Programme of Events

Lasers in the Fast Lane by Prof. Wilson Sibbett

The lecture is part of the UCD Physics - RDS Distinguished Speaker Series 2012. In celebration of Physics and Dublin’s status as European City of Science 2012, UCD School of Physics has teamed up with the Royal Dublin Society to bring some of the world’s leading physicists to speak in Dublin about the latest developments in their fields of research. The topics include the exotic physics of cloaking devices, the role of physics in biology, the use of lasers in medicine and a profile of mysterious Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. The lectures are free and suitable for a general audience. Come along and be surprised!

Sibbett has been at the forefront of discovery in optical science for decades and has had more than his share of eureka moments. Considered an innovator in ultrashort-pulse lasers and related diagnostic techniques, he designed and built streak cameras that operate like oscilloscopes in the picosecond (10-12 s) and sub-picosecond timescales. In addition, Sibbett and two research colleagues first demonstrated the Kerr-lens mode-locking technique in a titanium-sapphire laser. In a nutshell, Kerr-lens mode locking provides a means for producing femtosecond (10-18 s) laser pulses by conveniently exploiting a nonlinear optical effect in the laser crystal itself. This very practical, simple laser, took ultrashort-pulse lasers into a new realm of user-compatibility such that femto-science and femto-technology became everyday realities.