Frequency Resolved Optical Switching (FROSt) for the temporal characterization of ultrafast infrared/mid-infrared lasers (Phase 1)

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The market for ultrafast lasers was representing a value of 4.44B US$ in 2019 and is expected to reach 13.12B$ by 2024. Since the market for ultrafast lasers is growing rapidly, the need for laser diagnostics will increase accordingly. For this entire category of lasers, instruments capable to measure the pulse temporal profile are absolutely essential, whether it is to get the shortest pulse duration, or to obtain a specific desired pulse shape. Therefore, optical devices able to measure the spectra and the spectral phase of laser pulses (from which I(t) can be retrieved via a Fourier transform) will be in high demand. While many technologies are commercialized for the visible and near-IR spectral range, they are not adapted for the IR and mid-IR range. Over the recent years, INRS researchers and collaborators have developed an innovative technology to measure ultrashort pulses in the IR and mid-IR spectral range. This metrology for ultrafast laser systems is named Frequency Resolved Optical Switching (FROSt) and has already enabled to characterize ultrashort pulses from 0.8 to 10 microns central wavelength from a low repetition rate laser system. This makes this technology ideal for the complete temporal characterization of pulses derived from optical parametric amplifiers (OPA), which are becoming widely used by academic, government, and industrial researchers. However, to push this technology on the market, we need to define whether it can be used for the temporal characterization of high repetition rate laser systems such as OPAs pumped by high repetition rate Ytterbium laser systems (~100kHz). Thus, in the context of this I2I project, we will develop a prototype intended to characterize such high repetition rate tunable IR/mid-IR laser sources. For this, we previously need to investigate the fluence required for FROSt, and the maximum repetition rate at which it can operate. Furthermore, to convince potential users to adopt this metrology, we will develop a software that performs both the acquisition of the FROSt measurements as well as the reconstruction of the temporal profile of the laser pulses. Finally, we will visit interested users to validate the unique capabilities of the developed FROSt device.