Femtosecond light pulses in optical waveguides

Contacts:

Mike van der Poel, DTU Fotonik, 4525 3660 (mvdp@fotonik.dtu.dk)

Per Lunnemann Hansen, DTU Fotonik, 4525 6378 (plha@fotonik.dtu.dk)

A semiconductor component with a so-called ridge-waveguide. We couple short optical pulses from free-space into the waveguide and investigate how the pulses are modified before they leave the component through the exit facet.

Future optical components for ultrafast signal processing will necessarily need to handle very short (ca. 100 fs) optical pulses. At DTU Fotonik we have several research projects that work with the understanding of  how so short pulses propagate thorugh optical waveguides. This physics project is a mainly experimental project related to these research efforts. The task will be to investigate better ways of coupling the optical pulses from free space into the waveguides than we have today. At the same time you will learn about and participate in the ongoing research. If successful, this project could lead to a real improvement our our existing experimental facilities.

The topics you will be working with is the physics of laser beams, focussing, and waveguiding of light on optical chips. At the same time you will build a LabView-controlled optical setup for investigating optical coupling into waveguides.