I-Corps: Ultrafast All-Optical Shutter Technology

在高质量的激光制造和外科应用中，几乎没有已知的替代方案来使用高峰值功率的亚纳秒激光器。该项目计划通过进一步开发一种超快全光快门来探索超快全光快门的使用及其在非热消融中的应用。该快门允许对高峰值功率纳秒激光脉冲进行采样，以产生非常适合材料非热烧蚀的高峰值功率皮秒或飞秒脉冲。这项技术可以在很宽的光谱范围内工作。它可以直接调制高峰值功率的激光，并提供连续调整快门时间窗口宽度的能力。超快全光快门技术为产生亚纳秒光脉冲提供了一种新的方法。作为一个整体，超快激光脉冲在医学、制造和技术方面的应用范围越来越广。这项技术有可能对激光制造和激光外科产生影响，因为它允许将昂贵的高峰值功率亚纳秒激光器替换为价格较低的纳秒激光器，并结合超高速全光快门；从而显著降低高质量脉冲激光制造和激光外科的资本设备和经常性成本。在激光制造和激光外科领域，越来越多地使用超快激光对材料进行非热烧蚀，再加上这项技术的广泛使用，有可能使更多的客户能够负担得起非热激光烧蚀。

There are few known alternatives to the use of high-peak power sub-nanosecond lasers for high quality laser manufacturing and surgery applications. This project plans to explore the use of ultrafast all-optical shutters and their use for non-thermal ablation by further developing an ultrafast all-optical shutter. The shutter allows sampling of high-peak power nanosecond laser pulses to produce high-peak power picosecond or femtosecond pulses that are well suited for non-thermal ablation of materials. This technology can operate across a wide spectral range. It can directly modulate high peak-power lasers and offers the ability to continuously tune the shutter's time window width. The ultrafast all-optical shutter technology offers a novel approach towards producing sub-nanosecond optical pulses. Ultrafast laser pulses are finding an ever increasing range of applications in medicine, manufacturing, and technology as a whole. This technology has the potential to impact laser manufacturing and laser surgery by allowing replacement of expensive high peak-power sub-nanosecond lasers with less expensive nanosecond lasers combined with an ultrafast all-optical shutter; thereby, significantly decreasing the capital equipment and recurring cost for high-quality pulsed laser manufacturing and laser surgery. The increasing use of ultrafast lasers for the non-thermal ablation of materials in the areas of laser manufacturing and laser surgery combined with widespread use of this technology has the potential to make non-thermal laser ablation affordable for a wider range of customers.