System for the generation of tunable ultrafast optical pulses (Market Study)

超快激光脉冲具有从紫外到红外范围的波长可调谐性，这超出了典型激光增益介质的直接范围，可以在许多应用中带来决定性的优势。然而，目前最常用的产生这种脉冲的技术，例如光学参量放大，需要用于频率转换和放大的多个光学非线性过程的复杂组合，基本上需要庞大且昂贵的设备，并且仍然不能自动保证无间隙可调谐性。而且，输出脉冲的持续时间保持在与初始泵浦激光系统相当的水平，使得需要增加进一步的复杂性以实现更短的持续时间，例如，通过脉冲压缩为了克服这些限制，我们已经开发了一种简单且具有成本效益的系统来产生波长可调谐和能量可缩放的光脉冲，其额外的好处是脉冲持续时间短于用作泵浦的放大激光器的脉冲持续时间。我们的策略是基于非线性光谱展宽（由自相位调制或受激拉曼散射）在充气空芯光纤（HCF），随后由随后的光学过滤阶段。调谐范围可以通过气体类型和压力的适当组合来控制，可以从紫外到红外连续跨越。一旦通过标准光学滤波从加宽的输出光谱中选择最外光谱瓣，就直接获得准变换限制脉冲，其能量转换效率至少为10-15%（与商业光学参量放大器相当），并且脉冲持续时间比泵浦激光器的脉冲持续时间短3-4倍，而不需要任何脉冲后压缩。考虑到制造具有不同尺寸的HCF的容易性，所提出的技术可以与各种放大激光器一起使用，潜在地能够在极高（或低）平均功率或峰值强度条件下执行。这项NSERC I2 I市场研究将帮助我们确定最有前途的应用，分析潜在的市场，并促进技术转让。

Ultrafast laser pulses featuring wavelength tunability from the ultraviolet to the infrared range, which is beyond the direct reach of typical laser gain media, can bring a decisive advantage in many applications. However, nowadays the most commonly implemented technologies to generate such pulses, for instance optical parametric amplification, necessitate a complicated combination of multiple optical nonlinear processes for frequency conversion and amplification, essentially requiring bulky and expensive apparatus and still not automatically guaranteeing a gap-free tunability. Also, the time duration of the output pulses remains at a level comparable to the initial pumping laser system, so that further complexity needs to be added to achieve shorter durations, e.g., via pulse compression. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a simple and cost-effective system to generate wavelength-tunable and energy-scalable optical pulses, with the additional benefit of a pulse duration shorter than the one of the amplified laser employed as a pump. Our strategy is based on nonlinear spectral broadening (arising from self-phase modulation or stimulated Raman scattering) in a gas-filled hollow-core fiber (HCF), followed by a subsequent optical filtering stage. The tuning range, which can be controlled by the proper combination of gas type and pressure, can span continuously from the ultraviolet to the infrared. Once the outermost spectral lobe is selected from the broadened output spectrum by standard optical filtering, quasi-transform-limited pulses are directly obtained with energy conversion efficiencies of at least 10-15% (comparable with commercial optical parametric amplifiers) and pulse durations 3-4 times shorter than the one of the pump laser, without the need of any pulse post-compression. Considering the ease of fabrication of HCFs with different dimensions, the proposed technology could be utilized with various amplified lasers, potentially being capable of performing at extremely high (or low) average power or peak intensity conditions. This NSERC I2I Market Study will assist us in identifying the most promising applications, analyzing the potential market, and facilitating technology transfer.