Gas-Phase Sono-Photonics

Introduction

Over the past decades, modern photonics has evolved from a niche activity to a field of utmost scientific and economic importance. Strikingly, photonic devices ranging from lenses and fibres to complex machines such as lasers and microscopes rely almost exclusively on tailored interactions of light with solid matter. This fundamental principle imposes constraints, limiting e.g. the wavelength range of photonic devices due to absorption and the optical power due to damage.

New Research Field

In a ground-breaking effort, we recently opened up an entirely new route to transfer photonic methods from solids to the gas phase: using intense ultrasound (sono) waves, gases can be tailored to enable light control. Building on this pioneering work, I will consolidate a new research field: Gas-Phase Sono-Photonics.

Development Goals

Within GASONIC, I will develop solid-state free light guiding concepts, including:

1. Simple light deflection in density-modulated gases.
2. All-gas-phase damage-immune sono-photonic waveguides shaped by intense acoustic waves.

Gas-phase light deflectors will enable innovative ultrafast optical switches to modulate, sample, and stack laser pulses approaching the terawatt regime. Sono-photonic fibres will enable a whole new field for guided optical wave control, complementing established wave-guiding concepts.

Opportunities for Innovation

Moreover, by providing a direct link between advanced optics and electronics mediated by gas phase acoustics, sono-photonic methods will open up new degrees of freedom for light control, including adaptive control schemes leveraged by intelligent optimisation routines.

Conclusion

The proposed efforts will thus extend photonic methods into entirely new regimes, opening the door to adaptive light control at unprecedented power levels and in unexplored spectral regions. GASONIC thereby addresses key limitations in several fields including high-field physics, imaging, attosecond and accelerator sciences while prospectively opening new opportunities for fibre lasers and power-over-fibre methods.