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

钛宝石激光器为仪器仪表的精度设定了标准。然而，商业系统体积庞大且制造复杂，这在很大程度上是由于需要精心制造的泵浦激光器。如果我们能够解开控制效率的光-物质相互作用的物理学原理，就有可能用大规模生产的、紧凑的、廉价的二极管激光器来取代这些复杂的泵浦激光器。该计划将导致我们的理解发生重大变化，使我们能够从头开始重新设计钛宝石激光器，为二极管泵浦量身定制，并实现激光实验室以外的高端应用，最初是在便携式量子技术和分析仪器中。该项目将首次全面描述钛宝石晶体中泵浦引起的损耗的基本物理。开始开发一种可制造的平台激光技术，具有钛宝石的性能，但具有二极管泵浦的实用性。确定二极管激光器和钛宝石晶体规格的组合，以最大限度地提高钛宝石激光器的壁插效率和可制造性。为未来光学时钟和燃烧分析的应用开发窄线宽和双梳示范器。该项目的研究团队将展示第一台二极管泵浦钛宝石激光器的小组与量子技术窄线宽激光器和燃烧分析激光光谱学的专家聚集在一起。该项目的合作伙伴包括世界领先的高规格激光器制造商之一（Coherent Scotland），世界领先的钛蓝宝石晶体制造商（GTAT Corporation），高功率可见光二极管激光系统制造商（Arctos Lasertechnik）以及英国国家量子技术传感器和计量中心。由这些组织的代表组成的咨询小组，以及激光制造和工业气体传感技术转让方面的专家，将为研究团队提供强有力的工业指导和加速经济和社会影响的途径。

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.