Frank Wise was a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories before coming to Cornell. He joined the Cornell faculty in 1988, and was named an NSF Presidential Young Investigator in 1989. From 2007 to 2011 he was director of the School of Applied and Engineering Physics. Since 2017 he has been director of the Cornell Center for Materials research.
Research Description
Development of femtosecond-pulse lasers and amplifiers We are working to develop sources of ultrashort optical pulses that could be used in applications outside of basic research laboratories. Currently we are focused on fiber lasers and amplifiers. Our activities range from theoretical studies of new mechanisms for shaping pulses in lasers to laser engineering and commercial development.
Spatiotemporal aspects of nonlinear optical waves We study the propagation of ultrashort light pulses in systems that support multiple transverse modes, such as multimode optical fibers. The evolution is complex and depends on all three spatial dimensions plus time. This work includes investigation of amplifiers and lasers based on spatiotemporal wave propagation.