Femtosecond lasers, particularly Ti:sapphire lasers and fiber lasers, have dramatically advanced in performance in the past few years. These advances have provided powerful tools for the scientific community, in certain cases profoundly transforming existing fields, or enabling completely new ones, e.g., the birth of extreme nonlinear optics with phase-controlled few-cycle pulses, optical frequency metrology with ultra-broad bandwidth pulses, attosecond pulse generation, and femtosecond micromachining, to mention only a few examples. This program is a collaborative effort between principle investigator, Franz X. Kaertner and co-investigator, James G. Fujimoto from the Research Laboratory of Electronics and Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at M.I.T.. The specific aims of this proposal are: 1. To develop new models of femtosecond pulse generation from solid-state lasers to enable the generation of few-cycle pulses with record pulse energies as well as dramatically improve the performance of compact femtosecond lasers. 2. To develop double chirped mirror (DCM) technology and new design methods which will yield dramatic improvements in femtosecond laser performance. 3. To develop and demonstrate a Ti:sapphire laser with self-similar pulse evolution to achieve record pulse energies approaching 1 uJ directly from the oscillator with 10 fs pulse durations. Intellectual Merit: The proposed research promises to make important contributions to the fundamental understanding of ultrafast laser dynamics as well as to demonstrate new methods for femtosecond pulse generation in the complementary limits of high pulse energy, few-cycle laser oscillators, as well as compact, low power, few-cycle lasers. Improved models for few-cycle laser dynamics and precision DCM design will be important advances in the field of ultrafast lasers, enabling the development of a wide range of new high performance laser systems, as well as many new applications. Broader Impact: The development of high energy laser oscillators would enable many applications in physics and materials science, ranging from nonlinear frequency generation, to nonlinear optical measurements, and micromachining. The development of compact, low cost femtosecond lasers would have widespread engineering applications such as optical sampling, optical signal processing, biomedical microscopy and imaging. This project will also provide an excellent teaching vehicle for graduate students, postdoctoral associates, and visiting scientists. Participants will learn aspects of photonics, quantum electronics, nonlinear dynamics and wave propagation, ultrashort pulse lasers, and precision measurement techniques. Our groups have extensive collaborations with other university research groups as well as with industry. Finally, development of advanced technology and training of advance personnel improves overall economic development.
