A paper titled “Transition from linear- to nonlinear-focusing regime in filamentation” by Khan Lim, Magali Durand, Matthieu Baudelet and Martin Richardson has been published in Nature’s Scientific Reports. Laser filamentation in gases is often carried out in the laboratory with focusing optics to better stabilize the filament, whereas real-world applications of filaments frequently involve collimated…

Professor Kenneth L Schepler, CREOL, presented the keynote speech beginning the NATO SET-210 Specialists Meeting on infrared laser technology for modern battlefield requirements. This meeting was held on the 24th and 25th of July at the Defence CBRN Centre near Salisbury in the United Kingdom. A total of 46 attendees from 7 nations enjoyed a…

We celebrate today, the 99th birthday of Dr. Charles Hard Townes, inventor of the concept of the laser, for whom our Townes Laser Institute is named after. Dr Townes, one of the most influential scientists of the past century, was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in Physics, together with Aleksandr Prokhorov and Nikolai Basov. Prokhorov…

Martin Richardson has been awarded a Jefferson Fellowship at the State Department for a year beginning mid-August. He will be involved in technology assessment and policy at the national and international level. Jefferson fellowships are prestigious appointments to senior academics selected by the National Academy of Sciences. Richardson has directed and promoted several international partnerships…

An article entitled “Discovering a Laser” by Emeritus professor William Silfvast appears in Optics & Photonics News. “An enthusiastic recounting of the early days of the helium cadmium laser—a twisting path with many characters that started at the University of Utah.” “My enthusiasm for optics and photonics began in 1960, shortly after the first demonstration…

Eight CREOL Professors’ achievements were recognized at the UCF Founders’ Day Honors Convocation Aristide Dogariu Pegasus Professor Award Research Incentive Award (UCF “At Large”) Ayman Abouraddy Reach for the Stars Award Pieter Kik Excellence in Graduate Teaching (College Award) Demetrios Christodoulides Excellence in Research (College Award) Excellence in Research (University Award) Jayan Thomas (joint appointment…

Professor Martin Richardson has been elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), with the citation, “for the development of high power CO2 gas, fiber and solid-state lasers, and their application in the study of laser plasmas, laser fusion, EUV light generation, LIBS and sensing”. Professor Richardson is now a fellow of all four optics-related…

Congratulations today to Frances Townes, wife of 72 years to Dr Charles Hard Townes, 1964 Physics Nobel Laureate and inventor of the concept of the laser, who is celebrating her 98th birthday. Dr Martin Richardson, director of the Townes Laser Institute at UCF, and his wife, Kathleen visited with Dr and Mrs Townes last week…

A paper by Dr. Ilya Mingareev’s and Professor Martin Richardson entitled “Post-Processing of LAM Parts with Ultrafast Lasers” is featured by the Laser Institute of America (LIA). By Ilya Mingareev, Tobias Bonhoff, Ashraf F. El-Sherif, Wilhelm Meiners, Ingomar Kelbassa, Tim Biermann and Martin Richardson Laser Additive Manufacturing (LAM) is a rapidly developing field of advanced…

Martin Richardson has been elected IEEE Fellow. The citation reads, “for contributions to the development and application of high-power and ultrafast lasers”. This is a significant recognition because the number of fellows selected in any one year does not exceed 0.1% of the total IEEE membership. Posted Monday, February 10, 2014