Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

The broader goal of this project is to develop Canadian know-how for the fabrication of chalcogenide glass Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCF) for the applications in the mid-IR (wavelengths 2-12um) high power beam guiding, supercontinuum generation, fiber lasing, and sensing, which represent either existing or fast growing multi-national markets waiting for immediate solutions. Although many practical applications were suggested for the mid-IR PCFs, few experimental prototypes were demonstrated due to the lack of actual fiber. This, by itself, opens an opportunity for the high-impact academic research, generation of novel Intellectual Property (IP), and industrial licensing for the research group that can fabricate such PCFs in a timely manner. Another, more specific, goal of this project is related to the existent, market driven need of the Canadian industry to develop hollow core photonic bandgap fiber for the applications requiring high power delivery of high quality CO2 beams for industrial cutting, medical surgery, and military. In the past fifteen years a considerable effort was put by the leading optical research centers to develop silica PCF fabrication technology mostly for telecommunication and sensing applications. Such fibers have already revolutionized light transmission in the visible-to-near IR spectral ranges (0.4-2.0um). Due to low material loss and high nonlinearity of chalcogenide glasses in the mid-IR, chalcogenide-based PCFs can, similarly to silica PCFs, revolutionize light management in the mid-IR region. In the framework of this project our industrial partner CorActive Inc. will be responsible for the synthesis of application specific chalcogenide glass, while EPM will research a multitude of experimental techniques for the forming of chalcogenide glass into high purity microstructured fiber preforms, which will then be drawn into fibers. The overall structure of the project is planned in such a way as to accommodate both the industrial partner immediate need for the hollow core PCFs for CO2 laser transmission, as well as to result in the high impact academic research related to the development of a variety of PCFs for the applications in mid-IR linear and nonlinear guidance, fiber-lasing, sensing, and high power transmission.