The University of Southampton

ORC Seminar Series

"Diamond Raman lasers"

Speaker: Professor Rich Mildren, MQ Photonics Research Centre, Macquarie University

Date: 15 September 2010

Time: 11am

Venue: ORC Boardroom B46

Abstract:

Diamond is a highly attractive laser material due to many of its characteristic properties such as its exceptionally high thermal conductivity and wide band gap. Considerable efforts in doping of diamond over the last two decades to realize semiconductor lasers, color centre lasers and rare-earth doped lasers have not yet led to practical devices. On the other hand, progress in the growth of large and pure synthetic single crystals by chemical vapour deposition has enabled us to show for the first time in 2008 that the new synthetic material was capable of making practical Raman laser devices. Diamond has the highest Raman gain coefficient of all known materials (eg., approximately twice as high as the barium nitrate) and outstanding thermal conductivity (more than two orders of magnitude higher than most other Raman crystals) and optical transmission range (from 230 nm and extending to beyond 100 microns). These properties herald promise for substantially raising average output power and extending the spectral reach of Raman lasers in the ultraviolet and long wave infrared regions. In this seminar, our latest achievements in diamond Raman lasers will be reviewed and the results contrasted to other materials. The outlook for diamond Raman lasers will be discussed and key challenges for material development highlighted.

Biography:

A/Prof Rich Mildren, MQ Photonics Research Centre, Macquarie University, Australia Rich Mildren is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow within the Department of Physics and the MQ Photonics Research Centre at Macquarie University. He completed his PhD in the kinetics of mid-infrared barium vapour lasers at Macquarie University in 1997. He studied ultrafast laser - plasma interactions at the Italian Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics before returning back to Macquarie with an ARC Postdoctoral Fellowship to undertake research into the fundamental physics of high average power copper vapour laser systems and in the development of efficient vacuum ultraviolet sources. Since 2003, his research has concentrated on all-solid-state lasers sources and applications with particular focus on Raman conversion. He was Chief Scientific Officer for Lighthouse Technologies P/L 2005-2008, a Macquarie University spin off company that developed Raman laser technology and wavelength-configurable lasers to address needs in laser skin treatments. He returned to Macquarie in 2008 to pursue research in diamond Raman lasers, novel laser systems and laser applications.

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