Development of PPLN based miniature and compact lasers

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The objectives of this proposal are to develop miniaturized green lasers for laser display application, miniaturized violet/blue/green lasers for biomedical instrumentation applications, and compact mid-IR lasers for environmental monitoring. The long-term objectives of the proposed program are to enhance collaborations with the leading laser manufacturers, provide Canadian industry with highly qualified personnel and new/improved products, and maintain the leading position of the research on MgO:PPLN in Dr. Xu's group at McMaster University. Miniature green lasers are strongly demanded in laser display industry. For example, a miniature green laser with an output power of about 1W and thickness of less than 5 mm is considered as an enabling technology for pico laser projectors, while 10W order green lasers with a small footprint (say 20 mm2) are strongly demanded in large screen laser projectors. It is expected that laser display will be revolutionary, bringing a whole new visual dimension to display market. On the other hand, miniature violet/blue/green lasers are required in bio-instruments. Most of the bio-instrumentation lasers have to rely on the diode pumped solid state (DPSS) lasers based on the second harmonic generation (SHG) technique. However, size of the DPSS lasers has to be reduced. In addition, compact mid-IR lasers are required in detection of trace gases. It has been pointed out that the pollutant gases are harmful to human health. Mid-infrared (mid-IR) laser absorption spectroscopy is considered to be the most effective technique to detect the pollutant gases because of its high sensitivity and selectivity. Therefore, an affordable compact, room-temperature operation, and wavelength tunable mid-IR laser is crucial to trace gas detection.