Dynamic High Repetition Rate Fiber Laser by Tyler D. McKean Supervisor: Brian Washburn
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Welcome To My
Webpage! This
page summarizes my experience in the 2009 Kansas State University Physics
REU. I worked with Brian Washburn on a project entitled “Dynamic High
Repetition Rate Carbon Nanotube Fiber Laser
Frequency Comb.” Things I
Acomplished: ·
Developed a method for depositing carbon nanotubes
on the end of single mode fiber. ·
Characterized the properties of the nanotubes
we were using. ·
Built a
mode-locked carbon nanotube fiber
laser. ·
Developed a
design for a dynamic high repition rate laser. Through the use of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) and their saturable
absorption properties, it is possible to create a very stable mode-locked
fiber laser. In turn, a very stable frequency comb can be generated by this
type of laser. One of the main applications of this resulting frequency
comb would be frequency comb metrology. Through which, it is possible to
characterize the unknown frequency of a laser by referencing it to this
stabilized frequency comb. By being able to dynamically control the
properties of this frequency comb it is possible to make this process much
more accurate. I devoted the majority of my research to
building and characterizing a carbon nanotube
fiber laser and also to designing a laser that would allow for dynamic
change of the frequency comb.