Structured photonic devices for advanced sensing

近年来，具有独特光学性质的新材料的发展导致了重大的科学突破。例如，2014年诺贝尔物理学奖授予了一群日本研究人员，他们开发的蓝光二极管现在能够以一种比传统白炽灯更高效、更环保的方式照亮世界。这场技术革命清楚地表明了光学材料工程对现代社会技术进步的影响。 拟议的研究计划紧随这一运动，目标是开发新一代激光、微米甚至纳米结构的光子带隙材料。这些新材料的先进光学性能，特别是导致高光学限制的结构慢光的传播，将支持未来几年深远技术创新的发展。将与许多学术和工业研究人员合作开发各种用于传感的旗舰应用程序，他们的专业知识与我的专业知识互补。这项研究计划将培训14名高素质的人员，并在拉瓦尔大学开发一个新的研究领域。 第一个研究重点将集中在研究飞秒激光对透明材料的基本性质和周期结构的优化。聚焦在透明材料内部的超快和强脉冲的非共振相互作用将触发光敏性，这将被用来精确地改变它们的折射率。我们将在干涉的背景下研究这种相互作用，并优化各种光学材料的书面结构的性能，其中一些已经众所周知，如二氧化硅，其他较少被探索的材料，如氟化物和硫化物玻璃，以及将在该项目中开发的其他感兴趣的传感应用的新材料。还将开发一种在拉伸过程中直接在光纤上写入波导和布拉格光栅的新方法，并将推动新一代分布式传感器的部署。 第二个研究重点将集中在创新传感器的开发上，这种传感器利用了第一个推力工作的结果--结构化组件。三个主要项目将在合作方式的基础上启动。将开发两种被动传感技术：适用于恶劣环境的分布式传感器和基于结构慢光传播的极端敏感的应变传感器。还将开发基于中红外创新光源的有源传感器技术，用于化学毒剂的远程光谱，使其在环境、国防/安全和医学等各个领域获得新的高端应用。

The development of new materials with distinctive optical properties has led to major scientific breakthroughs in recent years. For example, the 2014 Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to a group of Japanese researchers for the development of blue light emitting diodes that now enable to light the world in a manner that is much more efficient and environmentally sound than traditional incandescent lights. This technological revolution clearly shows the impact that optical material engineering has had on the technological advancement of modern society. The proposed research program follows this movement by targeting the development of a new generation of laser micro- and even nano-structured photonic band gap materials. The advanced optical properties of these new materials, specifically the propagation of structural slow light that lead to high optical confinement, will support the development of far-reaching technological innovations in coming years. Various flagship applications for sensing will be developed in collaboration with a number of academic and industrial researchers whose expertise complements mine. This research program will enable the training of 14 highly qualified persons as well as the development of a new research field at Université Laval. A first research thrust will focus on the study of the fundamental properties and the optimization of the periodic structuration of transparent materials by femtosecond lasers. The non-resonating interaction of ultrafast and intense pulses focussed inside transparent materials will trigger the photosensitivity that will be used to precisely modify their refractive index. We will study this interaction in an interference context and optimize the performance of written structures for various optical materials, some of which are already well-known, like silica, and others less explored, like fluoride and chalcogenide glasses, as well as for other new materials of interest for sensing applications that will be developed within this project. A novel method for writing waveguides and Bragg gratings directly on a fiber during the drawing process will also be developed and will spur the deployment of a new generation of distributed sensors. A second research thrust will focus on the development of innovative sensors which take advantage of the structured components that are the outcome of work from the first thrust. Three major projects will be set in motion based on a collaborative approach. Two passive sensing technologies will be developed: distributed sensors suited for harsh environments and strain sensors with extreme sensitivity based on the propagation of structural slow light. An active sensor technology based on mid-infrared innovative sources will also be developed for remote spectroscopy of chemical agents to enable new high-end applications in various fields such environment, defense/security and medicine.