EPSRC Reference: |
GR/M83964/01 |
Title: |
HIGH-POWER, ND-INDIFFUSED-YVO4, TAPERED WAVEGUIDE LASERS |
Principal Investigator: |
Shepherd, Professor DP |
Other Investigators: |
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Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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Project Partners: |
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Department: |
Optoelectronics Research Ctr (closed) |
Organisation: |
University of Southampton |
Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
Starts: |
13 January 2000 |
Ends: |
12 January 2003 |
Value (£): |
50,333
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EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
Optical Devices & Subsystems |
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EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
Electronics |
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Related Grants: |
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Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
Compact laser sources of high average power and good beam quality are needed for a variety of industrial, medical and research applications. This has inspired work on diode-bar-pumped waveguide lasers, as planar waveguides are compatible with the asymmetric beam-shpae of diode-bars, leading to highly-compact coupling schemes. However, the output of the waveguide laser is far from diffraction-limited in the non-guided plane because of the broad gain region and the use of short monolithic resonators. Here we propose to develop adiabatic waveguide tapers that couple the planar diode-bar-pumped region to a single mode channel section, leading to near-diffraction-limited output. A low-loss taper design can expand up to 200um in a few cm. This is compatible with diode-bar side-pumping if a material with a strong absorption for the diode emission is used. For this reason we propose to develop Nd-indiffused waveguide fabrication in Yttrium Vanadate. This will require a study of the diffusion characteristics and waveguide fabrication in this important material, the fabrication of efficient adiabatic tapers, and an initial demonstration of high-power diode-pumped laser operation. The high quality research supported by this grant, together with training of a PhD student, will make a strong contribution to the UK standing in this competitive area.
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Key Findings |
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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Impacts |
Description |
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Summary |
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Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Project URL: |
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Further Information: |
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Organisation Website: |
http://www.soton.ac.uk |