ULTRATUNE · High-power, low-noise, ultrafast tunable laser sources using supercontinuum generation

High-power, low-noise, ultrafast tunable laser sources using supercontinuum generation

We have developed a laser source with a breakthrough performance parameters (sub-30 fs pulse duration, tunable 450 nm in central wavelength around 1 micron, with average power density up to 1.5 mW / nm), desired in various applications. The scientific results were presented on multiple highest level international conferences including 'Conference on Laser Applications 2011', 'Photonics West 2012', 'Biomedical Optics and Biophotonics 2012', 'Focus on Microscopy 2012', to name a few, and manuscripts for submission to scientific journals are in preparation. The presented scientific results have triggered significant interest from the community for our novel technology. Furthermore, the laser is packaged and the first prototype is installed at our collaborator's lab in Barcelona. In addition, using our new system, our collaborator achieved the first, very promising results in nonlinear microscopy application. Those non-linear microscopy results are accepted for presentation on the prestigious conference '50 years of non-linear optics'. The market for biomedical applications for tunable ultrafast laser sources has been and is predicted to be one of the fastest growing application areas in the next 5-10 years. Current market predictions estimate the total annual market for biophotonics well into the multi-billion Euro range, and biophotonics is one of the European Union (EU) strategic research directions. Development of lasers and in particular compact, affordable ultrafast sources has a highly practical significance, promoting an evolution of various scientific and medical areas, in particular biophotonics, non-invasive diagnostic methods, and nano-resolved surgery. The dominant suppliers of ultrafast tunable lasers currently are United States-based companies, covering around 80 % of the world-wide market. Due to the high cost of the lasers, this market is still more research-oriented in nonlinear microscopy, nanosurgery, and ultrafast spectroscopy to name a few. The development of the novel tunable ultrafast technology that features improved performance will open new applications, potentially clinical in every-day life, as well as enable wider commercial use in existing applications. In addition to scientific excellence, this is a big commercial benefit that Europe has gained through this project, as the market would be commercially supplied by European based company, reducing the USA dominance, and creating new jobs in Europe. For Time-bandwidth products AG (TBP), as a Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), this is a great opportunity for growth and establishing of large scale production. TBP will now spend extra efforts in marketing and sales to position itself as the world- leading commercial supplier of the unique, superior tunable ultrafast technology. The mobility brought the Researcher with more than 10 years of research expertise in ultrafast laser technologies back to Europe, which widened the pool of research skills in European Research Area (ERA). The mobility is certainly genuine, as it transfers the researcher with experience in Silicon Valley, California, United States to TBP, a European-based SME in Zürich, Switzerland. The new environment is different geographically, as well as very different in work and life style. Culturally, Californian work and lifestyle is faster-changing, and more open to risk-taking activities (e.g. new start-up companies). Swiss culture is more focused on quality and reliability, for example. The synergistic combination of these two cultural approaches will certainly provide for novel interesting possibilities in Europe).

Data: CORDIS, © European Union