Generation and Characterization of Structured Partially Coherent Light

In this webinar, hosted by the Nonlinear Optics Technical Group, Paulo Henrique Souto Ribeiro will introduce the concept of partially coherent light. The Gaussian Schell Model (GSM) Beam and the Twisted Gaussian Schell Model (TGSM) Beam, which is some kind of structured light for partially coherent light, will be presented.

The motivation for studying TGSM beams is related to its applications. The robustness of this kind of light beam propagating in turbulent media makes it a good candidate for implementing communication channels in free-air and underwater links. Moreover, the twist present in TGSM beams can be used to encode information. However, the production of TGSM beams with controlled parameters is not a trivial task. A number of methods have been proposed and tested. In general, one starts from a laser, which is a coherent source, and performs a sequence of optical operations. The result is a TGSM beam that we can control the wavelength, transverse coherence length, and twist phase with some fidelity and some restrictions.

In the webinar, a few experiments will be described in the context of the generation of TGSM beams and its use in nonlinear optical processes. The understanding of the concepts related to the generation and application of TGSM beams can be useful for other areas of research in optics and quantum mechanics as both coherence and twist phase are fundamental quantities for these areas.

Subject Matter Level: Intermediate - Assumes basic knowledge of the topic

What You Will Learn:
• What are TGSM light beams
• How can one prepare TGSM beams in the lab
• Why TGSM beams are useful and interesting

Who Should Attend:
• People interested in basic properties of light like coherence and twist phase
• People interested in communication schemes and nonlinear optical interactions

About the Presenter: Paulo Henrique Souto Ribeiro from  Federal University of Santa Catarina

Paulo H. Souto Ribeiro has got his PhD in Physics in 1995 from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, under the supervision of Prof. Geraldo A. Barbosa. He had a postdoctoral stay at Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, university of Paris VI, under the supervision of Prof. Claude Fabre between 1995 and 1997. His present position is Full Professor at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil. He is experimentalist and deals mainly with spontaneous and stimulated parametric downconversion. He has published nearly 100 scientific papers and has supervised 25 Masters, PhDs and post-docs. The present research deals with quantum simulation, partially coherent beams and optical processing of information.