Scientific school "Nonlinear optics and terahertz radiation"

June 20-21, 2012

Student session organizers: Evgeniya Smetanina, President of SPIE Student Chapter, Fedor Potemkin, President of OSA, International Laser Center of Lomonosov MSU OSA Student chapter and Olga Kosareva, Faculty Advisor of Lomonosov MSU SPIE Student Chapter

Symposium and OSA/SPIE student session are organized by Physics Faculty, International Laser Center, Lomonosov MSU OSA and SPIE Student Chapters. The idea of the symposium is to cordially invite outstanding world-wide recognized lecturers and scientists from a well-known scientific school of super strong laser – matter interaction, ultrashort pulse propagation and THz generation to deliver lectures to more than 200 students from different countries and institutions, who are currently acquiring skills in optics, photonics and laser science. Such a set of lectures combined with student active participation in the form of the oral and poster presentations as well as multiple questions will be a good chance to greet one of the scientific school leaders, Professor See Leang Chin from Laval University, Quebec, Canada, with his 70^th anniversary.

We invite young scientists to present their works,
the best of which will be selected and awarded

Topics:

• Interaction of superstrong laser field with atoms and molecules
• Nonlinear optics of filamentation and THz generation
• Remote generation of supercontinuum from UV to THz due to ultrashort laser – air interaction

Registration Fee for Students will be charged

The Registration Fee includes:

• conference proceedings;
• conference guide and registration material;
• coffee breaks.

Economic accommodation for students is available at Moscow State University Dormitory. More information available here.

Abstract submission

A one-page abstract prepared according to the rules indicated in the template.
Please send your abstract to smetanina@physics.msu.ru

Deadline for the student abstract submission: May 20, 2012

Invited lecturers’ short biography and lectures’s summaries:

1. Invited lecture: "Filamentation science: from THz generation through molecular science to rain making in air"

by Professor See Leang Chin, Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Optics, Center for Optics, Photonics and Laser (COPL), Université Laval, Quebec, G1K7P4, Canada, email: slchin@phy.ulaval.ca

Professor See Leang Chin is the Head of the Laboratory of High-Intensity Ultrashort Lasers at the Center for Optics, Photonics and Laser (COPL) of Laval University, Professor Chin is Canada Research Chair (senior), Ultrafast Intense Laser Science. Professor Chin published 11 books and book chapters, authored or co-authored over 350 refereed scientific papers. He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of. In 2011, he received the top award of the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP), the 2011 CAP medal for lifetime achievement in physics.

Summary: Two-color long range generation of THz pulses through filamentation of femtosecond Ti-sapphire laser pulses in air will be presented. The THz pulses follow the state of alignment and revival of air molecules excited inside the filament core. The THz strength is proportional to the fluorescence of nitrogen. Population trapping in the Rydberg states of the ionic nitrogen molecules seems to be the reason. Air molecules and water vapor in the strong field of the filament core undergo also ionization and fragmentation. Collisional chemistry would result in the generation of HNO3 molecules. In an appropriate environment such as a cloud chamber, the hygroscopic HNO3 molecules would undergo binary collision with the water molecules resulting in condensation into water droplet and snow.

2. Invited lecture: "THz wave air photonics: bridging the “gap” and beyond"

by Professor X.-C. Zhang, the Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 12627-0186 USA, email: zhangxc@rochester.edu

Dr. Xi-Cheng Zhang –Parker Givens Chair Professor and Director of The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester. Dr. Zhang has received 26 US patents, published 23 books and book chapters, and authored or co-authored over 300 refereed scientific papers. He is a Lifetime Fellow of IEEE, the Optical Society of America, and the American Physics Society.

Summary: Historically, THz technologies were mainly used within the astronomy community for searching far-infrared radiation (cosmic background), and the laser fusion community for the diagnostics of plasmas. Since the first demonstration of THz wave time-domain spectroscopy in the late 80’s, there has been a series of significant advances (particularly in recent years) on the development of intense sources and sensitive detectors.

THz wave air photonics involves the interaction of intense femtosecond laser pulses with air. The very air that we breathe is capable of generating and detecting THz field.