Soliton Dynamics in Mid-Infrared Quantum-Cascade Lasers

中红外量子级联激光器中的孤子动力学

• 批准号: 1232273
• 负责人: Jing Bai
• 金额: $ 17.77万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota Duluth
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1232273&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Soliton; Dynamics; Mid; Infrared; Quantum

The objective of this program is to investigate the soliton dynamics in mid-infrared quantum-cascade lasers. The soliton effect originates in the cancellation between the group velocity dispersion and self-phase modulation. Such effect may play a key role in the generation of ultra-short pulses by mid-infrared quantum-cascade lasers, which are important to major applications such as biomedical sensing and environmental control. The elucidation of the underlying physics may therefore enable a new class of compact ultrafast lasers in the mid-infrared region since group velocity dispersion and self-phase modulation are simultaneously present in the same structure and are both associated with the intersubband transitions in quantum-cascade lasers.The intellectual merit is that the proposed research will make significant contributions to the understanding of ultrafast dynamics in quantum cascade lasers. Such devices are of intense interest for mid-infrared and far-infrared continuous-wave as well as for short-pulsed sources. The transformative of this research is that results from the investigation could be applied to design a new type of quantum cascade laser medium yielding shortened mid-infrared pulses through bandgap engineering. The design will be pursued through the collaboration with an experimental group.The broader impacts are in providing excellent multidisciplinary training in the area of nanophotonics within a research environment. Two Master?s students are expected to participate in this research. This program will also provide training opportunities for local K-12 teachers and high-school students through workshops. The results from the proposed research will be published in the scientific and engineering literature and presented at conferences.

本计划的目的是研究中红外量子级联激光器中的孤子动力学。孤子效应来源于群速度色散和自相位调制之间的抵消。这种效应可能在中红外量子级联激光器产生超短脉冲中发挥关键作用，对生物医学传感和环境控制等重大应用具有重要意义。由于群速度色散和自相位调制同时存在于同一结构中，并且都与量子级联激光器的子带间跃迁有关，因此对底层物理的阐明可能使中红外区域的新型紧凑型超快激光器成为可能。其智力上的优点是，所提出的研究将对理解量子级联激光器的超快动力学做出重大贡献。这种装置对中红外和远红外连续波光源以及短脉冲光源都有浓厚的兴趣。本研究的变革之处在于，研究结果可以通过带隙工程应用于设计一种新型的量子级联激光介质，产生更短的中红外脉冲。该设计将通过与一个实验组的合作来进行。更广泛的影响是在研究环境中提供纳米光子学领域的优秀多学科培训。两个主人?希望有5名学生参与这项研究。该计划还将通过讲习班为当地K-12教师和高中生提供培训机会。拟议研究的结果将发表在科学和工程文献上，并在会议上发表。