Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

While an increasingly larger amount of data are transported across optical fiber networks by light pulses, and optical computing will soon be a reality, the efficient control of light for communication purposes and all-optical processing has become an extremely important target for the photonics engineers. For this reason, the PIs of this application have recently established a vigorous research program directed towards the development of a series of novel low power all-optical switches for applications in photonics and optoelectronics. In particular, our devices are based 1) on the propagation and interaction of solitons and light bullets in different active and passive media and 2) on the use of highly efficient, passive III-V nanoguides and glass ring resonators. Together with the fundamental interest, the experiments proposed here present several technical challenges which require an urgent equipment upgrade. For example, i) complex switching patterns (including multi-beam interaction) will be obtained via the use of a Programmable Phase Modulator; ii) our experiments will be mainly performed in the telecommunication window (1550 nm), i.e. by amplifying our currently available fiber laser sources via a suitable Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier (dissipative solitons and switching in nanoguides), or by using a Optical Parametric Amplifier laser system (Light Bullets) ; and finally iii) a dedicated InGaAs camera will be critical in such experiments where the signal to noise ratio is rather low (i.e., the observation of light bullets). Here, the measurements must be performed using our low repetition Optical Parametric Amplifier laser system, and hence proper imaging cannot be achieved with traditional vidicon cameras. This application will complement funding from other sources. The benefits related to our research programs are twofold: they will pave the way to the development of new advanced technologies and will promote the training of highly qualified personnel, consistently with the needs of Canadian industry and society.