This project is suitable for a 1-year MSc in Physics. The project does not currently have funding attached, students must be able to fund the fees and their living costs either through their own funds or a scholarship. Current information on fees is available here.
Supervisor: Prof Adrian Podoleanu
The student will evaluate modalities to tune the optical frequency of an in-house assembled laser, to achieve what is known as a swept source. Recent advances in the field of swept sources have revitalised the interest of the scientific community into both laser physics and optical coherence tomography imaging.
The project will focus on an elegant tuning procedure. First, the student will evaluate mode-locking, which is obtained by periodically modulating the losses in the cavity. This will be achieved either by using modulation of a semiconductor optical amplifier [1] or by using an electro-optic modulator. Then, by introducing a material with large dispersion in the laser cavity, the modulation frequency of any modality to mode lock the modes will dictate the optical frequency. This means that optical tuning is obtained.
Not only will the tuning be performed at superior rates, exceeding MHz [2], but the tuning will be akinetic (i.e. non-mechanical) guaranteeing long term reliability. Different dispersive elements will be used, such as dispersion compensated fibre or chirped fibre Bragg gratings [3].
There is no deadline for the project – applicants will be assessed on a rolling basis – although please note any separate deadlines for scholarships or funding. Potential applicants are encouraged to contact Prof Adrian Podoleanu (a.g.h.podoleanu@kent.ac.uk) for informal discussion before applying.
References
[1] R. F. Stancu, A. Gh. Podoleanu, Dual-mode-locking mechanism for an akinetic dispersive ring cavity swept source, Optics Letters, Vol. 40, No. 7, April 1, 2015, 1322-1325, doi: 10.1364/OL.40.001322
[2] F. Toadere, R-F. Stancu, W Poon, D. Schultz, A. Podoleanu, “1 MHz Akinetic Dispersive Ring Cavity Swept Source at 850 nm”, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, JUNE 1, 2017, Vol. 29, Issue:11, 933-936, ISSN: 1041-1135, ISSN: 1941-0174, doi: 10.1109/LPT.2017.2695083
[3] R.F. Stancu, A. G. Podoleanu, “Short ring cavity swept source based on a highly reflective chirped FBG”, Photonic Sensors, Springer, June 2015, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2015: 251–256, http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13320-015-0252-1