International Conference of Laser Applications

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File:Edward Teller After Dark 3rd July 1987.JPG participated in the panel discussions of Lasers '85, Lasers '87, and Lasers '92.]]

The International Conference on Lasers and Applications, Lasers 'XX was an annual conference organized by

the former Society for Optical and Quantum Electronics. The conference, known in short by Lasers 'XX[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1986lase.conf.....W Lasers '85 at Adsabs Harvard][https://web.archive.org/web/20140605054049/http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=32614 Lasers '91 at Refdoc France][https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19950056109 Lasers '92 at NASA] (where XX refers to the particular year), was held at various locations in The United States from 1978 to 2000.

The emphasis of these conferences was laser development and in particular the development of high-power lasers.Laser Focus 23(4), 203 (1987).R. W. Conrad, Progress in dye lasers, Applied Optics 26, 653 (1987).I. L. Bass et al., High average power dye laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Applied Optics 31, 6993-7006 (1992). The papers delivered at these conferences were published in a series of hard-bound volumes known as Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers 'XX ({{ISSN|0190-4132}}) by STS Press. In total, more than 20 book proceedings were published.

A particular feature of these conferences was the organization of high-power panel discussions on timely topics of interest, such as the role of lasers in directed energy and the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), during the presidency of Ronald Reagan.C. P. Wang, Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers '85 (STS Press, McLean, VA, 1986).F. J. Duarte, Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers '87 (STS Press, Mc Lean, VA, 1988). Noted physicists, including Edward Teller and Arthur Kantrowitz, participated in these discussions. Towards the end of the Cold War this conference enjoyed the participation of numerous Soviet laser physicists, including prominent authors such as Alexander Prokhorov and Nikolay Basov.F. J. Duarte, [http://www.opticsjournal.com/laserphysicist.htm Laser Physicist (Optics Journal, New York, 2012).]

File:Schwinger.jpg was plenary speaker at Lasers '88.]]

File:Willis Lamb 1955.jpg was plenary speaker at Lasers '92.C. P. Wang, Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers '92 (STS Press, McLean, VA, 1993).]]

A partial list of plenary and invited speakers include (in chronological order):

• Amnon Yariv,R. C. Powell, Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers '83 (STS Press, McLean, VA, 1984).
• John Madey,
• Charles K. Rhodes,
• Kumar Patel,
• Robert Alfano,
• Marlan Scully,
• Colin Webb,
• Charles A. Brau,
• David C. Hanna,R. C. Sze and F. J. Duarte, Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers '88 (STS Press, McLean, VA, 1989).
• Serge Haroche,
• Julian Schwinger,
• William T. Silfvast,D. G. Harris and T. M. Shay, Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers '89 (STS Press, McLean, VA, 1990).
• S. E. Harris,F. J. Duarte and D. G. Harris, Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers '91 (STS Press, McLean, VA, 1992).
• L. M. Narducci,
• Willis Lamb,
• Norman F. Ramsey,V. J. Corcoran, Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers '93 (STS Press, McLean, VA, 1994).
• F. J. Duarte,V. J. Corcoran, Proceedings of the International Conference on Lasers '95 (STS Press, McLean, VA, 1996).
• Theodor W. Hänsch,
• Carl E. Wieman,
• David J. Wineland,
• Anthony E. Siegman,

Besides the emphasis on high-power lasers and panel discussions on this subject, many scientific disclosures made at these conferences went on to contribute to, or to inspire, further research in a variety of fields including:

• X-ray laser sourcesJ. A. Kochet et al., Observation of gain-narrowing and saturation behavior in Se x-ray laser line profiles, Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 3291–3294 (1992)C. L. Gordon et al., Time-gated imaging with an ultrashort-pulse, laser-produced-plasma x-ray source, Optics Letters 20, 1056-1058 (1995).
• Tunable solid state lasersV. Petricevic et al., Near infrared tunable operation of chromium doped forsterite laser, Applied Optics 9, 1609-1611 (1989).
• Tm:YAG lasersG. J. Quarles et al., Efficient room-temperature operation of a flash-lamp-pumped, Cr,Tm:YAG laser at 2.01 μm, Optics Letters 15, 42-44 (1990).
• Rare gas halide lasersC. B. Edwards et al., 60 ns e-beam excitation of rare-gas halide lasers, Applied Physics Letters 36, 617-620 (1980).
• Solid-state organic lasersS. Popov, Dye photodestruction in a solid-state dye laser with a polymeric gain medium, Applied Optics 37, 6449-6455 (1998)
• Laser dye photostabilityM. D. Rahn et al., Photostability enhancement of Pyrromethene 567 and Perylene Orange in oxygen-free liquid and solid dye lasers, Applied Optics 36, 5862-5871 (1997).
• Laser crystalsS. R. Rotman et al., Non-radiative energy transfer in non-uniform codoped laser crystals, Chemical Physics Letters 152, 311-318 (1988)
• Lasing without population inversionA. S. Zibrov et al., Experimental Demonstration of Laser Oscillation without Population Inversion via Quantum Interference in Rb, Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 1499–1502 (1995).
• Electromagnetically induced transparencyG. R. Welch et al., Observation of V-type electromagnetically induced transparency in a sodium atomic beam, Found. Phys. 28, 621-638 (1998).
• Optics communicationsR. Wyatt et al., Optical communications system and method of protecting an optical route, US Patent 7,162,161 B2 (2007).
• Digital imagingM. G. Allen et al., Digital imaging of reaction zones in hydrocarbon—air flames using planar laser-induced fluorescence of CH and C2, Optics Letters 11, 126-128 (1986).
• HolographyP. Saari et al., Picosecond time- and space-domain holography by photochemical hole burning, JOSA B 3, 527-534 (1986).
• Faraday filtersJ. Menders et al., Ultranarrow line filtering using a Cs Faraday filter at 852 nm, Optics Letters 16, 846-848 (1991).
• Fiber fusesR. Kashyap, The fiber fuse - from a curious effect to a critical issue: a 25th year perspective, Optics Express 21, 6422-6441 (2013).

From Lasers '88 to Lasers '96, the prestigious Einstein Prize for Laser Science was awarded.