Prof. Erich P Ippen

Professor Ippen's research activities are in the field of optics, with particular focus on femtosecond science and ultra-highspeed devices. He and his group have invented methods for generating extremely short (femtosecond) pulses of light with lasers; they develop new measurement techniques to take advantage of the time resolution that these pulses provide; and, with these techniques, they excite and probe ultrafast phenomena in materials. Professor Ippen's group is also developing ultrashort-pulse fiber-optic devices for a variety of applications including optical communications and signal processing.

Current specific topics of research include:
* Sub-two-cycle pulse generation with solid state lasers;
* Ultrafast carrier dynamics in semiconductors and metals;
* Photonic bandgap structures, and
* Optical fiber lasers and data storage loops for ultra-highspeed all-optical networks.