shift, which distorts the spectral, temporal and spatial profiles of a pulse.  Techniques for controlling nonlinearity based on dispersion management, which are quite effective with femtosecond pulses, are not very useful with picosecond pulses.  Recent developments in picosecond-pulse amplifiers will be presented.  Applications of nanojoule-energy pulses to coherent Raman imaging will be discussed, and the first picosecond fiber amplifier to reach megawatt peak powers will be described.

Bio sketch:  Frank Wise received a BS in Engineering Physics from Princeton University, an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and a PhD in Applied Physics from Cornell University.  Before PhD studies at Cornell, he worked on advanced integrated circuits at Bell Laboratories from 1982 to 1984.  Since receiving the PhD in 1989, he has been on the faculty in Applied Physics at Cornell.