Technical Conference: 6-11 May 2012 • Exposition: 8-10 May 2012
San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, CA, USA
CLEO: 2012 concluded in San Jose last week after six days of technical and business programming highlighting the latest research and developments in the fields of lasers and electro-optics. Attendees heard presentations on ultrafast lasers, OCT, optical sensing, and nanophotonic devices from some of the top scientists, engineers, and business people around the world.
The week kicked off with a special tribute symposium to the late laser pioneer Anthony Siegman, which featured talks on unstable laser cavities, speckle, and Siegman’s founding contributions to the field of quantum nonlinear optics. It was one of seven special symposia at the conference, ranging in topics from quantum engineering to space optical systems.
The ubiquity of lasers in research and applications was evident in the more than 1,800 technical presentations in three core areas.
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The CLEO: Applications & Technology track included a presentation on the development of a small, flexible endoscope fitted with a femtosecond laser “scalpel” that can remove diseased or damaged tissue while leaving healthy cells untouched.
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Under the CLEO: Science & Innovations program, researchers demonstrated a counterintuitive concept: solar cells should be designed to be more like LEDs, able to emit light as well as absorb it.
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The CLEO: QELS Fundamental Science track featured research from French and Canadian scientists who developed a new method to study electron motion using isolated, precisely timed, and incredibly fast pulses of light.
Plenary session speakers also represented the breadth of the conference topics, with the University of Ottawa’s Bob Boyd speaking on nonlinear optics and Steve DenBaars of the University of California Santa Barbara representing the applications side by discussing the state-of-the-art in gallium nitride LEDs.
France’s Mathias Fink delivered a fascinating presentation on time-reversed waves and subwavelength focusing, while IBM’s Yurii Vlasov gave attendees a glimpse into the future of datacenters and supercomputers as it relates to silicon nanophotonics.
CLEO: Expo featured 300 participating companies as well as the launch of the new “Technology Playground,” where attendees had the opportunity to interact directly with exhibiting company products and view hands-on demos.
Market Focus programming on the show floor featured speakers on topics such as materials processing for the auto and heavy machines industry to advances in femtosecond surgery for vision correction. The Technology Transfer Program highlighted entrepreneurs and researchers at start-ups, major universities, businesses and national labs presenting new technologies that are ready and available for commercialization.
The hard work of the CLEO volunteer committees is reflected in the full range of topics covered at CLEO: 2012, providing attendees with exclusive access to a premier set of scientific, business and networking programs in the field of optics and photonics. Mark your calendars for next year as CLEO returns to San Jose for CLEO: 2013, June 9 - 14.