Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2018-2019).

This Engage project will pave the way for the development of an efficient portable source of Terahertz (THz)x000D
radiation pulses based on a photonic crystal fiber. Such sources of THz radiation are the key components in thex000D
industrial and scientific equipment that is manufactured by the TeTechS company in Ontario. Unfortunately,x000D
current method of generation of THz radiation employed at TeTechS uses expensive and fairly complex lasersx000D
operating at 800 nm. The proposed research in this Engage project will allow a laser engineering group headedx000D
by Prof Major at the University of Manitoba in close collaboration with TeTechS to address this problem. Thisx000D
will be done by developing sources of THz radiation based on simple and efficient lasers operating at 1000 nm.x000D
The short term effort will be directed towards three main objectives: 1) the development of a compact pulsedx000D
laser source at 1000 nm that will enable efficient conversion of its radiation into the 800 nm range; 2) thex000D
investigation of the the optimum conditions for wavelength conversion of the laser radiation into the 800 nmx000D
range using a specialized photonic crystal fiber; 3) development of a THz measurement setup, followed by thex000D
complete characterization of the generated THz radiation using the developed laser at 800 nm. It is anticipatedx000D
that the proposed research will prepare the ground for a new generation of compact and efficient THz sources.x000D
The simplicity of the proposed concept will provide a user friendly and compact source of pulsed 800 nmx000D
radiation capable of delivering broadband THz pulses. The main element of the source, consisting of a specialx000D
photonic crystal fiber, may lead to excellent and reliable characteristics that are a prerequisite for successfulx000D
commercialization, even in the short time span of this project. Finally, the new knowledge generated from thisx000D
project and the training of highly qualified personnel associated with the different stages of this work willx000D
certainly contribute to the Canadian impact on the THz market in general, thus enhancing Canada's globalx000D
competitiveness in high-tech sector.