Special Events
Kitt Peak National Observatory Tour
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Buses Depart at 4:45 p.m.
Buses Return at approximately 10:30 p.m.
Travel time to Kitt Peak is 90 minutes each way.
High atop Kitt Peak sits the largest collection of optical research telescopes anywhere in the world. A special tour of the Kitt Peak National Observatory has been organized for OIC registrants and guests. Tickets are $60 USD per person and includes bus transportation, tour fee and box dinner. ADVANCE REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED BY MAY 25, 2010. To Register for OIC and the tour click here. More information about the tour may be found at http://www.noao.edu/outreach/nop/descr.html.
Evening Session
Monday, June 7, 2010
5:00 p.m.–6:30 p.m.
Grand Ballroom Salon B&C
LIFE: A Path to Laser Fusion Energy,
Edward I. Moses; LLNL, USA.
The National Ignition Facility (NIF), the world’s largest and most powerful laser system for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) and for studying high-energy-density (HED) science, is now operational and conducting experiments at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). Demonstration of ignition and thermonuclear burn in the laboratory is a major NIF goal. NIF will achieve this by concentrating the energy from its 192 beams into a mm3-sized target and igniting a deuterium-tritium mix, liberating more energy than is required to initiate the fusion reaction. NIF’s ignition program is a national effort managed via the National Ignition Campaign (NIC). Achieving ignition at NIF will demonstrate the scientific feasibility of ICF and will focus worldwide attention on laser fusion as a viable energy option.
A laser fusion-based energy concept that builds on NIF ignition, known as LIFE (Laser Inertial Fusion Engine), is currently under development. LIFE is inherently safe and can provide a global carbon-free energy generation solution in the 21st century. LIFE requires development of advanced technologies such as high-repetition-rate (~10 Hz), high-energy lasers; mass production of targets; and first-wall materials capable of withstanding the high x-ray and neutron fluxes present in the fusion environment. The talk will discuss recent progress on NIF, NIC and the role of NIF in future energy security and frontier science.
Dr. Edward Moses is the Director for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and the Principal Associate Director for the NIF and Photon Science organization at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, California.
Dr. Moses was responsible for completing construction and activation of the NIF, the world’s largest and most energetic laser system and transforming it into an experimental platform for the broad national and international scientific user community. Experiments on NIF will access high energy density regimes with direct application to strategic security as well as applications for fusion energy research, high energy density science, and astrophysics. Dr. Moses is also the National Director of the National Ignition Campaign to achieve fusion ignition in the laboratory, the culmination of a 50-year quest. The NIF and Photon Science principal directorate is also responsible for the development of
advanced diagnostics and laser technologies for homeland security, economic competitiveness, and energy needs.
Dr. Moses is internationally recognized in laser and optical sciences. He received a BS in 1972 and PhD in 1977, both in Electrical Engineering, from Cornell University. He holds several patents in laser technology, fusion and fission energy, and computational physics. He has received many honors, including the Fusion Power Associates 2008 Leadership Award, the National Nuclear Security Administration Defense Programs Award of Excellence, the Memorial D.S. Rozhdestvensky Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Lasers and Optical Sciences, and the R&D100 Award for the Peregrine radiation therapy program. Dr. Moses is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of SPIE and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Evening Session
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
5:30 p.m.–6:30 p.m.
Grand Ballroom Salon B&C
The Laser at 50: Gain Media, Resonators (Coatings), and Pumping Means,
Robert L. Byer; Stanford Univ., USA
This year, 50 years since the first demonstration of the laser in May 1960, we celebrate the remarkable advances in laser sources and the very wide range of applications now supported by the laser; once described by the phrase "The laser,a solution looking for a problem." The advances in laser sources could not have happened without corresponding advances in optical coatings. The talk will review, from a laser point of view, the fortunes and misfortunes of optical coatings combined with lasers.
Robert L. Byer has conducted research and taught classes in lasers and nonlinear optics at Stanford University since 1969. He has made numerous contributions to laser science and technology including the demonstration of the first tunable visible parametric oscillator, the development of the Q-switched unstable resonator Nd:YAG laser, remote sensing using tunable infrared sources and precision spectroscopy using Coherent Anti Stokes Raman Scattering (CARS). Current research includes the development of nonlinear optical materials and laser diode pumped solid state laser sources for applications to gravitational wave detection and to laser particle acceleration.
He served Chair of the Applied Physics Department at Stanford University from 1980 through 1983 and 1999 through 2002. He served as Associate Dean of Humanities and Sciences from 1984 through 1986 and served as Vice Provost and Dean of Research at Stanford University from 1987 through 1992. From 2006 through 2008 he served as the Director of Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory after serving as Director of Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory from 1997 through 2006.
Professor Byer is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Laser Institute of America. In 1985 Professor Byer served as president of the IEEE Lasers and Electro-optics Society. He was elected President of the Optical Society of America and served in 1994. He is a founding member of the California Council on Science and Technology and served as chair from 1995 - 1999. He was a member of the Air Force Science Advisory Board from 2002-2006 and has been a member of the National Ignition Facility Advisory Committee since 2000.
Professor Byer has published more than 500 scientific papers and holds 50 patents in the fields of lasers and nonlinear optics. Professor Byer was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1987 and to the National Academy of Science in 2000.
This exciting talk is being given in conjunction with LaserFest. LaserFest is a yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of the laser, which was first demonstrated in 1960, and is a collaboration between the American Physical Society, the Optical Society , SPIE and IEEE Photonics Society . From DVD players to eye surgery, the laser is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century—one that has revolutionized the way we live.
LaserFest emphasizes the laser's impact throughout history and highlights its potential for the future. Through a series of events and programs, LaserFest showcases the prominence of the laser in today's world. For more information, visit www.LaserFest.org .
