Condensed Matter Physics Seminar

Light as a probe, light as a hammer

James Fraser and group members

Time
Thu. October 13, 2011     10:30 AM     Stirling 501

Abstract

In the 1950s, Harold "Doc" Edgerton (MIT) pioneered the use of short pulses of optical light to capture images of very fast moving objects (e.g., a bullet exploding a balloon). 50 years later, we have improved by over 6 orders of magnitude to access action at the femtosecond time scale, including observations of the dynamics of electrons in nanostructures, to light perturbing an optical fibre causing the generation of new colours. This seminar will start with a brief overview of the technology that allows us into this regime and some of the fun things we can do with intense optical pulses. The remainder of the seminar time will involve a lab tour with the audience split into groups, led by individuals in the research team.

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