Tunable Supercontinuum Generator (Market Study)

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Supercontinuum light sources, combining the properties of a laser with the broad bandwidth of an incandescent light bulb, form the foundation of a large number of applications ranging from medical imaging, communications, displays and material studies. Over the last decade, research and development in the field has been driven by both technological advances and ever-evolving market requirements. From a scientific standpoint, supercontinuum laser manufacturers have been driven to understand the boundaries and limitations of the technology, whereas the market has required to tailor performance for specific applications in a way to make supercontinuum lasers suitable for mainstream industrial applications.The current proposal is concerned with a market study related to a tunable supercontinuum generator system allowing for the optimization of the supercontinuum spectral intensity at a selected wavelength. The technique using a multiple pulse scheme can achieve a seven-fold increase of a targeted spectral density compared to a single pulse excitation with the same power budget.The approach is actually based on a CMOS-compatible integrated pulse splitter used to generate a custom train of pulses and seeded by a pulsed laser source, an erbium doped fiber amplifier, and a highly non-linear fiber to form the supercontinuum. A feedback loop making use of a genetic algorithm is used to optimize the seed pulse train and to tailor the supercontinuum output by iteratively modifying the splitting ratio of the temporal pulse splitter. This invention represents a highly efficient way to generate a custom supercontinuum spectrum by controlling the nonlinear processes within an optical cavity. Furthermore, it represents a reliable method capable to reduce the ratio cost/watt of already existing supercontinuum light sources. Finally, the versatility of the technique allows it to be integrated in already existing systems. Hence, we strongly believe that a market study for this innovative technology is extremely timely and will contribute to reinforce the impact of high-technology Canadian industry on the international scene.