Title: Ultrafast Lasers - The Key to Unlocking the Microscopic World of Dynamics

Date and Time: April 17, 2025 (Thursday), 19:30

Venue: Grand Lecture Hall, 2nd Floor, Science and Education Building A, Feicui Lake Campus

Presenter: Researcher Wei Zhiyi

Affiliation: Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Abstract:  

Ultrafast lasers, represented by femtosecond lasers, are characterized by extremely short pulse durations and ultra-high peak powers. These properties not only provide scientists with unprecedented temporal resolution to study the dynamics of microscopic particles, but also allow the creation of extreme physical conditions—far exceeding those inside stars—within laboratory environments. This has driven the emergence and continuous innovation of frontier disciplines such as ultrafast science and strong-field physics.

Moreover, ultrafast lasers hold great potential in high-tech industries such as precision machining and advanced manufacturing, biological imaging and medical treatment, ultra-high-speed optical communication, and high-density optical storage. With the advent of attosecond lasers in the early 21st century, it has become possible to probe the dynamic behavior of electrons outside the nucleus. Drawing from the speaker’s own research, this talk will introduce the technical challenges involved in advancing ultrafast lasers from the femtosecond to the attosecond regime, and discuss the opportunities this progress brings for multidisciplinary studies in physics, chemistry, biology, information science, and energy.

Presenter Bio:

Researcher Wei Zhiyi graduated in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in Applied Physics from Hefei University of Technology. He is currently a research fellow at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has been engaged in the study of ultrafast laser technology for many years and has made numerous breakthrough contributions in the fields of picosecond, femtosecond, and attosecond laser pulses. Professor Wei has set world records for the shortest pulse duration and highest peak power of femtosecond lasers, and was the first to achieve attosecond pulse output in China. He has published over 400 SCI-indexed papers and holds more than 30 authorized invention patents, with some of his achievements successfully commercialized and adopted by domestic and international users. He is the first recipient of the Second Prize of the National Technological Invention Award (2018). Other honors include the CAS Young Scientist Award (2001), the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (2002), and the Wu Guangfu Physics Prize from the Chinese Physical Society (2011). He is a Fellow of the Optical Society of America, and a Fellow of both the Chinese Optical Society and the Chinese Society for Optical Engineering.