Optica Student Chapter - Traveling Lecturer Seminar
Meeting Mother Nature halfway: The unexpected and useful materials science of advanced fiber lasers and amplifiers
Prof. John Ballato
J. E. Sirrine Textile Foundation Endowed Chair of Optical Fibers and Professor, Clemson University
Time: Tuesday, August 11th 2026 at 4:00PM
Location: Physics Research Building 4138
ABSTRACT: This seminar will overview the materials science of optical fiber-based lasers and amplifiers of interest for scaling to high output power levels. A particular focus will be on material routes to internal thermal management and intrinsically low nonlinearities that may permit marked reductions in laser system size, weight, and power-consumption. Specific topics to be discussed will include low quantum defect fibers, anti-Stokes fluorescence cooling in silica, athermal fiber lasers, and the numerous considerations that must be considered during the processing and fabrication of the preforms and fibers to permit the realization of these novel phenomena.
BIO: John Ballato is a professor of materials science and engineering at Clemson University, where he also holds the J. E. Sirrine Endowed Chair of Optical Fiber. He joined the faculty at Clemson University (Clemson, SC) in 1997 after earning a BS degree 1993 and the PhD 1997 in ceramic science and engineering from Rutgers University. Under his leadership, the Center for Optical Materials Science and Engineering Technologies COMSET was formed at Clemson in 2000. Over the 14 years he directed COMSET, the center grew to 40 faculty members and subsequently attracted nearly $100 million in research support. Ballato subsequently served as Clemson’s Vice President for Research and as Vice President for Economic Development. Ballato has published over 650 technical papers and holds more than 40 patents. Among numerous other honors, he is the recipient of the George W. Morey Award (ACerS, 2022), the William Streifer Scientific Achievement Award (IEEE Photonics Society, 2022), and the Aden and Marjorie Meinel Technology Achievement Award (SPIE, 2025). Ballato is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS, 2019), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, 2017), the American Physical Society (APS, 2020), Optica (2012), the SPIE (2011), and the American Ceramic Society (ACerS, 2009). Ballato currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier journal, Optical Materials. A serial entrepreneur, Ballato has co-founded 3 companies. Ballato also served as a Director of the AVX Corporation, a leading international manufacturer and supplier of advanced electronic components, which was publicly traded on the NYSE prior to its acquisition by Kyocera in 2020.
- No Registration Needed - Refreshments will be provided - This event is open to the public -
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The Institute for Optical Science is a community of multidisciplinary researchers studying the fundamental properties of light and harnessing these properties in practical applications for significant benefit to society.
