High-Performance Femtosecond Fiber Lasers Based on New Pulse Evolutions

目的：本项目的目标是研究在其腔中支持新脉冲演变的光纤激光器，并利用所获得的知识展示具有前所未有性能的实用仪器。智力优势：智力优势在于理解新的非线性波。超快科学领域建立在基于孤子形成的激光基础上，孤子是平衡相移和异常群速度色散的脉冲。在过去的几年中，基于非线性增益和损耗的脉冲整形，在正常色散介质中，已经被引入。这种方法是变革性的，因为它反对二十年来关于光脉冲产生的传统智慧。激光脉冲在增益介质中自相似传输的激光器表现出一些新的现象，如激光器中存在局域非线性吸引。这种自相似的演化为低噪声激光器和产生仅包含几个光周期的脉冲的激光器开辟了新的途径。更广泛的影响：更广泛的影响是展示了具有高能超短光脉冲新能力的有用（最终是商业化）仪器。这些仪器将扩大超快科学领域，并将短脉冲能力带到医疗诊所等新领域。学生将获得从理论和数值模拟到光纤技术方面的经验，以及超短光脉冲应用的知识。光纤激光器的研究将与本科生和研究生实验室相结合。参加4-H赞助的活动将使农村学生接触科学和技术。

Objective: The objectives of this program are to investigate fiber lasers that support new pulse evolutions in their cavities, and to use the knowledge gained to demonstrate practical instruments with unprecedented performance.Intellectual Merit: The intellectual merit is in understanding of new nonlinear waves. The field of ultrafast science has been built on lasers based on formation of solitons, pulses that balance phase shifts with anomalous group-velocity dispersion. In the last few years, pulse-shaping based on nonlinear gain and loss, in normal-dispersion media, has been introduced. This approach is transformative as it counters two decades of conventional wisdom regarding the generation of light pulses. Lasers with self-similar propagation of light pulses in their gain media exhibit new phenomena, such as the existence of local nonlinear attraction in a laser. The self-similar evolution opens new routes to lasers with very low noise and to lasers that generate pulses that contain only a few cycles of light.Broader Impacts: The broader impacts are the demonstration of useful (and eventually commercial) instruments with new capabilities for energetic, ultra-short light pulses. These instruments will expand the field of ultra-fast science and will bring short-pulse capabilities to new arenas such as medical clinics. Students will gain experience ranging from theory and numerical simulations to technical aspects of fiber optics and knowledge of applications of ultra-short light pulses. The research on fiber lasers will be coupled to undergraduate and graduate laboratories. Participation in activities sponsored by 4-H will expose rural students to science and technology.