| Stephen E. Harris | |
| Birth Date: | November 29, 1936 |
| Birth Place: | Brooklyn, New York |
| Nationality: | American |
| Fields: | Physics |
| Workplaces: | Stanford University |
| Alma Mater: | Stanford University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
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| Thesis1 Url: | and |
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| Thesis1 Year: | and |
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| Doctoral Students: | Robert L. Byer, Ataç İmamoğlu |
Stephen Ernest Harris (born November 29, 1936) is an American physicist known for his contributions to electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT),[1] [2] modulation of single photons, and x-ray emission.
In a diverse career, he has collaborated with others to produce results in many areas, including the 1999 paper titled “Light speed reduction to 17 metres per second in an ultracold gas,”[3] in which Lene Hau and Harris, Cyrus Behroozi and Zachary Dutton describe how they used EIT to slow optical pulses to the speed of a bicycle. He has also contributed to developments in the use of the laser, generating paired photons with single driving lasers[4] He has also shown the development of such pairs of photons using waveforms[5]
His more recent work has sought to address restraints imposed on the types of waveforms that can be produced by the single-cycle barrier[6] Harris and colleagues succeeded in this endeavour in 2005 during a series of experiments aimed at obtaining full control of waveforms, noting "we were able to vary the shape of the pulse to generate different prescribed waveforms."[7] It is hoped that these results will lead to coherent control of chemical reactions, as a probe for ever-shorter physical processes, and for highly efficient generation of far infra-red and vacuum ultra-violet radiation.
Harris was elected as a member into the National Academy of Engineering in 1977 for contributions in the field of coherent and non-linear optics.