About the project
This project will investigate a new strategy for generating kilowatt-class laser power in the visible band and >100 W in the ultraviolet (UV) band. Traditional methods for accessing this wavelength regime are not compatible with operation at high power levels and so a different approach is needed.
Scaling laser power in the visible and UV bands remains one of the most significant challenges facing laser scientists, motivated by the needs of a growing number of applications in areas such as:
- laser processing of materials
- medicine
- sensing
- defence
This new approach will combine the power-scaling advantages of cladding-pumped fibre lasers in the near-infrared band with novel nonlinear frequency conversion schemes. This offers the prospect of unprecedented wavelength coverage across the entire visible and UV wavelength bands at very high-power levels and with high overall efficiency.
As a researcher on this project you will undertake a detailed study into the physics of frequency-converted fibre lasers operated at very high-power levels. This will establish a power scaling strategy and determine the fundamental limits. The overall ambition of the project will be a new generation of visible and UV lasers boasting levels of performance well beyond the current state-of-the-art for use in industrial laser processing.
You will work in the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), one of the world’s leading research institutes in laser science and photonics. Its researchers have made pioneering advances in the high power fibre lasers and solid-state lasers that currently have widespread industrial applications. A PhD here has enabled past graduates to make successful careers in academia, in national scientific laboratories, and as scientists or business leaders in industry.
The project will involve close collaboration with one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high power visible solid-state lasers (Laser Quantum (part of Novanta) based in the UK).
