SBIR-STTR Award

New, ultrafast, ultra-intense solid state lasers can be efficient sources of accelerated particle beams in applications ranging from high energy physics research to real world medical applications. However, parasitic lasing represents a severe bottleneck to scaling-up this new technology. Removing this bottleneck would efficiently bring accelerator technology to a wide range of real world problems. In this project, parasitic lasing will be reduced by a series of growth and post-growth treatments, in order to allow the production of large Ti: sapphire crystals without parasitic lasing. The crystals will be treated with varying oxidation states, as well as with other reactions on the surface, to provide a homogenous crystal with reduced parasitic lasing.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
In addition to the application for High Energy Physics, the technology could be used in proton therapy for the treatment of cancer with compact efficient sources of high energy protons

New, ultra-fast, ultra-intense solid state lasers can be efficient sources of accelerated particle beams in applications ranging from high energy physics research to real world medical applications. Parasitic lasing represents a severe bottleneck to scaling up this new technology. Removing this bottleneck will open up a range of applications of these compact lasers, efficiently bringing accelerator technology to a real world problems. Parasitic lasing is being reduced by a series of growth and post-growth treatments, to ultimately allow production of large Ti:sapphire crystals without parasitic lasing for laser applications.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
During the Phase I, treatments of laser crystals were developed to form layers that would stop parasitic lasing. One of these treatments was applied to a large, high-power laser crystals and this crystal was successfully used in a real high power system at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Better ways to limit parasitic lasing were developed with smaller scale rods. The techniques evaluated in Phase I will be developed further and scaled up in Phase II. After the treatments are optimized, they will again be applied to a large-scale real laser rod, and tested in a high power system for reduced parasitic lasing, and thus higher output power