From Quantum Cascade Lasers To Flat Optics For the Twentyfirst Century

Federico Capasso has long been acknowledged as a pioneer in the fields of semiconductors and lasers. In particular, his seminal work on the quantum cascade (QC) laser revolutionized infrared science and technology. In the ninth Annual Balzan Lecture, "From Quantum Cascade Lasers to Flat Optics for the Twenty-First Century", Capasso gives an overview of his career, from his early post-graduate studies in the United States, to the years of research at Bell Laboratories, and finally, his current position at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, where he continues to do cutting-edge research in the field of light technologies in addition to managing a full load of innovative teaching activity. The lecture highlights the QC lasers and their wide-ranging applications in chemical sensing, medical diagnostics, spectroscopy and trace gas analysis. Capasso also comments on his recent work on flat lenses and heterostructures, which are also the subject areas of his Balzan research project involving young researchers.