C URRICULUM VITAE : See Leang Chin
PERSONALADDRESS950, Rue Jean-Hamelin,Quebec City,Quebec, G1V 3A3, CANADA
TELEPHONE NUMBEROffice:(418) 656-3418
Fax : (418) 656-2623
BORNMay 24, 1942, Padang Rengas, Perak, Malaysia
CITIZENSHIPCanadian
CIVIL STATUSMarried (two children)
DEGREESB.Sc. (Physics), National Taiwan University, Taiwan (1964)
M.Sc. (Physics), University of Waterloo,Ontario (1966)
Ph.D. (Physics), University of Waterloo, Ontario (1969)
EXPERTISE
Ultrafast intense laser propagation and filamentation, fs laser induced fluorescence, intense laser ionization, dissociation, atoms and molecules, ultrafast laser material processing.
DISTINCTIONS AND AWARDS
1989.101989 Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award of the Chinese-
Canadian Institute of Arts and Science, Toronto (Ontario)
1990.08Summa in Research, Faculty of Science and Engineering, LavalUniversity (Québec)
1995.05Fellow of The Optical Society of America
1995 Finalist,Award of excellence, Quebec Intercultural harmonization Prize
(Finaliste, prix de l’excellence des Prix du rapprochement interculturel du Québec)
1999 Humboldt Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt
Research Foundation,Germany1
2001 -2014Canada Research Chair (senior), Ultrafast Intense Laser Science2
2007. 09.23-27. Gold medal (for his outstanding contribution to laser science), International Symposium on Ultrafast Intense Laser Science, Tirrenia (Pisa), Italy.
2008.06.Honourary Doctor of Science degree, University of Waterloo, Canada.
1 The Humboldt Research Award was the most prestigious international award given by a German academic organisation. An awardee was invited to go to Germany to undertake collaborative research activities with the best German scholars of his choice for 12 months within five consecutive years.
2The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 by the Government of Canada to attract to and retain in Canada exceptional researchers. It encourages the best scholars to carry out world class research and activities in any CanadianUniversity. It is the most important and prestigious position a CanadianUniversity professor can achieve. Senior Chairs are established internationally recognized experts in their fields of endeavour and the position is for a period of 7 years renewable indefinitely. A junior Chair is a younger faculty with a high potential of becoming an internationally recognized expert. The term position is for five years renewable only once.
2011.06 CAP (Canadian Association of Physicists) medal of lifetime achievement in physics, theCAP’s highest distinction.
2011.07.3-6. Recognition plaque: ‘In appreciation of his outstanding contributions to the fundamental understanding of multiphoton processes’ at the 12th International Conference on Multiphoton Processes, Sapporo, Japan.
2012.05.Honorary Professor, Shanghai Institute for Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
ACADEMIC, RESEARCH AND INDUSTRIAL EXPERIENCE
Positions HeldDates DepartmentInstitution
Post-doctor 1969-1970Department of PhysicsUniversité Laval, Québec
Research Ass’t.1971-1972Department of PhysicsUniversité Laval, Québec
Ass’t Prof.1972-1977Department of PhysicsUniversité Laval, Québec
Scientific1973-1979---K.A. Mace Ltd, Kitchener, Ontario
consultant
Visiting Nov.-Dec.Chung Shan Institute of Science
scientist1974and TechnologyTaiwan
Visiting May-Aug.Multiphoton ProcessesCentre d'études nucléaires de
scientist1975Lab. S.P.A.Saclay, France
Visiting July-Aug.Multiphoton ProcessesCentre d'études nucléaires de
scientist1976Lab. S.P.A.Saclay, France
Associate Prof.1977-1982Department of PhysicsUniversité Laval, Québec
Visiting May-Sept.Physical Chemistry BranchChalkRiver Nuclear Lab. - AECL
scientist1978
Visiting prof.Sept 1979-Physics and Center forUniversity of Bielefield, West
June 1980Interdisciplinary StudiesGermany
Visiting prof.July-Aug.Institute of Electronics andAcademy of Sciences, China
1980four Institutes of Optics
Director 1981-1987Laboratory for Research inUniversité Laval, Québec
Optics and Lasers (LROL)
Full Professor1982- 2013Department of PhysicsUniversité Laval, Québec
Visiting prof.July-Aug.Chung Shan Institute of Science
1984and Technology, Taiwan
Visiting prof.July-Aug.Nat’l Development SeminarBureau of the Premier, Taiwan
1985(2 weeks)
Visiting Sept. 1987-National Research Council ofOttawa
scientistJan. 1988Canada
Visiting prof.Feb. 1988-Institute of Optics andUniversity of Rochester, Rochester, July 1988 Lab. for Laser Energetics New-York, USA
Visiting prof.1992-1994INRS-ÉnergieVarennes, Québec
Humboldt Research 1999-2004 Max-Planck-Institute forGermany
AwardeeQuantum Optics &
University of Jena
Guest Professor July-Oct.Kyoto UniversityInstitute of Advanced Energy
1998Japan
Visiting Chair Nov.-Dec. National Taiwan UniversityInstitute of Electro-Optical
Professor1998 Engineering, Taiwan.
External Examiner 2001-2006 Physics DepartmentUniversity of Malaya
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Honorary Visiting 2004Physics DepartmentEast China Normal University
ProfessorShanghai, China
Honorary consultant 2004Physics DepartmentShanghai Jiaotong University
ProfessorShanghai, China
Honorary Professor2012Shanghai Institute of OpticsShanghai, China.
And Fine Mechanics, Chinese
Academy of Sciences
Adjunct professor2013 - …Physics Dept.Laval University, Canada.
CONTRIBUTION TO RESEARCH
- National and International recognition
SL Chin is an experimental physicist with national and international recognition. This can be seen by the various honors he received over the years.
1.1Hehas held a Canada Research Chair (senior) since January 2001. It is the most important and prestigious position a Canadian University professor can achieve. Senior Chairs are established internationally recognized experts in their fields of endeavour.
1.2He was awarded the Humboldt Research Award in 1999 by the Alexander von Humboldt Research Foundation of Germany. According to Dr. Bill Bhaneja, Counsellor, Science and Technology, Canadian Embassy, Berlin, Germany (1999): ‘This is the most prestigious science award from a German institution. Since 1972, the year of introduction of the award, Humboldt Research Award winners include 28 Nobel Prize winners.An awardee is invited to go to Germany to undertake collaborative research activities with the best German scholars of his choice for 12 months within five consecutive years.’
1.3He was Fellow of theOptical Society of America, USA since 1995. The Optical Society of America is the most prestigious professional society in the field of pure and applied optics, photonics and laser.
1.4He received the Honorary doctorate degree (honoris causa), University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, June 11, 2008.
1.5He was the Honorary Chair, International Symposium on Ultrafast Intense Laser Science (ISUILS-6), Pisa, Sept. 23-27, 2007 where he was awarded a gold medal in special recognition for his outstanding contribution in the field of the conference.
1.6He received the 2011 CAP (Canadian Association of Physicists) medal of lifetime achievement in physics, the top award of CAP.
1.7He received the Plaque of recognition for his outstanding contribution to the fundamental understanding of multiphoton processes at the 13th ICOMP (International Conference On Multiphoton Processes) in Sapporo, Japan, 2011.07.3-6.
2. Leadership in the field of ultrafast intense laser science
2.1.1Leading and/or pioneering research in intense laser ionization
- S.L. Chin was the first to confirm experimentally the existence of laser tunnel ionization of atoms with a CO2 laser (S. L. Chin, et al, J. Phys. B:At. Mol. Phys. 18, L213, 1985). For 20 years before this, such tunnel ionization was considered by many to be an impossible or erroneous physical process. This was a breakthrough; tunnel ionization becamea gateway process in understanding all ultrafast intense laser processes in atoms and molecules including generating high order harmonic & attosecond pulses.
- First observation of suppressed ionization of molecules using femtosecond intense Ti-sapphire laser.
- First confirmation of charge-resonance-enhanced-ionization in molecules.
- Pioneering experiments showing inner valence/shell electron ejection by femtosecond laser pulses.
- First observation of the signature of the universal phenomenon of population trapping in an atomthrough multiphoton dynamic resonance with the Rydberg states and interference stabilization using an intense femtosecond Ti-sapphire laser. The experimental signature has escaped observation in the past 30 years.
- First observation of non-sequential multiple electrons emission from atoms and molecules.
- First observation of high order harmonic generation in molecules.
2.1.2Leading research in the propagation and filamentation of ultrafast intense laser pulses in optical media
S.L. Chinis among the leading scientists toadvance the fundamental understanding of filamentation of intense femtosecond laser pulses which self-transform into white light laser pulses (supercontinuum) in an optical medium. Many key phenomena of filamentation were eitherobserved, discovered, explained or confirmed by Prof. Chin and his collaborators. These include plasma generation stopping self-focusing, intensity clamping, background reservoir,the absence of breakdown in gasesand self-spatial filtering. They also developed the key concept of slice-by-slice self-focusing.
New phenomena due to filamentation in gases were observed. These include the generation of electromagnetic pulses in the low frequency region (radio wave and THz) andself-group-phase locking. The latter results in the efficient third harmonic generation. Self-group-phase-locking led us todiscover efficient four-wave-mixing inside a filament resulting in tunable and self-compressed visible few cycle pulses with near perfect spatial quality. Because of intensity clamping, self-stabilization of the energy inside the filament core leads to the stabilization of the third hamonics and four-wave-mixing pulses.
Multiple filamentation and their competition were observed and their regularization proposed.Long range filamentation together with the generation of third harmonics in air was demonstrated. Fluorescence without plasma background from gas molecules inside the filament in air was observed; hence, ‘clean’ fluorescence. The fluorescence of nitrogen in air has ASE (amplified spontaneous emission) type of gain inside the filament.Lasing in the sky was thus first observed and proposed.
In the case of condensed matter, they discovered the bandgap dependence of the supercontinuum, observed and explained melting of glass during filamentation, densification in glass and consequently, the control of wave guide writing in glasses.
The good qualities of filamentation (self-stabilization, intensity clamping, self-spatial filtering, self-compression, self-group-phase-locking, self-transportation at high intensity to long distances in air, low plasma density, etc.) would have a profound impact on applications some of which were already demonstrated by S. L. Chin and his group; e.g. third harmonic generation, four-wave-mixing and clean fluorescence. This would become a new front in the field. S.L. Chin calls this ‘filamentation nonlinear optics’.
Since 2008, a new phenomenon was observed internationally which he called ‘ultrafast birefringence’ inside the linearly polarized filaments in gases. A linearly polarized probe pulse would become elliptically polarized while propagating together with the pump pulse. If the probe pulse is delayed with respect to the pump pulse in air, polarization separation of the probe as well as revival of molecular rotational wave packets (N2 and O2) were observed by SL Chin and co-workers.
2.1.3Leading research in detecting chemical and biological molecules inside femtosecond laser induced filament in air
Armed with the knowledge of filamentation and his extensive experience in multiphoton/tunnel ionization, S.L. Chin demonstrated that all molecules would be ionized and fragmented inside the filament (of the 800nm Ti-sapphire laser pulse) in air and some fragments would emit finger print fluorescence. Indeed, he and his group found that all of the molecules they have studied so far (some di-atomics, some halocarbons, some hydrocarbons, ethanol and even bio-molecules such as egg white and yeast) emit distinctive ‘finger print’ fluorescence spectra. They were able to measure the back scattered fluorescence signal from some of these molecules at a distance of about 20-100m and extrapolated the results to 1 or more km. Thus, it is feasible to remotely detect chemical and biological agents in air using only one laser.
2.1.4Population trapping in molecules
The first discovery of population trapping in atoms by SL Chin and his group was in the mid-1990’s. This phenomenon recently emerged from inside filaments in air and other molecules. It was again SL Chin who pioneered the measurement/observation of population trapping in air and other molecules. The universality has influenced the fundamental understanding of filamentation physics. It also found application in the remote detection of THz pulses (see below).
2.1.5Super-excited states of molecules
Super-excited states used to be studied by chemists using synchrotron radiation in the XUV. SL Chin’s group was the first to discover that inside the filament, molecules are not only ionized but could be excited into the super-excited states through multiphoton absorption and population trapping. Such super-excited states would decay into, among others, neutral fluorescing fragments. The fluorescence from pollutant molecules mostly arise from such super-excited states. For the first time SL Chin and co-workers were able to measure the very short life time of the super-excited states of several molecules: O2, CH4, H2, NO, C2H2. They are all in the range between 100 to 250 fs.
2.1.6Generation of tunable few cycle pulses through four wave mixing
S.L. Chin proposed that all parametric processes would be very efficient inside a filament because of the inherent self-group-phase locking by the filamenting pulse. He and his collaborators demonstrated this idea. During four-wave-mixing between an infrared laser pulse and the 800nm filamenting pulse, tunable few cycle pulses in the visible can be generated efficiently through ω4MW = 2ωP – ωir where ω4WM indicates the new frequency, ωP, the frequency of the pump at 800nm and ωir, the infrared pulse. A patentof invention on this technique was obtained recently. This idea could be extrapolated to the generation of pulses at any wavelength from the radio frequency to the UV. So far, IR, UV and THz pulses were generated.
2.1.7Terahertz pulse generation in filaments in air
-Demonstration of remote generation of terahertz (THz) pulses from inside a remotely generated filament.
-Discovered that trapped Rydberg states of nitrogen molecules inside a filament in air can be used to indirectly detect THz pulses from a distance. The THz pulse simply ionize the trapped Rydberg states of nitrogen molecules thus enhancing the fluorescence.
2.1.8Lasing in air
-S. L. Chin and his group discovered lasing action in an air filament. Recently, there was a surge of interest in this problem in the filamentation community. Many new lasing observation in air were reported. Prof. Chin again led the way to demonstrate the generality of this lasing action. He and his collaborators observed and explained the generality of the physics of this type of lasing of molecules in the strong field inside the filament. This includes lasing by hydrocarbon molecules, water molecules, etc. all through super-excitation.
2.1.9Artificial snow/rain making
-S. L. Chin and his collaborators in China (The Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics) have been working together successfully since three years ago on a new research theme; i.e. filament induced precipitation or rain fall. They discovered recently snow/rain fall (precipitation) inside a cloud chamber using filamentation technique. The leaders of this new activity of research were an European group. But the latter could observe only condensation (cloud formation) in a cloud chamber; i.e. no precipitation. The key reasons for the success of S L Chin and his collaborators in China in observing snow/rain fallare due to the high repetition rate of the laser beam that sustains strong turbulence induced by the filament. The turbulence in turn gives rise to precipitation.
2.2Invitations to present conferences and seminars
S.L. Chin was invited to present more than 210talks in the past 12 years at national and international conferences as well as in various institutions in many countries. These countries include Canada, Germany,USA, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Austria, Korea, Japan, Russia, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Egypt, UK, Singapore. As examples, invited talks were given at CLEO-Pacific-Rim (2001, 2003, 2009), IQEC (2005), ICOMP (2005), International symposium on ultrafast intense laser science (yearly since 2001), Laser physics workshop (yearly since 2000), OSA-Frontier in Optics (2004, 2006), Int’l laser filamentation conference (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012), etc.(For more detail, see appendix 1.)
2.3Expert referee
-College of evaluation, Canada Research Chairs Program, Canada.
-Reviewer of grant or contract applications for NSERC, The French Ministère de l´Éducation Nationale, de la Recherche et de la Technologie, The Australian Research Council, US Army Research Office, National Science Foundation, Photonics Research Ontario, Natural Science Foundation of China, etc.
-External expert referee for the promotion of faculty members from the University of Toronto, University of Rochester (NY), University of New Mexico, Drexel University, Academia Sinica (Taiwan), University of Malaya etc.
-Referee of papers in the field of strong field physics and femtosecond intense laser pulse propagation submitted to major international journals such as Physical Review Letters, Physical Review A, Science, Optics Letters, Journal of the Optical Society of America-B, European Journal of Physics, Applied Optics, Applied Physics B, Applied Physics Letters, Journal of Physics B:Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, Canadian Journal of Physics, etc.
-External examiner of Ph.D. theses from the University of Rochester, École Polytechnique de Montreal, University of Singapore, Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, etc.
2.4National and international collaboration
S.L. Chin has had collaboration (with joint publications) with the following researchers.
Germany: A. Becker (Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex System, Dresden;), R. Sauerbrey, E. Foerster (University of Jena, Jena), H. Walther and H. Schroeder (Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics, Garching), F. Faisal (University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld).
Russia: V. P. Kandidov and O. Kosareva (Moscow State University); N B Delone (General Physics Institute, Moscow); V P Krainov(Moscow Physical Institute, Moscow).
USA: N. Akozbek (Time Domain, Huntsville, Alabama); Andreas Becker (the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado); T. Seideman (North Western University, Illinois); M. Richardson (University of Central Florida, Orlando).
China: Z. Z. Xu, Ruxin Li, Ya Cheng and J. Liu (Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Shanghai), Heping Zeng (East China Normal University, Shanghai), Weiwei Liu (Nankai University, Tianjin), Huailiang Xu (Jilin University, Changchun), Fanao Kong (Institute of Chemistry, Beijing).
Taiwan: S. H. Lin (Chiao Tung University).
Canada: G. Roy, P. Mathieu, J. Dubois, M. Châteauneuf, F. Théberge (DRDC-Valcartier), R. Vallée, T. Nguyen-Dang and D. Boudreau (Physics and Chemistry, Université Laval); A. D. Bandrauk (Université de Sherbrooke); Paul Corkum (NRC, Ottawa); R. McAlpine and K. Evans (Chalk River Nuclear Laboratory, Chalk River, Ontario).
In 2005, he led a Canadian team of researchers from Laval U, Sherbrooke U, INRS-EMT, NRC and Alberta U to collaborate with a team of Japanese scientists under a NSERC SRO grant and a Japanese JSPS grant. A bilateral meeting in Japan and mutual visits took place regularly. He is systematic in setting up official collaboration between scientists from the province of Quebec and from China in the field of ultrafast intense laser science. A bilateral meeting took place in Sept. 30 – Oct. 2, 2006 at Laval U.
3. Representation of national organizations