Steven Cundiff

Ultrafast optics involves the generation and use of ultrashort light pulses, with durations measured in femtoseconds (10^-15 s). Professor Cundiff and his research group work on several aspects of ultrafast optics. One area involves generating and controlling ultrashort pulses, which, of course, provides the foundation for the field of ultrafast optics. However, the group is primarily interested in using ultrashort light pulses for a variety of scientific applications. A natural application is to use the very short duration of the pulses to study processes that occur on similar timescales, which is generally known as ultrafast spectroscopy. Ultrafast spectroscopy not only gives dynamical information, but it also provides information about the fundamentals of how light interacts with matter. One type of ultrafast spectroscopy, known as optical multidimensional coherent spectroscopy, has been developed over the last decade as has proven to be very powerful. The Cundiff group uses ultrafast spectroscopy, including multidimensional coherent spectroscopy, to study a range of systems including semiconductors, semiconductor nanostructures and atomic vapors.

Selected Publications:

Quantum Interference Control of Photocurrents in Semiconductors by Nonlinear Optical Absorption Processes, (K. Wang, R. Muniz, J.E. Sipe, and S.T. Cundiff), Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 067402 (2019).
DOI

Tri-comb Spectroscopy, (B. Lomsadze, B.C. Smith and S.T. Cundiff), Nature Photonics 12, 676 (2018). DOI

Frequency Combs Enable Rapid and High-Resolution Multidimensional Coherent Spectroscopy, (B. Lomsadze and S.T. Cundiff), Science 357, 1389-1391 (2017). DOI

Quantum Droplets of Electrons and Holes, (A.E. Almand-Hunter, H. Li, S.T. Cundiff, M. Mootz, M. Kira and S.W. Koch), Nature 506, 471 (2014). DOI

Optical Multidimensional Coherent Spectroscopy, (S.T. Cundiff and S. Mukamel), Physics Today 66(6), 44-49 (2013). DOI

Many-Body Interactions in Semiconductors Probed by Optical Two-dimensional Fourier Transform Spectroscopy, (X. Li, T. Zhang, C.N. Borca and S.T. Cundiff), Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 057406 (2006). DOI

Femtosecond Comb Technology, (J. Ye and S.T. Cundiff, eds.), New York: Springer (2004).

Carrier-Envelope Phase Control of Femtosecond Mode-Locked Laser and Direct Optical Frequency Synthesis, (D.J. Jones, S.A. Diddams, J.K Ranka, R.S. Windeler, A.J. Stentz, J.L. Hall and S.T. Cundiff), Science 288, 535-639 (2000). DOI

Field(s) of Study

• Ultrafast Optics and Spectroscopy
• Atomic, Molecular, & Optical Experiment
• Condensed Matter Experimental