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Improving the functionality of a laser writing system using software

Improving the functionality of a laser writing system using software
Improving the functionality of a laser writing system using software
Laser writing is a method of fabricating ‘pipes’ inside glass that confine light, known as optical waveguides. This confinement allows interactions between individual photons to be controlled, an important feature for quantum optics experiments. For such experiments, the total optical loss in the system should be below 1.7dB[1]; minimising the total loss in these structures is very important for scalability. Waveguides can be created by translating a photosensitive glass sample under a focussed laser at a precise speed. 2D structures allow spatial control of how photons interact. Additionally periodic structures known as Bragg gratings cause light within a narrow predefined wavelength range to be reflected, allowing filtering and trapping of light.
Creating devices of a high enough standard to be useful requires a great deal of computational control. Currently this consists of a PC uploading code to an FPGA, which is connected to an air-bearing stage, which moves samples through a fixed laser beam. Complex coordinate transforms are difficult to implement and test in the current system due its use of AeroBasic (a CNC language modified from G-Code); as a result this work follows an upgrade to control the system using a custom library written in C++.
Field, James
87ce1146-333d-489c-839d-b6f654049abc
Berry, Sam
0f768f48-36c4-4599-8917-7aae657378a7
Smith, Devin H.
49156a41-41f1-4f1b-8ce3-ef6f894e190c
Gates, James C.
b71e31a1-8caa-477e-8556-b64f6cae0dc2
Smith, Peter G.R.
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Field, James
87ce1146-333d-489c-839d-b6f654049abc
Berry, Sam
0f768f48-36c4-4599-8917-7aae657378a7
Smith, Devin H.
49156a41-41f1-4f1b-8ce3-ef6f894e190c
Gates, James C.
b71e31a1-8caa-477e-8556-b64f6cae0dc2
Smith, Peter G.R.
8979668a-8b7a-4838-9a74-1a7cfc6665f6

Field, James, Berry, Sam, Smith, Devin H., Gates, James C. and Smith, Peter G.R. (2018) Improving the functionality of a laser writing system using software. Research Software Engineers Conference, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom. 03 - 04 Sep 2018.

Record type: Conference or Workshop Item (Poster)

Abstract

Laser writing is a method of fabricating ‘pipes’ inside glass that confine light, known as optical waveguides. This confinement allows interactions between individual photons to be controlled, an important feature for quantum optics experiments. For such experiments, the total optical loss in the system should be below 1.7dB[1]; minimising the total loss in these structures is very important for scalability. Waveguides can be created by translating a photosensitive glass sample under a focussed laser at a precise speed. 2D structures allow spatial control of how photons interact. Additionally periodic structures known as Bragg gratings cause light within a narrow predefined wavelength range to be reflected, allowing filtering and trapping of light.
Creating devices of a high enough standard to be useful requires a great deal of computational control. Currently this consists of a PC uploading code to an FPGA, which is connected to an air-bearing stage, which moves samples through a fixed laser beam. Complex coordinate transforms are difficult to implement and test in the current system due its use of AeroBasic (a CNC language modified from G-Code); as a result this work follows an upgrade to control the system using a custom library written in C++.

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More information

Published date: 3 September 2018
Venue - Dates: Research Software Engineers Conference, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 2018-09-03 - 2018-09-04

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 428206
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/428206
PURE UUID: 8a283c7d-9b5d-44f9-ae63-91803e581a39
ORCID for Sam Berry: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9538-8655
ORCID for James C. Gates: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8671-5987
ORCID for Peter G.R. Smith: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0319-718X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 15 Feb 2019 17:30
Last modified: 23 Feb 2023 02:43

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Contributors

Author: James Field
Author: Sam Berry ORCID iD
Author: Devin H. Smith
Author: James C. Gates ORCID iD
Author: Peter G.R. Smith ORCID iD

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