Research Interests

Professor Babbitt’s main research interest is developing applications of spatial-spectral holography. Spatial-spectral holography combines the spatial storage and processing attributes of persistent spectral holeburning. Spatial-spectral holographic (SSH) phenomenon encompasses optical coherent transients, photon echoes, and time-domain spectral hologram analogous to the manner in which angled beams are recorded in spatial holograms. A SSH material is basically a fully programmable spectral filter with ultra-high spectral resolution and broad processing bandwidth whose impulse response is dictated be the programming pulses and their temporal shapes and their relative delay and directional. An appropriately programmed material processes incoming broadband optical beams by multiplying their Fourier decomposition be the material’s programmed frequency response, resulting in a processed output temporal waveform. SSH materials thus offer an unmatched ability to store, process, and route complex broadband optical signals with precise phase and delay control.

Link to Professor Randy Babbitt-Department of Physics