All-Fiber Frequency doubled light sources from engineered glass layers

在过去的20年里，有一种稳定的趋势，即完全由石英玻璃纤维制成的更紧凑的激光器。光纤激光器是可取的，因为它们提供紧凑的设计、更容易操作和高可靠性。随着这一领域的研究在过去十年中取得了切实的进展，光纤激光器的输出功率增加了多达3000倍。许多部件(镜子、水晶等)这曾经是激光器的一部分，现在可以使用石英光纤产生。在传统激光器中发现的一种成分是倍频晶体，这种成分还没有被玻璃纤维复制。这种晶体通常被用来从波长不在可见光谱的激光中产生可见光辐射。一些对玻璃纤维的研究表明，在石英玻璃中复制这种效应是可能的，但幅度一直很小。最近，当我们在层状玻璃结构上工作时，我们观察到倍频的大幅增加。这一战略性项目拨款旨在利用这一有希望的发现，开发一种能够取代晶体的倍频光纤，并推动加拿大工业向完整的全光纤激光器更近一步。

Over the last 20 years there has been a steady trend toward more compact lasers made entirely out of silica glass fiber. Fiber lasers are desirable as they offer a compact design, increased ease of operation and high reliability. As research in this field has progressed in earnest over the last decade output power from fiber lasers has increased by as much as 3000 times. Many of the components (mirrors, crystals etc.) that used to be part of a laser can now be created using silica fiber. One component found in traditional lasers that has not been duplicated with glass fiber yet is a frequency doubling crystal. This crystal is commonly used to create visible radiation from lasers that have wavelengths outside the visible spectrum. Some studies in glass fibers have demonstrated that it is possible to duplicate this effect in silica glass but the magnitude has always been very small. Recently, while working on layered glass structures, we observed a large increase in the frequency doubling. This strategic project grant is aimed at capitalizing on this promising discovery to develop a frequency doubling fiber capable of replacing the crystal, and propelling Canadian industry one step closer to a complete all-fiber laser.