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