Development and industry transfer of new techniques: full characterization of vector ultrashort pulsed laser beams

Project Information

FastMeasure

Grant agreement ID: 798264

DOI

10.3030/798264

Project terminated on 31 January 2019

EC signature date 22 March 2018

Start date 1 April 2018

End date 31 March 2020

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 160 635,60

EU contribution

€ 160 635,60

Coordinated by

SPHERE ULTRAFAST PHOTONICS SA
Portugal

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FastMeasure (Development and industry transfer of new techniques: full characterization of vector ultrashort pulsed laser beams)

Reporting period: 2018-04-01 to 2020-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Since the invention of the laser, there has been a fast race to develop new sources, in particular in the field of ultrafast pulsed lasers, with durations in the range of the femtosecond (1 fs=10^-15 s). New techniques for the measurement of those pulses are every time under development to characterize the new laser sources in the temporal domain.
However, it was necessary to introduce a new robust and reliable technique for the measurement of time dependent polarization pulses, capable to extend this characterization to the spatiotemporal domain.
This full characterization was not available before the execution of this project and it is very useful for the applications of ultrashort lasers.
The main aim of the project was to develop new cutting-edge techniques for the full spatiotemporal measurement of ultrashort pulses with arbitrary time-evolving polarization, providing new information from the experiments that was unavailable with other existing techniques.
As a result of this project, a new robust and accurate technique for the measurement of the polarization of vector pulses has been developed. Moreover, this technique has been extended with spatial resolution, providing the full spatiotemporal polarization reconstruction of vector beams, which was the core of the project.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

For the measurement of ultrashort pulses with arbitrary time-evolving polarization, a new technique has been developed. The concept for the technique was first envisaged (see image) and then was tested through simulations. The technique was validated with trivial cases and then it was applied to some cases of interest known as polarization gates. The research paper has been published in a JCR journal quartile 1 (DOI: 10.1109/JSTQE.2019.2906266).
Regarding the full spatiotemporal polarization measurement, the experienced researcher (ER) combined the previous technique with spatiotemporal characterization based on spectral interferometry. The scheme used provides the full information of the pulse. It has been applied to complex cases and it has successfully retrieved the pulse characterization. A first research paper is under preparation.
The development of the project has also been translated into another JCR publication and an international PCT application.
During the reporting period, the ER has disseminated the results participating in 1 invited talk (by the ER), 4 oral presentations (2 by the ER) and 4 posters (3 as first author), in international and national conferences in his field. Besides, he participated in a joint exhibition/conference representing the host company.
The ER has also participated in dissemination of the results through Twitter and webpages, as well as for the action through publication in local media, and outreach seminars.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The developments carried out during the execution of the project have expanded the previous limits in the characterization of ultrashort laser pulses. In particular, the full measurement of the spatiotemporal polarization of the pulses has been reached for the first time. This achievement will improve or open new applications of those laser sources.
The new techniques developed can be commercially exploited, thus improving the European position in the market of the characterization of pulsed lasers.

Schematic of the experimental setup used for the measurement of time-evolving ultrashort laser pulse