Derryck Reid - Frequency Comb Development for the Extremely Large Telescope

Virtual Lecture

Abstract:

I discuss the underpinning comb technology and the prospects for addressing the 0.37–2.5-µm range demanded by HIRES, the high-resolution spectrograph currently being planned for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). Results showing instantaneous comb coverage from 555–890 nm on the 10-m Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) will be discussed, along with comb-mode-resolving Fourier-transform spectroscopy and ultra-broadband optical parametric oscillators, technologies which will inform the final architecture of the E-ELT calibration instrumentation.

Biography:

Derryck Reid obtained his MA from the University of Cambridge in 1991 and his PhD from the University of St Andrews in 1994 for thesis work on ultrafast optical parametric oscillators. A fellow of the OSA and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, he is best known for his invention of ultrafast pulse measurement using two-photon autocorrelation in semiconductor diodes, and his demonstration of the first femtosecond frequency comb based on an OPO.