About SPRC

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The Stanford Photonics Research Center
The purpose of the Stanford Photonics Research Center is to provide facilitated access to current knowledge at the frontiers of photonics. At Stanford, the term ‘photonics’ is broadly interpreted to include fundamental science, nanophotonics, and biophotonics as well as the more traditional research areas, such as microscopy, ophthalmology, lasers and nonlinear optics.

The Stanford Photonics Research Center is primarily an Industrial Affiliates program with the goal of building long-term relationships between key industry partners and the faculty and students at Stanford. The SPRC annual Symposium, and Faculty Working Group Workshops on specific photonic research topics are key elements in the knowledge transfer comprising this partnership.

Another key element is intellectual property licensing that is coordinated by the Office of Technology Licensing at Stanford. Stanford is recognized as a leader in providing access to intellectual property, , facilitating innovation, and the transfer of new technologies to the commercial sector.

Photonics Opportunities for Students
Photonics-related programs at Stanford are interdisciplinary and cut across a number of schools, departments, and laboratories. The programs extend from basic to applied research, from telecommunications to medicine. This broad spectrum of research offers unprecedented opportunities for students to participate actively. Undergraduate as well as advanced degree students take part in all aspects of the photonics research programs. The student participation in research is recognized at SPRC by oral and poster presentations at our annual Symposium, and our Faculty Working Group Workshops which take place throughout the year.

Photonics Faculty
SPRC is proud to have, at its core, approximately 20 Stanford faculty members from various departments conducting research in a variety of photonics-related areas. Faculty participating in SPRC activities, however, extends well beyond the core faculty to include more than 35 faculty members associated with photonics.

The Future of Photonics at Stanford
Photonics at Stanford continues to evolve and change to reflect the opportunities in research that are unique and promising. Two changes that will have great impact on photonics research at Stanford include the Photon Sciences program at SLAC under the direction of Professor Keith Hodgson, Associate Director of SLAC, and the construction of a new building to house the Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory, part of the one billion dollar construction project that will comprise the Science, Engineering and Medical Center (SEMC) quadrangle.

The Photon Sciences program at SLAC will include the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, (SSRL) with its unique source of incoherent X-rays, the new Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), and associated laboratories, including the Photon Ultrafast Science Center (PULSE) directed by Professor Phil Bucksbaum. The LCLS is the world’s first source of coherent X-rays with sub-picosecond pulse duration. The LCLS is under construction and is expected to deliver coherent X-rays in 2009. The planning for the experimental halls and the scientific tools for conducting research with coherent X-rays in now in process. It is expected that the new LSCL facility will support multiple users and simultaneous experiments.

In the next few years, Ginzton Laboratory will be relocated into a new building in the SEMC quadrangle. Construction has begun for the SEMC adjacent to the present Ginzton Laboratory and planning is underway for the new building. The proposed building site is next to the Packard Engineering building, at the north end of the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory (HEPL), which will be demolished in one year. The HEPL building was constructed in 1947, and the Ginzton Laboratory in 1952. At the time, these ‘temporary’ concrete-block one-story buildings were approved by the Board of Trustees to house government sponsored research in microwaves and particle accelerators. The buildings were located in the fields far west of the main Quad. Today the campus has expanded to the west to surround the original one-story structures. The new Ginzton building will house the current research programs led by faculty members from engineering and science, and new faculty members with an interest in nanoscience research, biophotonics and other fields.