Next generation fibre laser pumped mid-infrared light sources

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The mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region (~3-50 micron) is immensely important for applications in healthcare, manufacturing and defence. Key organic molecules exhibit strong and unique absorption of MIR light, including many atmospheric gases and complex proteins. Laser sources in the MIR are revolutionising the world we live in, for example, enabling the remote monitoring of pollution levels in our cities or accurately differentiating cancerous and healthy tissue in early-stage disease diagnosis. However, in comparison to the near-infrared (NIR), there are far fewer viable direct laser sources available in the MIR.This project aims to use newly emerging nonlinear materials to convert established high-power NIR fibre laser technology to the MIR. Novel parametric conversion techniques will be developed, to demonstrate a set of unique laser sources that are compact, efficient and far outperform existing solutions. These sources will be deployed in target applications with academic and industrial collaborators around the world.The student will be actively involved in the design, building and testing of high power fibre laser systems in the NIR, along with the corresponding wavelength conversion techniques necessary to generate MIR radiation. The project will involve working with collaborators at Imperial and internationally, providing the student with exposure to an exciting inter-disciplinary research environment.