MRI: Development of a New Type of High Power, Ultrashort Pulse Laser via Raman Amplification and Compression

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Proposal Number: 0521037Proposal Title: Development of a New Type of High Power, Ultrashort Pulse Laser via Raman Amplification and CompressionPI Name: Szymon SuckewerPI Institution: Princeton University Intellectual Merit: This grant will fund the PI to buy a 1.9 joule TI/sapphire amplifier, the key piece of large equipment needed to develop a small-scale high-frequency laser which emits pulses of light shorter than 50 femtoseconds with energy of about half a joule. The PI plans to increase the energy density available in university research by an order of magnitude or more. The new laser will then be applied to research at Princeton in light-driven chemical processing, in quantum computing, and in higher-power table-top X-ray lasers. Adaptive feedback control will be a crucial element in making the overall system actually work. Broader Impact: The most important broader impact is the potential impact of this technology as such. If the instrument development is successful, partnership between the PI and the primary component supplier will probably result in making such instruments widely available and used across the world. Light-driven chemical processing is an important emerging area, with potential in many areas, such as advanced, more efficient fuel processing. Development of the underlying technology here - light enhancement by Raman backscattering - might improve the economics or feasibility of laser-induced nuclear fusion, an energy source that could fill a crucial hole in the future global economy. This equipment will also support crossdisciplinary education - both graduate and undergraduate - at Princeton.