Visible Fiber Lasers

可见光纤激光器

• 批准号: RGPIN-2020-04267
• 负责人: Vallée, Réal
• 金额: $ 4.44万
• 依托单位: Université Laval
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=739683
• 关键词: Visible; Fiber; Lasers

Nowadays, fiber lasers can be found in high-level research laboratories as well as in a variety of industrial settings or in portable tools and systems for a plethora of applications in wide ranging fields from the biomedical and environmental sectors to manufacturing. For instance, high power kW class Ytterbium fiber lasers operating near 1 micron with their unequaled properties have completely revolutionized the automotive industry by powering advanced industrial processes including precision welding, cutting, marking, cleaning and drilling of a variety of materials. It is however amazing to realize that most of the development regarding fiber lasers, based on fused silica glass optical fibers, has been restricted to the Near-Infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, essentially between 1 and 2 micron. In principle though, lanthanide doped fiber lasers have the potential to produce coherent radiation almost continuously from the near-ultraviolet to the Mid-Infrared. With their outstanding optical properties, low-loss fluoride glass optical fibers have clearly emerged as the best candidate to replace fused silica fibers for spectrally extended laser emission. With this NSERC Discovery Grant, I propose to address the scientific challenges related to the development of fluoride glass visible fiber lasers, lying in the short-wavelength spectral region essentially untapped by silica fiber lasers. From a fundamental science perspective, the development of monolithic and powerful visible fiber lasers is very likely to have a significant impact on both the advancement of knowledge and training of HQP in this very promising research area. In fact, the two recent Nobel prizes for "the invention of blue emitting diodes" and for "the development of super-resolved microscopy" have both emphasized the importance of visible light not only in research laboratories but more generally in our everyday life. It is also important to highlight the fact that by nature, visible light is more appealing simply because one can see it as opposed to ultraviolet or infrared radiation. Visible lasers are thus naturally suited for teaching and outreach activities. Laser headlights, laser pointers or data storage devices all rely on such sources and are critically dependent on the development of compact reliable sources of visible radiation. Even though the recent advent of powerful blue emitting diodes have partly responded to the needs of some applications, there is still a lot to be done in terms of visible laser development in order to address the whole range of market needs. It is thus expected that the research outcome from this grant proposal will provide rich opportunities for knowledge translation to the scientific community, training of new cohorts of graduate students whose skills and expertise will continue to be in high demand, and socio-economic development through technology transfers and spin-offs.

如今，光纤激光器可以在高级研究实验室以及各种工业环境或便携式工具和系统中找到，用于从生物医学和环境部门到制造业的广泛领域的大量应用。例如，工作在1微米附近的高功率千瓦级镱光纤激光器以其无与伦比的性能，通过为各种材料的精密焊接、切割、标记、清洁和钻孔等先进工业工艺提供动力，彻底改变了汽车行业。然而，令人惊讶的是，基于熔融石英玻璃光纤的光纤激光器的大部分发展都局限于电磁光谱的近红外区域，基本上在1到2微米之间。然而，原则上，镧系掺杂光纤激光器具有产生从近紫外到中红外几乎连续的相干辐射的潜力。低损耗氟化物玻璃光纤具有优异的光学性能，显然已成为取代熔融石英光纤用于光谱扩展激光发射的最佳候选者。 有了这个NSERC发现补助金，我建议解决与氟化物玻璃可见光光纤激光器的发展相关的科学挑战，这些激光器位于短波长光谱区域，基本上未被石英光纤激光器利用。从基础科学的角度来看，单片和强大的可见光光纤激光器的发展很可能对这一非常有前途的研究领域的知识进步和HQP培训产生重大影响。事实上，最近的两个诺贝尔奖“蓝色发光二极管的发明”和“超分辨显微镜的发展”都强调了可见光的重要性，不仅在研究实验室，而且在我们的日常生活中。同样重要的是要强调这样一个事实，即从本质上讲，可见光更有吸引力，因为人们可以看到它，而不是紫外线或红外线辐射。可见激光因此自然适合于教学和推广活动。激光头灯、激光指示器或数据存储设备都依赖于这种光源，并且严重依赖于紧凑可靠的可见辐射源的发展。尽管最近出现的大功率蓝光发光二极管部分满足了某些应用的需求，但为了满足整个市场的需求，在可见光激光器的开发方面还有很多工作要做。因此，预计这项赠款提案的研究成果将为科学界提供丰富的知识转化机会，培训新的研究生群体，他们的技能和专业知识将继续受到高度需求，并通过技术转让和附带利益实现社会经济发展。