Ultrafast Lasers and their Applications

Nanosecond, Picosecond, and Femtosecond Lasers and Industrial Applications:

Pulsed lasers dominate today’s micromachining applications due to their combination of high peak power and moderate average power.  These applications include processing of PCBs and solar cells, glass cutting for smart phone displays, and processing of thermally sensitive materials, including OLEDs.  The large range of materials to be processed demand a range of pulse durations and wavelengths to reach the optimum speed and quality.  I will describe the design strategies behind the current commercial nanosecond, picosecond, and femtosecond lasers used for micromachining.

Ultrafast Lasers for Multi-Photon Microscopy:

The flourishing field of multi-photon microscopy is enabled by the combination of sophisticated microscopes and tunable femtosecond laser sources. Together, these technologies have pushed the boundaries of multiple biological disciplines ranging from immunology to neuroscience. I will describe the specialized optical sources required for successful 2-photon and 3-photon microscopy as well as CARS. 

About the Speaker

Jim Kafka attended the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester, where he obtained a B.S. in Optics in 1977 and a Ph.D. in Optics in 1983, studying with Conger Gabel and Gerard Mourou, the recipient of the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics. Of his time spent at Rochester, Kafka found that it was a fabulous time to be at the Institute and the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, as he met lifelong friends and colleagues.

In 1983, Kafka started as a Senior Scientist at Spectra-Physics Lasers, where he has held a series of positions with increasing responsibility, including Chief Technology Officer.  He is currently Emeritus Fellow of MKS, the parent company of Spectra-Physics. During the past 41 years, he designed several of the company’s most significant products, including the Tsunami, the first commercial ultrafast Ti:sapphire laser (1990), the Millennia X, the first commercial 10 W solid-state green laser (1997), and the InSight, the first broadly tunable ultrafast source for microscopy (2011). Kafka received the Newport Corporation Strategic Patent Award in 2007 for his patent of the first diode-pumped double-clad fiber laser. Kafka has 45 United States patents and multiple foreign equivalents.

Kafka has served as the program and general chair of CLEO and the Advanced Solid-State Photonics topical meeting. He was named an Optica Fellow in 2005 and served on the Optica Board of Directors from 2012 to 2014. One of his favorite contributions to the optics community has been serving as a Distinguished Traveling Lecturer for the APS Division of Laser Science from 1999 to 2017.  Jim is currently serving as President of Optica and was pleased to be a lecturer at the inaugural Siegman Summer School in 2014 and return in 2020, 2024, and now 2025.