[Optics Seminars OIST] by Prof Forbes

Title: The creation and control of structured light

Speaker: Prof. Andrew Forbes
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Abstract:
Structured light is a term used to describe optical fields that have been tailored in their spatial intensity, phase and polarisation distributions, and may even be extended to include tailored light in the time and frequency domain too.  Structured light has found many applications, including optical manipulation, atom optics, high-dimensional quantum information processing, laser materials processing, light-matter interactions and novel lasers to name a few, spanning both fundamental science and applications.  In this colloquium, I will explore how to create, manipulate and detect structured light fields, and cover some example applications in classical and quantum optics.  It will be a tutorial style talk that covers the basics of the field while hinting at what such control could bring in the laboratory.

Andrew has at various times in his career found himself as teacher, janitor, secretary, receptionist, web-master, systems engineer, sales rep, manager, director, and sometimes a scientist.  He is presently a Distinguished Professor within the School of Physics at the U. Witwatersrand (South Africa) where in 2015 he established a new laboratory for Structured Light. Andrew is active in promoting photonics in Africa, a founding member of the Photonics Initiative of South Africa and initiator of South Africa’s Quantum Roadmap.  He is a Fellow of SPIE, the OSA, the SAIP, and an elected member of the Academy of Science of South Africa.  He holds an A-rating by the South African NRF, 3 honorary professorships, is editor-in-chief of the UK’s Journal of Optics and sits on the editorial board of three other international journals. Andrew has won several awards, including the NSTF national award for his contributions to photonics in South Africa, the Georg Forster prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for outstanding contributions to photonics, and the SAIP Gold Medal, the highest award for physics in South Africa, making him the youngest winner to date.  Andrew spends his time having fun with the taxpayers’ money, exploring structured light in lasers as well as classical and quantum optics. 

Join Zoom Meeting
https://oist.zoom.us/j/95078154837?pwd=MHdzbzdTV1RCYW0wK3BSZWNGTkVodz09

Meeting ID: 950 7815 4837
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