Towards high power, high repetition rate, broadband coherent light sources: development and applications

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Ultrashort pulses (10-15 s) of near-infrared laser light have found a large number of scientific, industrial and biomedical applications such as microscopy, spectroscopy, or laser eye surgery. To make the measurements fast and accurately, laser sources with both high average power and high repetition rate are needed. Unfortunately, currently available high power laser amplifiers or oscillators cannot simultaneously offer both of these properties. This is a serious drawback for the development of cost-effective commercial products as well as industrial and clinical applications. This grant application proposes to overcome this major limitation by using two recently demonstrated innovative solutions, an effective method to produce ultrashort pulses with high output power and the use of laser crystals with excellent properties for ultrashort pulse generation. The developed lasers will be able to produce ultrashort pulses of light with both high average output power and high repetition rate. The unique combination of these parameters will also enable generation of intense radiation in spectral windows ranging from the visible to terahertz wavelengths. This radiation will be used to develop unique instruments capable of fast imaging and rapid chemical analysis of various materials. Such capabilities are particularly important to the medical device and diagnostics as well as food and material processing industries. The funding requested in this grant application will support training of 8 graduate students (5 PhD and 3 MSc) and one postdoctoral fellow over the next 5 years who will work on development of the proposed laser technology. The proposed research program will involve collaborative work with other researchers from the University of Manitoba as well as from abroad. The students will receive cutting-edge training in laser, imaging and spectroscopy technologies, optical materials, detector, electronics and high-precision mechanics, data acquisition and analysis. Additional training will be also offered to highly qualified personnel at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels through supervision of undergraduate thesis, summer projects, and collaborative research activities.