Although gas lasers have been developed since the 1960s, there was a lull in in the pace of new concepts that began at the turn of the century as solid state lasers such as fiber and thin disk based systems came into vogue. However, the last 5 years has seen an uptick in new concepts, such as diode pumped alkali lasers, gas filled hollow core fiber lasers, exciplex assisted lasers, and optically pumped metastable noble gas lasers. A common driving force behind many of these new variants is the fruition of diode lasers at novel wavelengths and increasing powers. Research under this topic will focus on understanding the underlying physics of these new lasers.

A wide variety of experiments will be pursued to assess the potential for scaling new laser concepts. Researchers will have the opportunity to develop demonstrator lasers for feasibility studies as well as conduct more fundamental research including energy transfer mechanisms and measuring pressure broadening and shift rates. A variety of spectroscopic techniques, including tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy and laser induced fluorescence, are currently being used but building and using new diagnostic tools such as Raman spectroscopy is also of interest. Experimental research is complimented by strong ongoing modeling and simulation efforts in the group. It is highly encouraged that researchers include an M&S focus within their research.

Specific topics of interest are: (1) understanding the energy transfer dynamics of gas filled hollow core fiber lasers, which includes measuring rotational and vibrational energy transfer rates, as well as collisional deactivation rates of the molecules of the fiber walls; (2) understanding the photoionization pathways of diode pumped alkali lasers; and (3) developing novel diode pumped dimer lasers using supersonic expansion techniques to produce the gain medium.

References

Dadashzadeh N, Thirugnanasambandam M, Weerasinghe K, Debord B, Chafer M, Gérôme F, Benabid F, Washburn B, Corwin KL: "Near-Gaussian Spatial Mode from a Mid-IR Acetylene-filled Hollow-Core Fiber Laser". Frontiers in Optics 2016. OSA Technical Digest (online) (Optical Society of America, 2016), paper FTu1I.5

Krupke WF: “Diode pumped alkali lasers (DPALs)--A review (rev1)”. Progress in Quantum Electronics. Volume 36, Issue 1, January 2012, Pages 4-28

Wellegehausen B, Luhs W: “Diode-pumped CW molecular lasers”. Applied Physics B 122: 133, 2016