Towards high power, high repetition rate, broadband coherent light sources: development and applications

近红外激光的超短脉冲（10-15秒）在科学、工业和生物医学领域有大量应用，如显微镜、光谱学或激光眼科手术。为了使测量快速准确，需要高平均功率和高重复频率的激光源。不幸的是，目前可用的高功率激光放大器或振荡器不能同时提供这两种特性。这对于开发具有成本效益的商业产品以及工业和临床应用来说是一个严重的缺点。这项拨款申请建议通过使用最近展示的两种创新解决方案来克服这一主要限制，一种产生高输出功率超短脉冲的有效方法，以及使用具有优异性能的激光晶体来产生超短脉冲。所开发的激光器将能够产生具有高平均输出功率和高重复率的超短光脉冲。这些参数的独特组合也将使从可见光到太赫兹波长的光谱窗口产生强烈的辐射。这种辐射将用于开发独特的仪器，能够对各种材料进行快速成像和快速化学分析。这种能力对医疗设备和诊断以及食品和材料加工行业尤为重要。本资助申请将在未来5年内培养8名研究生（5名博士和3名硕士）和1名博士后，他们将从事拟议激光技术的开发工作。拟议的研究计划将涉及与马尼托巴大学以及国外的其他研究人员的合作工作。学生们将接受激光、成像和光谱技术、光学材料、探测器、电子和高精度机械、数据采集和分析方面的尖端培训。此外，还将通过本科生论文、暑期项目和合作研究活动的监督，为本科、研究生和研究生阶段的高素质人才提供额外的培训。

Ultrashort pulses (10-15 s) of near-infrared laser light have found a large number of scientific, industrial and biomedical applications such as microscopy, spectroscopy, or laser eye surgery. To make the measurements fast and accurately, laser sources with both high average power and high repetition rate are needed. Unfortunately, currently available high power laser amplifiers or oscillators cannot simultaneously offer both of these properties. This is a serious drawback for the development of cost-effective commercial products as well as industrial and clinical applications. This grant application proposes to overcome this major limitation by using two recently demonstrated innovative solutions, an effective method to produce ultrashort pulses with high output power and the use of laser crystals with excellent properties for ultrashort pulse generation. The developed lasers will be able to produce ultrashort pulses of light with both high average output power and high repetition rate. The unique combination of these parameters will also enable generation of intense radiation in spectral windows ranging from the visible to terahertz wavelengths. This radiation will be used to develop unique instruments capable of fast imaging and rapid chemical analysis of various materials. Such capabilities are particularly important to the medical device and diagnostics as well as food and material processing industries. The funding requested in this grant application will support training of 8 graduate students (5 PhD and 3 MSc) and one postdoctoral fellow over the next 5 years who will work on development of the proposed laser technology. The proposed research program will involve collaborative work with other researchers from the University of Manitoba as well as from abroad. The students will receive cutting-edge training in laser, imaging and spectroscopy technologies, optical materials, detector, electronics and high-precision mechanics, data acquisition and analysis. Additional training will be also offered to highly qualified personnel at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate levels through supervision of undergraduate thesis, summer projects, and collaborative research activities.