325-nm Laser System for Robust Liquid-Crystal Device Fabrication

用于稳健液晶器件制造的 325 nm 激光系统

• 批准号: RTI-2022-00711
• 负责人: Karimi, Ebrahim
• 金额: $ 3.67万
• 依托单位: University of Ottawa
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=741737
• 关键词: 325; nm; Laser; System; Robust

Liquid crystals -- a material with both liquid and crystalline properties -- are widely used in the current century's technologies, e.g. in all electronics displays. They are regularly used in advanced research laboratories, in particular, in optics and photonics laboratories. Having electro--optical features with the possibility to control the optical polarization and phase with an external electric field makes them an excellent candidate for optical beam shaping. In my laboratory, I have successfully designed and fabricated liquid- crystal devices to custom tailor optical beams. These devices are now widely used by my local and international colleagues in a plethora of research disciplines, ranging from microscopy, quantum sensing and quantum communication to fundamental research in physics. With the current instrumentation at my facility (the only one in Canada), the lifetime of the fabricated devices is limited to a few months, after which they are unusable, wasting valuable resources. This is due to the fact that the current laser for photoalignment (a fundamental procedure in the preparation of these devices) at an improper wavelength, which causes an imperfect "fixation" of the liquid crystal molecules on the sample substrate. To overcome these issues, I am requesting funding to purchase a laser source with specific properties (325 nm wavelength and >100 mW power) for the fabrication of patterned liquid-crystal devices. While the current laser operates at 405 nm, it is known that this difference in wavelength has a significant impact on the device lifetime. The access to this instrumentation will allow fabrication of LC devices with years of durability. Such a significant improvement is essential to speed up research activities and continue to foster both local and international collaborations, and training HQP in my laboratory, putting the University of Ottawa and Canada in a leading position for the fabrication of custom liquid- crystal devices.

液晶 - 具有液体和结晶特性的材料 - 在当前世纪的技术中广泛使用，例如在所有电子显示器中。它们经常用于高级研究实验室，特别是在光学和光子实验室中。具有电流特征，具有控制光学极化和与外部电场相相位的可能性，使其成为光束成型的绝佳候选者。在我的实验室中，我已经成功设计和制造的液晶设备来定制光束。这些设备现在被我的本地和国际同事在众多研究学科中广泛使用，从显微镜，量子传感和量子通信到物理学的基本研究。由于当前的工具在我的设施（加拿大唯一的一种）中，制造设备的寿命仅限于几个月，之后它们是无法使用的，从而浪费了宝贵的资源。这是由于以下事实：当前的光电标记激光器（这些设备制备的基本程序）处于不当波长，这会导致样品底物上液晶分子的“固定”不完善。为了克服这些问题，我要求资金购买具有特定属性的激光源（325 nm波长和> 100兆瓦的功率），以制造图案化的液体晶体设备。尽管当前的激光在405 nm处运行，但众所周知，波长的这种差异对设备寿命有重大影响。使用该仪器将允许使用多年耐用性制造LC设备。如此重大的改进对于加快研究活动并继续促进本地和国际合作以及在我的实验室中培训HQP至关重要，这使渥太华大学和加拿大大学处于制造定制液晶设备的领先地位。