News at RP Photonics Consulting
At this place you learn about new activities of RP Photonics.
2010-03-03: Support for R&D on Ultrashort Pulse Lasers from the BMBF
The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has recently announced the details for the new support programme on ultrashort pulse lasers for highly precise machining. Interested companies can massively profit from a collaboration with RP Photonics – beginning with the development of the short project summary (needed until May 31, 2010) and the proposal, and even more so at later stages, when the technical details become relevant. RP Photonics has excellent know-how on ultrashort pulse lasers.
2010-01-06: SPIE Field Guide to Optical Fiber Technology
Dr. Paschotta has already authored the third book in the SPIE Field Guide series. It is the Field Guide to Optical Fiber Technology. The book covers not only the basics of fiber optics, but also presents a lot of material on fiber nonlinearities, photonic crystal fibers, various fiber-optic components such as fiber Bragg gratings. Also, it discusses fiber lasers and amplifiers.
Also have a look at the other two Field Guides to Lasers and Laser Pulse Generation.
The concept of these Field Guides is quite popular, as they present a quick and inexpensive way to get familiar with the essentials of some technical area.
2010-01-04: Licenses for RP Resonator 2.0 Software Available
Previously, the advanced resonator design software RP Resonator (formerly called RP DisCav) was only for internal use at RP Photonics. Now, user licenses for the improved version 2.0 are available.
This software greatly surpasses the capabilities of common programs for resonator design. For example, one can use it to study and minimize the alignment sensitivity, calculate chromatic dispersion effects resulting from wavelength-dependent refraction and higher-order mode frequencies. Therefore, the program is an invaluable tool for solid-state laser development.
Of course, it remains possible to let RP Photonics do design work with this software.
2009-11-26: Upcoming Short Courses
In the near future, Dr. Paschotta will present four short courses:
- January 25, 2010: Short course SC931 on Applied Nonlinear Frequency Conversion at Photonics West in San Francisco
- January 26, 2010: Short course SC818 on Laser Beam Quality at Photonics West in San Francisco
- January 27, 2010: Short course SC860 on Resonator Design for Solid State Lasers at Photonics West in San Francisco
- January 31, 2010: Short course on High-Power Solid-State Laser Technologies at Advanced Solid-State Photonics 2010 in San Diego on January 31, 2010.
If you attend Photonics West and/or ASSP, use the opportunity to learn a lot in such a course and at the same time to get an impression of how your business or research could profit from the cooperation with RP Photonics!
2009-05-08: Summer School in Tampere
On August 10–14, there will be the 5th International Summer School "New Frontiers in Optical Technologies" at Tampere University of Technology in Finland. The programme contains lectures on hot topics like semiconductor and fiber light sources, nanophotonics and optical metamaterials, ultrashort laser pulses, photovoltaics, biophotonics and laser amplifiers. Until June 15, registration at a reduced fee is possible.
Dr. Paschotta will present a tutorial on fiber amplifiers and lasers, which will contain case studies based on simulations with the RP Fiber Power 2.0 software.
2009-03-13: CLEO/Europe and Laser Exhibition in Munich; Short Course on Fiber Amplifiers
On June 14–19, Dr. Paschotta will be in Munich, attending the CLEO/Europe conference and the LASER 2009. World of Photonics exhibition. (See booth 132 in hall B2.) He will give the short course on "Fiber Amplifiers", and it is possible to arrange a meeting during that week.
This would also be an opportunity to get some software demonstrated, e.g. the new RP Fiber Power 2.0 software for simulating and designing fiber lasers, amplifiers and ASE sources.
2009-01-08: Meet Dr. Paschotta at Forthcoming Conferences; Attend Short Courses
The following forthcoming conferences may provide an opportunity to have a meeting with Dr. Paschotta:
- Photonics West 2009 in San Jose, California, January 24–29. Dr. Paschotta will present the short courses SC818 on "Laser Beam Quality", SC860 on "Resonator Design for Solid State Lasers", and SC931 on "Applied Nonlinear Frequency Conversion". Note therefore the limited availability, but it should still be possible to find some suitable time for a meeting.
- Advanced Solid-State Photonics 2009, Feb. 1–4. Dr. Paschotta will present the short course SC331 on "Modeling of Fiber Amplifiers and Fiber Lasers".
- CLEO/Europe in Munich, June 14–19, for the short course 2 on "Fiber Amplifiers".
Actually, why not attend one of the short courses? You can learn a lot, and at the same time you get a feeling for what you could expect from a collaboration with RP Photonics.
If you prefer a tailored staff training course at your location, addressing exactly what is needed for your development projects, this is also possible.
2008-12-18: Dr. Paschotta Chairs the EPS Fresnel Prize and QEOD Thesis Prize in 2009
Dr. Paschotta, being the winner of the EPS Fresnel Prize in 2002, now has the honor of serving the EPS as the chair of the prize committees for the Fresnel Prize and QEOD Thesis Prize in 2009. Although working mostly for industrial customers, Dr. Paschotta is happy to stay involved with science and the scientific community.
A call for nominations will be sent out by EPS in January. The prize ceremony will be during CLEO/Europe-EQEC in Munich in June 2009.
2008-10-23: New Version of Modeling Software "RP Fiber Power"
About in mid November 2008, version 2.0 of the modeling software RP Fiber Power will be available. Compared with version 1.0, it has the following important extensions:
- The model can now also take into account radial dependencies of doping concentrations and optical intensities (mode fields). This results in a higher precision e.g. for devices based on double-clad fibers.
- It is now possible for the user to freely define level schemes of laser-active ions and a great variety of processes inducing transitions between these levels. For example, it is now possible to model upconversion lasers of various kinds.
With these extensions, the software can cover an even wider range of applications. Note also its value for educational purposes: when you have performed “numerical experiments” on fiber amplifiers or fiber lasers with such software, you truly understand how they work and how important certain effects really are.
Currently, the software undergoes intensive testing. You can already get an impression by reading the extended software description pages.
2008-10-03: Short Courses in 2009
In 2009, RP Photonics will offer five short courses at three different conferences: Photonics West, Advanced Solid-State Photonics, and CLEO/Europe. The topics are “Laser Beam Quality”, “Resonator Design for Solid State Lasers”, “Applied Nonlinear Frequency Conversion”, “Modeling of Fiber Amplifiers and Fiber Lasers”, and “Optical Amplifiers”.
Note that by attending such a course you can learn a lot and at the same time get a feeling for how useful a cooperation with Dr. Paschotta of RP Photonics Consulting could be.
See the page on training courses for more details.
2008-10-01: SPIE Field Guide to Laser Pulse Generation
At SPIE Press, the new Field Guide to Laser Pulse Generation, authored by Dr. Paschotta, can now be ordered. This handy book explains techniques of pulse generation such as Q switching, gain switching and mode locking, but also methods of pulse amplification and pulse characterization.
2008-09-30: Print Version of the Encyclopedia of Laser Physics and Technology
In October 2008, the Encyclopedia of Laser Physics and Technology will appear as a print version, published via Wiley-VCH. However, the online version on the RP Photonics website will stay freely available (“open access”) for any foreseeable future.
2008-01-15: SPIE Field Guide to Lasers
At SPIE Press, the new Field Guide to Lasers, authored by Dr. Paschotta, is now available. This compact book describes the basic principles of lasers and amplifiers, discusses the numerous important properties of laser crystals, methods of pulse generation and wavelength tuning, and laser noise. Practitioners can also gain valuable insight from remarks on laser safety and obtain new ideas about how to make the laser development process more efficient.
2007-11-26: Open Access Paper on Power Scaling of Lasers
R. Paschotta published the paper “Power scalability as a precise concept for the evaluation of laser architectures” in the open-access repository arXiv.org, see arXiv:0711.3987v1. For the first time, a solid definition of power scaling and scalability is given.
2006-10-10: 500 Articles in the Encyclopedia of Laser Physics and Technology
Being a bit more than two years old, the Encyclopedia of Laser Physics and Technology has now got as many as 500 technical articles. Number 500 is on slab lasers.
2006-07-01: New Blog: The Photonics Spotlight
RP Photonics has entered the blogosphere with the new Photonics Spotlight, presenting interesting short articles on photonics and laser technology. It also has an RSS feed.
See also the Photonics Quiz.
2006-02-03: Advertising in the Encyclopedia of Laser Physics and Technology
Manufacturers and distributors of photonics products can now do advertising in the Encyclopedia of Laser Physics and Technology, with banners at the side of all encyclopedia articles, or with links on the pages of certain encyclopedia articles.