A Laser Guide Star using a High Power, Synchronously Pumped Optical Parametric Oscillators. We will develop a novel high power source of 589nm coherent (laser) light to be used to create a laser guide star by exciting sodium atoms in the earth's upper atmosphere (the mesosphere). This is needed to determine the distortion caused by the atmosphere on an optical beam propagating through it and generate the information needed to correct those distortions using an adaptive optics telescope. This pr ....A Laser Guide Star using a High Power, Synchronously Pumped Optical Parametric Oscillators. We will develop a novel high power source of 589nm coherent (laser) light to be used to create a laser guide star by exciting sodium atoms in the earth's upper atmosphere (the mesosphere). This is needed to determine the distortion caused by the atmosphere on an optical beam propagating through it and generate the information needed to correct those distortions using an adaptive optics telescope. This project focuses on the development of a novel high power 589nm source based on a synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator.Read moreRead less
Efficient and tailored supercontinuum generation using dispersion management. Imagine a laser beam, but not with just one colour, but containing all colours. The light beam thus looks white, somewhat like a search light, except that it is much brighter. We now know how to generate such bright white beams of light, but it is expensive, requiring a small specialized laboratory full of equipment. Through a better understanding, we will make it easier and cheaper to generate these light beams. All k ....Efficient and tailored supercontinuum generation using dispersion management. Imagine a laser beam, but not with just one colour, but containing all colours. The light beam thus looks white, somewhat like a search light, except that it is much brighter. We now know how to generate such bright white beams of light, but it is expensive, requiring a small specialized laboratory full of equipment. Through a better understanding, we will make it easier and cheaper to generate these light beams. All kinds of applications that have been known for years, such as medical imaging and chemical analysis, then suddenly become practical. We anticipate that in the future these bright white light beams will be used on a routine basis in Australian hospitals and industry. Read moreRead less
Micro-engineered Optical Fibre Clocks. Clocks and oscillators are crucial components of all communication, navigation and computing technologies. Improvements in the performance of these internal clocks results in improvement in the performance of the dependent system, and are thus of high economic and technological value. A great need presently exists for compact and high performance clocks for improving optical fibre communication systems. The goal of this project is join the expertise of t ....Micro-engineered Optical Fibre Clocks. Clocks and oscillators are crucial components of all communication, navigation and computing technologies. Improvements in the performance of these internal clocks results in improvement in the performance of the dependent system, and are thus of high economic and technological value. A great need presently exists for compact and high performance clocks for improving optical fibre communication systems. The goal of this project is join the expertise of the University of Western Australia group with that of the University of Bath team to develop a new type of clock to fulfil this need.Read moreRead less
Passively switched mid-infrared fibre lasers using saturable absorbers placed internally or externally to the geometry of the fibre. This project will create new pulsed mid-infrared fibre lasers based on original and recently developed passive switching techniques. An original class of fibre laser systems will be shown that is based on the internal placement of saturable absorbers within the optical fibre itself. A configuration such as this will enable the production of very simple pulsed laser ....Passively switched mid-infrared fibre lasers using saturable absorbers placed internally or externally to the geometry of the fibre. This project will create new pulsed mid-infrared fibre lasers based on original and recently developed passive switching techniques. An original class of fibre laser systems will be shown that is based on the internal placement of saturable absorbers within the optical fibre itself. A configuration such as this will enable the production of very simple pulsed laser systems of high efficiency and potentially high power. This will lead into the development of practical pulsed oscillator systems the output of which can be used directly or optically amplified for applications requiring high power.Read moreRead less
Asymmetric InP-based structures for high power laser diodes at 1400-1500 nm for pumping optical amplifiers used in communication systems. This project is aimed at obtaining high power, single mode 1400-1500 nm wavelength laser diodes using a novel design of asymmetric InP-based structures. These devices are in great demand for pumping of erbium-doped and Raman amplifiers for powering the next generation of dense wavelength division multiplexing optical networks. The low modal gain (confinement f ....Asymmetric InP-based structures for high power laser diodes at 1400-1500 nm for pumping optical amplifiers used in communication systems. This project is aimed at obtaining high power, single mode 1400-1500 nm wavelength laser diodes using a novel design of asymmetric InP-based structures. These devices are in great demand for pumping of erbium-doped and Raman amplifiers for powering the next generation of dense wavelength division multiplexing optical networks. The low modal gain (confinement factor) of this asymmetric structure is expected to reduce internal losses and hence increase the output power with better thermal dissipation. Single mode could be obtained by careful design in the trade-off between filamentation and threshold current. Ion implantation is also proposed to suppress higher order modes.Read moreRead less
Diamond Based Quantum Information Processing. The explosive growth in ideas for applications of quantum mechanics to practical devices for information processing has been a worldwide phenomenon of the past 4 years. A leading material which promises many of the desirable quantum properties is diamond. We aim to build on our extensive expertise in fundamental diamond research to design, fabricate and analyse novel quantum devices made from diamond. We will seek to attain the glittering prize of ....Diamond Based Quantum Information Processing. The explosive growth in ideas for applications of quantum mechanics to practical devices for information processing has been a worldwide phenomenon of the past 4 years. A leading material which promises many of the desirable quantum properties is diamond. We aim to build on our extensive expertise in fundamental diamond research to design, fabricate and analyse novel quantum devices made from diamond. We will seek to attain the glittering prize of constructing diamond devices that will absorb, store and re-emit single light-photons with revolutionary applications to information storage and processing.Read moreRead less
Diamond Based Quantum Information Processing. The explosive growth in ideas for applications of quantum mechanics to practical devices for information processing has been a worldwide phenomenon of the past 4 years. A leading material which promises many of the desirable quantum properties is diamond. In collaboration with our Israeli colleagues we will seek to attain the glittering prize of constructing diamond devices that will absorb, store and re-emit single light-photons with revolutionary ....Diamond Based Quantum Information Processing. The explosive growth in ideas for applications of quantum mechanics to practical devices for information processing has been a worldwide phenomenon of the past 4 years. A leading material which promises many of the desirable quantum properties is diamond. In collaboration with our Israeli colleagues we will seek to attain the glittering prize of constructing diamond devices that will absorb, store and re-emit single light-photons with revolutionary applications to information storage and processing.Read moreRead less
Compact Tunable Visible Lasers - New Approaches to Phase-Matching. Australia will benefit significantly from this innovation in lasers and especially fibre lasers. Optical fibre devices are a major area of our capability in world-leading research and commercialisation. Through commercialisation we will directly benefit economically in terms of exports and jobs. We will also benefit from commercial exploitation of applications in biomedicine, security and environmental monitoring. Students will b ....Compact Tunable Visible Lasers - New Approaches to Phase-Matching. Australia will benefit significantly from this innovation in lasers and especially fibre lasers. Optical fibre devices are a major area of our capability in world-leading research and commercialisation. Through commercialisation we will directly benefit economically in terms of exports and jobs. We will also benefit from commercial exploitation of applications in biomedicine, security and environmental monitoring. Students will be trained in an area important for Australian research and high technology industry. Australia's position as a world-leader in optics and photonics will be strengthened .Read moreRead less
Integrated microresonator based quantum technology. We will develop new 21st century physical technologies able to control the microscopic quantum world. These quantum technologies will build off world leading techniques to confine and manipulate light on a silicon chip, and have broad ramifications for future computing, medical, and sensing systems. New quantum architectures will be developed for information science, promising vast improvements over current systems; and new biological sensing s ....Integrated microresonator based quantum technology. We will develop new 21st century physical technologies able to control the microscopic quantum world. These quantum technologies will build off world leading techniques to confine and manipulate light on a silicon chip, and have broad ramifications for future computing, medical, and sensing systems. New quantum architectures will be developed for information science, promising vast improvements over current systems; and new biological sensing systems with world leading sensitivity will be implemented with important applications in the early detection of debilitating diseases. This research will raise Australia's profile as a world leader in science and technology, building on our already significant presence in quantum technology.Read moreRead less
Miniaturised Adiabatic Light Processing Devices. The project will develop, model and analyse a range of miniaturised light-processing devices for optical communications applications that rely soley on their geometrical design for their optical functionality. Such devices are less complex than devices that rely on other physical phenomena for their operation, such as interference, resonance or grating phenomena. They have potential application to a wide range of applications including optical tel ....Miniaturised Adiabatic Light Processing Devices. The project will develop, model and analyse a range of miniaturised light-processing devices for optical communications applications that rely soley on their geometrical design for their optical functionality. Such devices are less complex than devices that rely on other physical phenomena for their operation, such as interference, resonance or grating phenomena. They have potential application to a wide range of applications including optical telecommunications, optical sensing and biophotonics. The major outcome will be a range of novel devices that are very compact, have very low optical power loss and process light signals in ways that either cannot be readily achieved by other approaches or are simpler than other approaches.Read moreRead less