Diode-pumped Ti:sapphire lasers: a manufacturable platform for precision photonics

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Ti:sapphire lasers set the standard for precision in instrumentation. However, commercial systems are bulky and complex to make, due in large part to the requirement for a painstakingly manufactured pump laser. The potential exists to replace these complex pump lasers with mass-produced, compact, and inexpensive diode lasers if we can unpick the physics of the light-matter interactions that govern the efficiency. This programme will lead to a step-change in our understanding, allowing us to redesign Ti:sapphire lasers from the ground up, tailoring them for diode-pumping and enabling high-end applications beyond the laser lab, initially in portable quantum technologies and analytical instrumentation. This project will - - Fully describe the underlying physics of pump-induced losses in Ti:sapphire crystals for the first time.- Initiate the development of a manufacturable, platform laser technology with the performance of Ti:sapphire but the practicality of diode-pumping.- Identify the combinations of diode-laser and Ti:sapphire crystal specification required to maximise both the wall-plug efficiency and manufacturability of Ti:sapphire lasers.- Develop exemplar narrow-linewidth and dual-comb demonstrators for future development towards applications in optical clocks and combustion analysis.The investigator team for this project brings together the grouping that demonstrated the first diode-pumped Ti:sapphire laser with experts in narrow-linewidth lasers for quantum technologies and laser spectroscopy for combustion analysis. The project partners include one of the world's leading manufactures of high-specification lasers (Coherent Scotland), the world's leading manufacturer of Ti:sapphire crystals (GTAT Corporation), a high-power visible diode-laser systems manufacturer (Arctos Lasertechnik), and the UK National Quantum Technologies Hub for Sensors and Metrology. An advisory panel of representative for these organisations, together with experts on technology transfer in the manufacturing of lasers and industrial gas-sensing, will provide the investigator team with strong industrial guidance and a route to accelerate economic and societal impact.