Effect of diffraction on stimulated Raman scattering of laser radiation in the middle atmosphere

The theoretical aspects of propagation of laser radiation along slanted paths in the atmosphere at high altitudes under conditions of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) by molecular nitrogen are considered. The SRS power conversion coefficient, the transverse intensity distribution, and the effective size of laser beams with different initial spatial profiles are numerically simulated along the propagation path. The behavior of these parameters is studied for different ratios between the optical path length and the length of free diffraction of the initial laser beam. It is shown that, at a given level of the increment of the SRS amplification, the diffraction can both increase and decrease the efficiency of the Raman interaction of waves owing to the intensity redistribution in the transverse beam profile. This effect is the most pronounced for beams with non-Gaussian initial spatial intensity profiles.     

湍流大气中斜程传输光场的相位特性

运用功率谱反演法对斜程传输大气湍流扰动相位屏进行了数值模拟。通过建立激光束初始畸变相位模型,从波前峰谷值和波前功率谱密度函数两个方面,对激光束通过大气湍流后的相位特性进行了研究,重点分析了湍流传输距离和天顶角对激光束波前相位分布的影响。研究结果表明:激光束在湍流大气斜程传输后,其波前相位会发生明显畸变,且空间高频相位较低频相位所占比例明显增加;通过湍流后的波前相位与传输距离及天顶角密切相关,传输距离越长,天顶角越大,相位畸变程度越大,高频相位所占比例越多。     

部分相干厄米高斯光束在斜程大气湍流中的扩展

基于广义惠更斯-菲涅耳原理,推导出部分相干厄米高斯（H-G）光束通过斜程大气湍流传输的均方根束宽和角扩展的解析表达式,并用以研究了传输路径和光束阶数对部分相干H-G光束传输的影响。引入相对束宽和相对角扩展来定量描述光束抗拒大气湍流的能力。结果表明:在相同条件下,部分相干H-G光束斜程传输受大气湍流的影响要小于水平传输,与水平传输相比斜程传输更有利于部分相干光束在大气湍流中的传输,光束阶数越大部分相干H-G光束受大气湍流的影响越小。     

M~2-factor of high-power laser beams through a multi-apertured ABCD optical system

Based on the generalized truncated second-order moments, an approximate analytical formula of the beam propagation factor M~2 of high-power laser beams passing through the optical system with multiple hard-edged apertures is deduced. Numerical examples of the beams passing through an aperture-spatial filter are enclosed, and the influences of amplitude modulations(AMs) and phase fluctuations(PFs) on the beam propagation quality of high-power laser beams passing through the multi-apertured ABCD optical system are considered and discussed. It is shown that PFs are able to degrade the beam propagation quality of laser beams more than AMs when the high-power laser beams passing through the aperture-spatial filter, furthermore, one or two aperture-lens optical systems configured appropriate aperture parameters are both able to upgrade the beam propagation quality of high-power laser beams. The M~2 factor of Gaussian beam passing through the multi-aperture optical system is a special case in this paper.     

大气湍流和热晕效应对列阵合成激光传输特性和光束质量影响的理论研究进展

介绍了大气湍流效应和热晕效应对列阵合成激光传输特性和光束质量影响的理论研究进展。主要介绍了合成激光在大气中传输的解析和数值模拟研究方法,大气湍流效应对列阵合成光束的光强分布、远场发散角、方向性、曲率半径和湍流距离的影响,以及大气热晕效应对列阵合成光束的光强分布、传输效率、重心偏移、热晕时间尺度和焦移的影响。研究结果表明,大气湍流效应和热晕效应对合成激光光束质量的影响与光束合成方式、合成光束参数以及大气参数密切相关。     

半导体激光准直仪及其激光束漂移补偿研究

半导体激光器和线阵CCD是进行准直测量的关键部件,半导体激光束的漂移是影响测量精度的一个因素.采用双激光束合并补偿和平面镜反射方法,缩短了激光束在空气中的传播途径,降低了空气扰动对激光漂移的影响,使得激光准直仪精度提高50%.     

Kerr非线性介质中聚焦像散高斯光束的传输特性

当高功率激光通过Kerr非线性介质传输时,Kerr效应会严重影响激光的传输特性.实际应用中常遇到像散光束.迄今为止,像散光束传输特性的研究大都局限于在线性介质中的传输,而在非线性介质中传输的研究较少,且还未涉及像散激光束通过含光学系统的Kerr非线性介质传输变换的研究.本文主要研究Kerr效应对聚焦光束像散特性和焦移特性的影响,以及聚焦像散高斯光束的自聚焦焦距和光束焦点调控.在光束扩展情况下,推导出了聚焦像散高斯光束在Kerr非线性介质中传输的束宽、束腰位置和焦移的解析公式,研究表明:在自聚焦介质中,随着自聚焦作用增强(如光束功率增强),光束像散越强,但焦移越小;在自散焦介质中,随着自散焦作用增强(如光束功率增强),光束像散越弱,但焦移越大.另一方面,在光束自聚焦情况下,推导出了自聚焦焦距的解析公式,研究表明利用光束像散可以调控光束焦点个数.     

The effects of tilt corrected residual aberration on the detection probability of single-photon propagation in a slant path turbulent atmosphere

Based on the assumption of a pulse laser beam with an initial Gaussian temporal shape and a collimated fundamental-model Gaussian beam, the Rytov approximation and Kolmogorov spectrum model for the index-of-refraction fluctuation of atmosphere, the effect of turbulence on the probability density, acquisition transmittance probability, transmittance probability density, acquisition probability of single-photon propagation in atmospheric communication channel with z-tilt and centroid-tilt aberration corrected are studied theoretically. The probability density, acquisition transmittance probability, transmittance probability density and acquisition probability models for single-photon propagation in uplink path and downlink path are derived. Our results shown that the detection probability and the acquisition transmittance probability of the single-photon are obvious increase, when the beams are propagation in the z-tilt corrected communication channel.     

基于目标在回路的三路光纤传输激光相干合成实验

实验验证了一种利用目标回光在远场实现相干合成的技术——目标在回路技术.建立了目标在回路相干合成的物理模型,利用可同时调整光程和光束倾斜的自适应光纤光源准直器,同时补偿合成光束间的平移和倾斜相差,实现了基于目标在回路的三路光纤传输激光间相干合成,获得了接近理想情况的合成效果.文章为在实际大气环境中实现多路相干组束的长距离传输提供了参考.     

位相畸变对强紫外激光在空气中长程传输的影响

 采用瞬态受激旋转拉曼散射（SRRS）模型,详细考虑了激光脉冲的位相变化、时间波形、泵浦光的衰减、斯托克斯光的非线性放大以及初始的随机斯托克斯散射场等诸多因素,研究了空间位相畸变对空气中长程传输过程中产生的SRRS效应的影响。研究结果表明：位相畸变对阈值条件和时间特性影响较小,而对光束质量影响较为明显;随着位相畸变的增大,光束的能量分布变得极不均匀,光束的光强对比度也明显变大,从而使激光光束质量变差,而且当传输距离达到阈值条件后,随着传输距离的增加,光束质量将进一步变差。     

小宽带光谱色散匀滑光束传输特性研究

利用激光聚变研究中心自主开发的小宽带传输放大软件对小宽带光谱色散匀滑(SSD)光束进行具有"时间、空间、光谱分辨"的传输模拟,研究了SSD光束通过空间滤波器和自由空间的传输特性.给出了时间、空间、光谱的对应分布图,对比分析了SSD光束与非SSD光束的传输效应.研究结果对于合理设计SSD光束的发散角与空间滤波器小孔之间的匹配关系、选择适宜的调制频率,以及选择束匀滑色循环数等都有重要意义,同时对于光路设计特别是细光束自由传输距离的设计具有指导意义.     

Definition and measurement of the beam propagation factor M2 for chromatic laser beams

The concept of the beam propagation factor M2 is extended for chromatic laser beams. The definition of the beam propagation factor can be generalized with the weighted effective wavelength. Using the new definition of factor M2, the propagation of chromatic beams can be analyzed by the beam propagation factor M2 as same as that of monochromatic beams. A simple method to measure the chromatic beam factor M2 is demonstrated. The chromatic factor M2 is found invariable while the laser beam propagates through the dispersion-free ABCD system.     

Time-dependent propagation of high energy laser beams through the atmosphere

The computation of time-dependent three-space-dimensional laser beam propagation is described. The methods are applicable to the propagation of high energy laser beams through the atmosphere in the presence of a horizontal wind and turbulence for most situations of interest. Possible cases are propagation of cw beams through stagnation zones, multi-pulse propagation, including the self-consistent treatment of pulse self-blooming, and propagation involving transonic slewing. The solution of the Maxwell wave equation in Fresnel approximation is obtained by means of a discrete Fourier transform method, which, surprisingly, gives excellent results for diffraction problems. The latter provide a stringent test for the accuracy of any solution method. Considerable use is also made of discrete Fourier transform methods in solving the hydrodynamic equations. The treatment of turbulence is based on the generation of random phase screens at each calculation step along the propagation path. In a time-dependent calculation the random phase screens can be either made to move with the wind at a given propagation position or generated anew for each successive time. This work was done under contract to the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense, the Army Missile Command, Huntsville, Alabama, and the U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration.     

高功率激光在非均匀大气中传输的自聚焦效应研究进展

地基激光空间碎片清除和利用激光辐射把转换的太阳能从空间轨道输运到地面等应用中,不可避免地遇到高功率激光在非均匀大气中的传输问题。由于激光功率已远远超过大气非线性自聚焦临界功率,大气自聚焦效应是影响光束质量的一个重要物理因素。概述了近年来国内外高功率激光在非均匀大气中上行或下行传输的自聚焦效应研究进展,主要介绍了高功率激光在非均匀大气中的传输模型、理论基础、数值和解析研究方法,着重介绍了自聚焦效应对激光传输特性和光束质量的影响,并总结了优化靶面光束质量的方案。此外,还介绍了大气群速度色散效应和大气湍流效应等物理因素对激光光束质量的影响。最后,还提出了该领域值得进一步深入研究的一些问题。     

Propagation of supercontinuum laser sources in a slant path through the atmosphere

Taking the atmospheric refraction, extinction and turbulence into account, the propagation characteristic of supercontinuum laser sources in a slant path through the turbulent atmosphere is investigated. The effect of spectral width, initial spot size and zenith angle in a slant path on the beam width and propagation efficiency are studied in details. Numerical examples reveal that the beam width and propagation efficiency are different values while the spectral width varies. With the zenith angle in a slant atmospheric path increasing, the beam width of supercontinuum laser sources will increase and propagation efficiency will decrease. The initial spot size has an optimal value when spectral width and zenith angle are fixed.     

Thermooptical Mechanism of Sound Generation by High-Power Laser Radiation Propagating in the Atmosphere

In the present paper, the results of experimental and theoretical investigations into the thermooptical mechanism of sound generation by high-power pulsed laser radiation (HPLR) propagating in the atmosphere are given. Experiments were performed with collimated and weakly-focused beams of a pulsed CO₂ laser with a wavelength of 10.6 m. A sound pulse was recorded with omnidirectional microphones placed at distances of 0.2–0.5 m from the laser beam axis and spaced along the laser beam propagation path whose length was a few hundred meters. A sound pressure level was measured with a precision impulse sound level meter, and time histories of acoustic pulses were also displayed on the screen of an oscilloscope. Based on these investigations, the methods of thermoacoustic sounding of the effective HPLR beam radius and divergence angle, the laser energy absorption coefficient, and the total laser energy have been suggested and realized together with the method of the diagnostics of HPLR propagation regime from the waveform or spectrum of the received acoustic signal.     

Comparative study on the propagation performance of coherently combined and incoherently combined beams

Taking phase error, turbulent atmosphere, jitter, vacancy factor and tilt error into consideration, we propose a general propagation formula for both coherent and incoherent combined beams with different kinds of aberrations. Comparative study on the propagation performance of coherent and incoherent combined beams is presented. Beam propagation factor (BPF) defined as laser output power in a specified far-field bucket divided by the total output power radiating from the effective near-field exit aperture of the laser beam is introduced as the beam quality factor to give a quantitative study. It is revealed that the coherent combined beam has great advantage when propagating in free-space compared with the incoherent combined beams. However, the coherent combined beam is more sensitive to the environmental aberrations, and the beam quality degrades faster with an increase in the aberrations’ intensity. Scintillation index as the high moments of the combined intensity field is also studied. It is revealed that both coherent and incoherent combined beams exhibit less scintillations compared with a single-aperture beam, and the incoherent combined beam demonstrates better scintillations reducing the performance. Our methodology offers an all-round performance evaluation on the two kinds of laser systems.     

Four-petal Gaussian beams and their propagation

A new form of laser beams called four-petal Gaussian beams is introduced. Based on the Collins integral, two kinds of analytical propagation expressions for this new kind of beams through a paraxial ABCD optical system are derived. The propagation properties of the four-petal Gaussian beams are studied and illustrated with numerical examples. At the source plane the beam has four-petals; the space among the petals is determined by the beam order. In the far field the beam evolves into a number of mirror symmetric petals and the petals of higher order beams can be equally spaced.     

Non‐linear interaction of a q‐Gaussian laser beam in a plasma channel created by the ignitor‐heater technique

This paper presents a theoretical investigation of the propagation characteristics of a q‐Gaussian laser beam propagating through a plasma channel created by the ignitor‐heater technique. The ignitor beam creates the plasma by tunnel‐ionization of air. The heater beam heats the plasma electrons and establishes a parabolic channel. The third beam (q‐Gaussian beam) is guided in the plasma channel under the combined effects of density non‐uniformity and non‐uniform ohmic heating of the plasma channel. Numerical solutions of the non‐linear Schrodinger wave equation (NSWE) for the fields of laser beams are obtained with the help of the moment theory approach. Particular emphasis is placed on the dynamical variations of the spot size of the laser beams and the longitudinal phase shift of the guided beam with the distance of propagation.     

无衍射光束的产生及其应用

近年来,随着激光技术的快速发展,相继产生了多种在远距离传输后中心光斑保持不变的无衍射光束,包括贝塞尔光束、高阶贝塞尔光束、马丢光束、高阶马丢光束、余弦光束、抛物线光束以及艾里光束.无衍射光束在激光打孔、激光精密准直、光学精密控制、光学微操控、光通信、等离子体导向、光子弹产生、光通信、自聚焦光束的合成以及非线性光学等领域中有着广泛的应用.本文介绍了各类无衍射光束的数学表达式、产生方法及对应的实验结果;就无衍射光束的特性和应用进行了归纳和讨论;并对其在未来的研究与应用前景中发挥的重要作用进行了简要总结与展望.