Speakers

Keynote speakers

Photorefractives in the Era of Digital Holography
D Psaltis, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland

Demetri Psaltis was educated at Carnegie-Mellon University where he received the Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Economics in 1974, the Master's in 1975, and the PhD in Electrical Engineering in 1977. In 1980, he joined the faculty at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. He served as Executive Officer for the Computation and Neural Systems department from 1992-1996. From 1996 until 1999 he was the Director of the National Science Foundation research center on Neuromorphic Systems Engineering at Caltech. He was director of the Center for Optofluidic Integration at Caltech. In the beginning of 2007, he moved to the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland where he is professor and director of the optics laboratory and the dean of the school of engineering.

Light behind bars - guiding light in complex photorefractive photonics lattices
C Denz, Institute of Applied Physics, University of Münster, Germany

Cornelia Denz received her PhD from Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany in 1992, and received the Lise Meitner-Award in the same year. In 1999, she obtained the Adolf-Messer-Award for her work in optical neural networks and nonlinear dynamic phase contrast microscopy, respectively.
Since 2001, she is a professor for applied physics and nonlinear photonics at Münster University, Germany, leading a group of about 25. She is head of the Institute of Applied Physics and Vice Rector for International Affairs and Young Researchers. She is an author of more than 150 publications and of three books. Cornelia Denz' main research interests are on the application of nonlinear optics and photonics in information technology and life sciences, including nonlinear refractive index applications, and novel periodic and random nonlinear X(2) and X(3) materials.

Invited speakers

Surface-driven, light-activated modulation and coupling in integrated polymer-liquid crystal systems
G. D'Alessandro, University of Southampton, UK

Dr Giampaolo D'Alessandro is Reader in Applied Mathematics at The University of Southampton. His main research focus is on modelling liquid crystals, with particular emphasis on their application in optical devices. His most recent works are on beam coupling and plasmon tuning in photorefractive cells, plasmonic waveguides for sensing and the development of new algorithms for computing liquid crystal alignment.

Lithium niobate: What is the transparency limit?
K Buse, Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM, Freiburg, Germany

Karsten Buse studied Physics at the University of Osnabrück. He worked as a Post-doc at the California Institute of Technology and founded there together with Demetri Psaltis and alumni of the Psaltis and Buse groups the company Ondax, Inc., producing volume Bragg filters. From 2000 until 2010 he served as a full professor in the Physics Department of the University of Bonn and since 2011 he is director of the Fraunhofer Institute of Physical Measurement Techniques in Freiburg and Kaiserslautern, with about 220 employees working in the fields production control, gas and process control, material characterization and testing, object and shape recognition and energy systems. In parallel, he is holding a chair for optical systems at the University of Freiburg.

Self-adaptive holography in liquid crystal light-valves
Stefania Residori, Institut non lineaire de nice, France

Stefania Residori graduated in Physics at the University of Bologna (1989) and obtained a PhD in Nonlinear Optics at the University of Florence (1993). She is currently a research director of the CNRS and works at the Non Linear Institute of Nice, France. Her main research interests are in the field of nonlinear optics, nonlinear dynamics, liquid crystals, photorefractive materials, slow light and dynamic holography.

Investigation of ferroelectics by means of scanning force microscopy
Elisabeth Soergel, University of Bonn, Germany

Elisabeth Soergel received the Ph.D. degree in physics from the Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany, in 1999 on the investigation of photorefractive crystals with scanning force microscopy. Subsequently, she was as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the IBM Research Laboratories, Rüschlikon, Zurich, Switzerland, investigating the possibilities for storage devices based on scanning tunnelling microscopy. Since 2001, she has been with the University of Bonn, Germany, working on the subject of visualization of ferroelectric domains with piezoresponse force microscopy.

Femtosecond pulse written fibre gratings: Tailoring multi-mode reflection
Jens Ulrich Thomas,Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany

Jens Ulrich Thomas received the Ph.D. degree in physics from the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany in 2012. While his diploma thesis focused on ultrashort pulse inscription of fiber Bragg gratings, his PhD thesis centered on the novel mode converting aspects of these gratings. He is currently enjoying a one year research stay at the group of Jeff Squier (Colorado School of Mines), investigating simultaneous space-time focusing of ultrashort pulses.

Manipulation of optical topological charges via atomic coherence gratings in Pr3+:YSO crystal based on electromagnetically induced transparency effect
G Zhang, Nankai University, China