OSA News

California Institute of Technology Student Receives
Prestigious $5,000 Prize From OSA and Bookham/New Focus

Washington, D.C. –July 1, 2004 – The Optical Society of America (OSA) and Bookham/New Focus Incorporated are pleased to announce the grand-prize winner of the OSA Bookham/New Focus Student Award, Jason McKeever of the California Institute of Technology. McKeever was honored for his research and presentation titled, Single photon generation “on demand” from a single trapped atom strongly coupled to an optical cavity.

“The OSA New Focus Student Award recognizes research strength, presentation skills and leadership abilities by students within the field. It provides an opportunity to highlight outstanding industry achievements and gives students opportunities to show their best work at this early stage of their careers. OSA, as their professional society, plays a vital role in supporting students in many ways, including this award program,” says Elizabeth Rogan, OSA executive director. “This year's finalists have exemplified the characteristics of leaders within the optics community.”

McKeever's research in cavity quantum electrodynamics focused on the trapping of single cesium atoms strongly coupled to a high finesse optical cavity. In the past two years, along with his research team, McKeever has reached several milestones, beginning with a major extension of single atom trapping times, followed by the experimental realization of a one-atom laser, and eventually the deterministic generation of single photons.

The purpose of this line of research is the development of quantum networks using atoms inside cavities as nodes, which can be linked optically. His presentation highlights his reach and findings in this topic area.

“We had a number of qualified entries for this year's award program, however Jason's work stood out from the competition. We are honored to present Jason the OSA Bookham/New Focus Award,” said Nadim Maluf, vice president of marketing , from Bookham/New Focus. “In addition to his outstanding research and presentation given at CLEO/IQEC, he has demonstrated leadership abilities that serve as an outstanding example for other students in the field.”

This year, seven finalists were selected and were evaluated on oral presentations of their research at the 2004 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics/International Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/IQEC), taking place May 16-21 at the Moscone Center West, San Francisco, CA. Each of the seven gave a 15-minute presentation on his or her unique research on Tuesday, May 18, providing the judges with the last review in the selection process.

The 2004 competition attracted more than 30 submissions from a variety of prominent institutions both in the United States and abroad. Other competition finalists include Lukas Chrostowski, University of California Berkeley; Kevin Holman, JILA/University of Colorado; James Edward Carey, Harvard University; Paulo C. Dainese, Jr., State University at Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil; Christiano J. S. de Matos, Imperial College, London; and Aparna Bhatnagar, Stanford University.

In addition to McKeever's aforementioned presentation, other finalist topics included:

• Lukas Chrostowski, University of California Berkeley Paper: 39 GHz intrinsic bandwidth of a 1.55 µm injection-locked VCSEL Summary: A record resonance frequency of 28 GHz and an intrinsic laser 3 dB bandwidth of 39 GHz is reported for a directly modulated injection-locked 1.55um VCSEL. Using polarization maintaining components, S21 and RIN is studied experimentally.
• Kevin Holman, JILA/University of Colorado Paper: Frequency transfer of optical standards through a fiber network using 1550-nm mode-locked sources Summary: A 1550-nm mode-locked laser source phase locked to an optical atomic clock was used to transfer precise optical/radio frequency signals over a fiber network with ultrahigh stability.
• James Edward Carey, Harvard University Paper: High sensitivity silicon-based VIS/NIR photodetectors Summary: We fabricate silicon-based photodiodes using a simple femtosecond-laser microstructuring technique. The detectors are ten times more sensitive than commercial silicon PIN photodiodes at visible wavelengths and can be used at wavelengths up to 1650 nm.
• Paulo C. Dainese, Jr., State University at Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil Paper: Stimulated Brillouin scattering in small-core PCF Summary: Ultra-small core PCF is shown to have SBS characteristics radically different from those seen in standard fiber. For small cores, the spontaneous line width develops multiple peaks, the threshold power increases, and the frequency shift falls.
• Christiano J. S. de Matos, Imperial College, London Paper: Towards all-fiber multi-kilowatt ultrashort pulse sources at arbitrary wavelengths using air-core photonic bandgap fibers Summary: Multi-kilowatt ~1ps pulses were obtained from different all-fiber chirped pulse amplification schemes utilizing air-core photonic bandgap fiber and amplification based on Raman or erbium-doped fiber amplification. Up to ~15kW peak powers were achieved so far.
• Aparna Bhatnagar, Stanford University Paper: Transit-time limited response from low capacitance CMOS photodetectors Summary: Efficient GHz Silicon detectors in unmodified CMOS processes are attractive for dense optical interconnection to electronics. Using blue short pulses we demonstrate 100ps rise time lateral P-I-N detectors in a commercial silicon-on-sapphire CMOS process.

McKeever's grand-prize award was $5,000 with each of the other finalists receiving $1,500.

The OSA Bookham/New Focus Student Award was created in 1997 with the support of Milton Chang and New Focus Inc. to honor new innovators within the optics community. To be eligible for consideration for this award, the candidate must be nominated by an OSA member, must be an active OSA student member and must be able to produce letters of recommendation in the event he or she is chosen as a finalist. For the selection process, an extensive nomination package, including a letter from the nominating party describing the candidate's attributes in leadership, research and presentation skills; a letter from the student highlighting these same achievements; an up-to-date curriculum vitae; a technical paper suitable for oral presentation; and if chosen as a finalist, three letters of reference (one from the nominator and two others), must be submitted to an OSA Board-appointed selection committee. Finalists are chosen after the selection committee makes a detailed review of the materials provided.

OSA and Bookham/New Focus bestow the Student Award annually, with the formal presentation ceremony taking place during the Plenary session of CLEO/IQEC. The Plenary provides a forum for the recipients' successes to be recognized by an audience of colleagues, mentors and advisors.

About CLEO/IQEC

As one of the industry's leading events on laser science, the Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and the International Quantum Electronics Conference is where laser technology was first introduced. CLEO/IQEC combines the strength of peer-reviewed scientific programming with an applications-focused exhibition to showcase the present and future of this technology. Sponsored by the American Physical Society's Laser Science Division, the Institute of Electronic Engineers/Laser and Electro-Optics Society and the Optical Society of America, CLEO/IQEC provides an educational forum, complete with a plenary session, short courses, tutorials, workshops and more, on topics as diverse as its attendee base whose spectrum of interests range from biomedicine to defense to optical communications. For more information, visit the conference's web site at www.cleoconference.org .

About Bookham Technology

Bookham Technology (London:BHM.L) (Nasdaq:BKHM) is a global leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of optical and RF components, modules and subsystems. Bookham's disruptive technologies and broad product range allow it to deliver an extensive range of cost effective optical functionality and solutions to customers, which offer higher performance, lower cost and provide greater subsystems capability to meet their customers' needs. The company's optical and RF components, modules and subsystems are used in various applications and industries, including telecommunications, aerospace, industrial and military. In 2002, Bookham acquired the optical components businesses from Nortel Networks and Marconi. In July 2003, the company acquired the business of Cierra Photonics Inc. and in October 2003, the company acquired Ignis Optics, Inc. The company, whose securities are traded on NASDAQ and the London Stock Exchange, is headquartered in the UK, with manufacturing facilities in the UK, Canada, and Switzerland; offices in the UK, US, France, Italy, and China; and employs approximately 1700 people worldwide. More information on Bookham Technology is available at http://www.bookham.com Bookham and ASOC are registered trademarks of Bookham Technology plc.

About New Focus

Since 1990, New Focus has been a leading provider of innovative photonics to the semiconductor, defense, industrial, research, biotech/medical, and telecommunications test-and-measurement industries. The New Focus product portfolio includes tunable lasers, opto-electronics, opto-mechanics, motion-control systems, and advanced photonics tools and subsystems. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California, and has been a division of Bookham Technology since March 8, 2004.

For more information about New Focus, visit the www.newfocus.com. For more information about Bookham Technology, please go to www.bookham.com.

About OSA

The Optical Society of America (OSA) brings together an international network of the industry's preeminent optics and photonics scientists, engineers, educators, technicians and business leaders. Representing more than 15,000 members from approximately 100 different countries, OSA promotes the worldwide generation, application and dissemination of optics and photonics knowledge through its meetings, events and journals. Since its founding in 1916, OSA member benefits, programming, publications, products and services have set the industry's standard of excellence. Additional information on OSA is available on the Society's Web site at www.osa.org .

Contact:

Colleen Morrison
Optical Society of America
202.416.1437
cmorri@osa.org

Elizabeth Bowen
Imre Communications
410.821.8220
Mobile: 443.803.8502
elizabethb@imrecommunications.com