Course Title:Coherent Mid-IR Light: Generation and Applications

Course Level: Intermediate 

Course Description:

This course delves into advanced techniques for generating coherent light, from continuous-wave to few-cycle pulses, within the critical yet challenging mid-IR spectral range (2–20 µm). It covers cutting-edge approaches, including solid-state, fiber, and semiconductor lasers (e.g., intra- and intersubband cascade lasers), as well as nonlinear optical frequency down-conversion techniques like difference frequency generation, optical parametric oscillators, and chirped-pulse optical parametric amplifiers. Emerging technologies, such as supercontinuum generation in microcavities, waveguides, and photonic crystal fibers, and methods for generating optical frequency combs, are also explored. The course highlights key applications of mid-IR lasers in spectroscopic sensing, nano-IR imaging, medical and defense fields, attosecond science, extreme nonlinear optics, and particle acceleration. 

Benefits and Learning Objectives: 

• Gain a comprehension of contemporary mid-IR laser sources, including their operational principles, strengths, and limitations. 

• Differentiate between various operational modes, ranging from continuous to pulsed, to the ultra-short few-optical-cycle mode, and into the realm of optical frequency combs. 

• Recognize the emerging and diverse applications of mid-IR technology, spanning from biomedicine to attosecond physics. 

Intended Audience:

Students, academics, researchers, and engineers from various disciplines who require a broad introduction to the subject and would like to learn more about the state-of-the-art and upcoming trends in mid-IR laser development and applications. Undergraduate training in either engineering or science is assumed. 

Instructor Biography: 

Konstantin Vodopyanov is a world expert in the field of mid-IR lasers, laser-matter interaction, nonlinear optics, and laser spectroscopy. He is the author of a recent book: K.L. Vodopyanov, “Laser-based mid-infrared sources” (Wiley, 2020). Dr. Vodopyanov has both industrial and academic experience; he is an Endowed Chair & Professor of Optics and Physics at CREOL, the College of Optics & Photonics at University of Central Florida. His research group holds various world records in the field of mid-IR lasers, optical parametric devices, ultra-broadband frequency combs, and high-resolution molecular spectroscopy. Dr. Vodopyanov is a Fellow of Optica (former OSA); the international society for optics and photonics (SPIE); American Physical Society (APS), and the UK Institute of Physics (IOP). He delivered numerous invited, keynote, and plenary talks and tutorials on the subject of mid-IR technologies at major scientific symposia.