Abstract
The University of Central Florida invention is a mechanism for the use of temporally resolved custom pulse shapes as well as co-pumping with multiple wavelengths to control the breadth and flatness of a supercontinuum source. High brightness white light sources enable otherwise impossible sensing and detection applications; however, high average power sources have so far been limited to laboratory settings, as most rely on either photonic crystal fibers, ultrashort pulses, or feedback mechanisms that prohibit power scaling. With new applications (including military) requiring very high average power (greater than 200 watts), new architectures are required. Additionally, most laboratory demonstrations are limited in that they are inflexible once designed. The UCF technology offers unprecedented control over spectral breadth and flatness in real-time.
The mechanism for this control allows for core pumping of single-mode fiber, core pumping of graded-index fiber, or cladding pumping; as such, the nonlinear fiber can be step-index core pumped, step-index cladding-pumped, or graded-index. Regardless, no rare-earth doping is required. High germanium content is beneficial to accelerate the nonlinear process but not critical to the design of the system. This application is scalable to the many hundreds of watts level at least, as the heat load is small and spread across a long (greater than 15 meters) fiber.
Partnering Opportunity
The research team is looking for partners to develop the technology further for commercialization.
Benefit
Generates real-time control over supercontinuum emissionFacilitates the use of higher energies and higher average power than is commercially availableScales supercontinuum emission to the hundreds of watt level in all-glass fiber (non-photonic crystal fibers)Market Application
DefenseMaterial processingHigh-energy laser manufacturersConcert venues, sporting arenasLaboratory equipment manufacturers
