CLEO/QELS to Meet in Charm City

The 2005 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and the Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference will be held from Sunday, 22 May, to Friday, 27 May, at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Collocated with CLEO/QELS will again be the Photonic Applications, Systems, and Technologies (PhAST) conference, which will run Monday, 23 May, through Thursday, 26 May.

“Where Technology Is Born” is the slogan for this annual conference; with its focus on the latest developments in lasers, optical communication, and applications, this year’s meeting is set to live up to that billing. Hot topics at the conference include laser wakefield acceleration, generation of single atto-second pulses, silicon nanophotonic devices, and plasmonics.

CLEO session topics will include laser applications and optical instrumentation; solid-state lasers; semiconductor lasers and light-emitting diodes; applications of nonlinear optics; holography, wavemixing, photorefractives, and storage; optical materials, fabrication, and characterization; high-field physics and high-intensity lasers (jointly with QELS); ultrafast optics, optoelectronics, and applications; optical components, interconnects, and processing; medical and biological applications; fiber and guided-wave lasers and amplifiers; lightwave communications and networks; active optical sensing; optical metrology; and LEDs, super-luminescent diodes, and solid-state lighting devices. New to CLEO this year is a panel session, “Laser-Based Gas Sensing: Research Project or Commercial Reality?” on Tuesday, 24 May, at 6:30pm.

QELS sessions will cover cold atoms, coherent atoms, and atom optics; quantum optics; fundamental optics in periodic and random media; ultrafast dynamics; nonlinear optics; nano-optics; and other topics.

The joint CLEO/QELS plenary and awards sessions will be held in the 400-level ballroom on Monday, 23 May, from 6:30pm to 9:00pm and on Wednesday, 25 May, from 8:00am to 10:30am. Shuji Nakamura, professor of materials and of electrical and chemical engineering and director of the solid-state lighting and display center at the University of California, Santa Barbara, will speak on “Future Prospects for Solid-State Lighting,” presenting current research on gallium nitride devices and on crystal growth. Christopher Contag, assistant professor of pediatrics at Stanford University, will discuss the factors influencing whether stem cells self-renew or differentiate, in his talk “Optical Imaging of Stem Cell Fates and Function.” In her talk “Fermionic Condensates,” Deborah Jin, a fellow of JILA and assistant professor adjoint in the University of Colorado’s physics department, will discuss creating atom-pair condensates that are related to Cooper pairs of electrons in superconductors.

The PhAST program will feature four one-day symposia—on photonics in nanotechnology, biophotonics instrumentation, high-power semiconductor lasers, and active remote sensing (jointly with CLEO)—composed exclusively of invited talks. Two extended tracks will focus on photonics in national security and on lasers in manufacturing. In addition, innovation presentations will feature previews of new application areas, and numerous business sessions will offer chances to learn about marketing and funding opportunities and to network with industry and business experts. This year the PhAST plenary speaker will be Arpad Bergh, president of the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association. He will speak on “Emerging Commercial Applications for Optoelectronics.”

The always-popular application-oriented exhibit at CLEO/QELS will run Tuesday, 24 May, through Thursday, 26 May, in Halls E–G at the convention center. The conference reception on Wednesday night, 25 May, will provide additional networking opportunities.

Students will find several activities targeted for them, including career and postdoc workshops; a breakfast briefing on Monday, 23 May, at 10:00am; and a student lounge open during the week with snacks and beverages. The career center, covering jobs in all areas of optical communication and laser science, will run Tuesday, 24 May, through Thursday, 26 May. Career center registration is available online at the conference website (http://www.cleoconference.org ).

On Friday, 27 May, the last day of the conference, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Laser and Electro-Optics Society (IEEE/LEOS) will host a semiconductor laser workshop at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel.

CLEO/QELS and PhAST are sponsored by IEEE/LEOS, the American Physical Society’s division of laser science, and the Optical Society of America.