Optimization of the UV CuII laser

The cw output power of the uv CuII laser has been optimized with respect to the hollow cathode geometry, the discharge current, the fill gas pressure and the resonator mirror parameters. A maximum laser output power of 900 mW for multiline operation at 248.6, 259.1, 260.0, and 270.3 nm was achieved with 100 A discharge current, 260 V voltage and 16 mbar fillgas pressure, when a hollow cathode of 1.2 m length and 2×6 mm² cross section was employed. The single-pass pain gl has been estimated to 7%. A hollow cathode cross section of 1.5×4.5 mm² is suggested as an optimum geometry. In addition, some investigations on the mechanism of the laser power decay in Ne–Cu-discharges are presented.     

UV-CuII-laser with cylindrical hollow cathodes

The UV-performance of a CuII-laser with cylindrical hollow cathodes has been investigated. The output power was measured in dependence of the neon pressure and the discharge current. By disconnecting cathode segments from the power supply, the active discharge length could be varied and the threshold and saturation currents were determined in dependence of the length of the active medium. The lowest threshold current amounted to 7 A. The laser emission saturates at current densities of 0.4 A/cm².     

CW Cu II laser in a hollow anode-cathode discharge

CW laser operation on near infrared transitions of Cu II was investigated in a high voltage hollow cathode discharge tube of 19 cm active length. The high voltage was obtained by a special anode system placed inside the cathode. Threshold current for the strongest 7808 Å laser line was 0.4 A. At a discharge current of 2.4 A a multiline output power of 30 mW was obtained on six transitions between 7404 and 7896 Å.     

Experimental Study with LaB6 Cathode on DCN Laser

A new LaB₆ cathode has been developed on DCN laser in this experiment. The LaB₆ cathode is expected with long-life time at high current discharge. Optimization of various parameters for maximum output power with the LaB₆ cathode at the DCN laser were performed and reported in this paper.     

Simultaneous oscillation on UV and IR transitions of the copper ion laser

Simultaneous oscillation of UV (248–270 nm) and IR lines (773–785 nm) in the copper ion laser with helical hollow cathode has been observed using high reflectivity combination mirrors. The output power characteristics of these laser lines are measured as functions of the discharge current and fill-gas pressure. A total laser power of about 100 mW with equal UV and IR contributions was obtained.     

High-power transverse flow CW CO2 laser for material processing applications

A transverse flow transversely excited (TFTE) CW CO₂ with a maximum output power about 15 kW has been developed. This is excited by pulser sustained DC discharge applied between a pair of multi-pins anodes and a common tubular cathode. Though the laser power in convective cooled CO₂ laser scales proportionally with the volumetric gas flow, it did not increase in this laser when the volumetric gas flow was increased by increasing the electrode separation keeping the flow velocity constant. The discharge voltage too remained almost unchanged with increase of the electrode separation. These observations are explained considering the electrical discharge being controlled by ionization instability. Laser materials processing applications often demand programming facilities for laser power modulation. A four-stage cascaded multilevel DC–DC converter-based high-frequency switch mode power supply has been developed to modulate the output power of the laser. Laser was operated up to 15 kW output power in four different modes viz. continuous wave mode, pulse periodic mode, single shot mode and processing velocity-dependent power mode with 1.2 kHz modulation bandwidth. We describe briefly the laser system, the SMPS, and the temporal behavior of laser beam.     

Sputtered and heated high-voltage hollow-cathode zinc lasers

The operational characteristics of two different high-voltage hollow-cathode zinc ion lasers are reported. The first is a segmented hollow-cathode laser in which the metal vapor is produced by sputtering of the cathode material. In the second, a hollow-anode-cathode laser, the metal is thermally evaporated from a heated side-arm. The small-signal gain on the Zn-II 492.4 nm transition and the multi-line output power on the Zn-II 492.4 and 491.1 nm transitions are measured under different discharge conditions. Small-signal gains of 100 and 60%m^-1 are obtained with the sputtered and heated lasers, respectively. A comparison of the small-signal gain data with those obtained with other discharge configurations is also presented . PACS 42.55.Lt; 42.60.Lh; 52.80.-s     

Enhancement of laser power at 7588 Å in HeZn hollow cathode laser by the addition of xenon

The effects of inert gas additives on the laser output power in the HeZn hollow cathode laser are investigated. The increase of nearly 50% in the laser power at 7588 Å has been observed when a small amount of xenon was mixed into the HeZn hollow cathode discharge tube. The mechanisms of the enhancement of the 7588 Å laser output by the addition of xenon are discussed.     

Plasma cathode TEA Ar laser development

The plasma cathode design concept is applied to an Ar laser for the first time. The sliding discharge is used as a plasma cathode for the main laser discharge. The laser operates at atmospheric pressure with a gas mixture of Ar/He/SF₆. Results concerning the dependence of the laser performance on the gas mixture flow rates and charging voltage are presented. The temporal behavior of the laser output is also presented. Output energies as high as 2 mJ, efficiency and specific energy extraction values up to 1.3×10⁻²% and 0.02 J/l respectively, at atmospheric pressure, are obtained. The spectroscopic examination of the output shows that lasing at 1.79 and 1.27 μm is obtained with approximately equal line intensities.     

Noble gas mixture CW hollow cathode laser with internal anode system

A hollow cathode discharge tube with internal anodes was found to operate at significantly higher discharge voltages than a conventional HCD. A laser tube having internal anodes was constructed and laser operation was investigated in He-Kr, He-Ar and He-Ne-Xe gas mixtures. Due to the increased voltage low threshold currents and increased output power were obtained at the 4694 Å Kr ion and the 4765 Å Ar ion transitions. CW laser oscillation was observed for the first time at the 5314 Å and 4863 Å transitions of Xe II.     

Control of the clustering process in molecular beams using IR lasers

The prebreakdown stage of a gas discharge in a diode with strongly overloaded cathode is studied by laser methods (by simultaneous use of multiframe interferometry and shadow and schlieren photographing) at atmospheric pressure. The spatial resolution of the methods is about 20 μm. A probing pulse of a laser (LS-2151 Nd: YAG laser with a half amplitude duration of 70 ps and a pulse energy of up to 40 mJ) is synchronized with a voltage pulse with accuracy of about 1 ns. High field strength at the cathode is achieved due to the use of thin individual metal tips on the electrodes. It is shown that the initial stage of breakdown of a discharge gap is accompanied by the emergence of a dense plasma cloud at the end of a tip with electron density of about 5 × 10¹⁹ cm^–3 with a size of tens of microns, as well as by a sharp increase in the total current through the diode. After the emergence of a dense plasma cloud at the end of a cathode tip, a similar cloud is formed on the surface of the anode; sometime later, these clouds join together and form a tubular current channel. The dynamics of the breakdown, as well as the parameters of the plasma are studied by the abovementioned techniques in three independent optical channels.     

Effect of gas convection induced by cross-field discharge in a copper vapor laser

Magnetic field has been applied to a copper vapor laser with an intention of improving the laser characteristics by inner gas convection. The convection induced by the J×B cross-field discharge (the Lorentz force) is used for partially replacing or mixing the laser medium in a highly heated discharged region with relatively cold gas surrounding the region. It is observed that the output power increases with the increase of the magnetic field. A 23% increase in the output power is obtained with a magnetic field of 150 gauss. The cross-field discharge causes an increase in the peak discharge voltage and a reduction in the initial part of discharge current (Phantom current). Based on the results observed, the possible mechanisms for increasing the power are discussed.     

Laser action in an argon vacuum arc discharge

A transverse vacuum arc discharge has been developed. The anode cathode distance is 4 mm, the discharge length 100 mm. Gain up to 0.55% cm^?1 and a maximum laser power of 20 mW have been observed in argon at 488 nm.     

Numerical modeling of a He-Kr coil hollow cathode laser

A theoretical study of a He-Kr laser (KrII, 469.4 nm line) pumped by a helical hollow cathode discharge is presented. A detailed kinetic model of plasmachemical reactions and radiative processes including the influence of gas heating on the active medium is developed. In the process of numerical calculations the dependence of the plasma parameters (electron and gas temperature, electron and metastable density, upper and lower laser level density) and laser characteristics (output power and gain coefficient) on the variations of discharge pumping, gas-mixture partial pressures and geometry of the coil hollow cathode, are investigated. The results of the numerical calculations are in a good agreement with the experimental data.     

Generation of a uniform high-density microwave plasma for CO2 lasers using orthogonal electric fields

To realize a CO₂ laser using a fast-axial-flow high-output-power microwave discharge excitation, we devised a technology for making the microwave discharge uniform by varying the oscillation direction of an electric field with time. We also verified the effectiveness of this technology. As a result, we succeeded in increasing the discharge uniformity to 70% of the laser-tube cross-sectional area and realized a high laser output power and a high laser efficiency. In the case of a microwave input power of 1450 W, a maximum laser output power of 273 W and a laser efficiency of 18.8% were achieved; in the case of a microwave input power of 1070 W, a laser output power of 214 W and a laser efficiency of 20.0% were achieved. At the time of maximum output power, a high input power density of 280 W/cm³, which is approximately 20 times that in a dc discharge method, was achieved. Thus, a high-output-power microwave-discharge-excited CO₂ laser has become feasible. PACS 42.60.By; 52.80.Pi     

Origin of laser-output noise of cataphoretic HeSe+ lasers

We investigated noise and fluctuations of the output power of cataphoretic HeSe⁺ lasers in positive column plasma. Direct coupling of laser output power noise and fluctuations of the local population inversion was found. An investigation of the positive column plasma showed moving striations being responsible for the gain fluctuations. Whereas the local plasma properties are dominated by high frequency striations in the 100 kHz range, integrated quantities such as laser gain per pass are most strongly influenced by low-frequency waves with a continuous noise spectrum below 200 kHz. External modulation of the discharge voltage or current at a frequency near thehf striations reduces laser noise and increases laser output power.     

电泳式He-Sr+复合激光特性研究

设计制作了7mm内径和38cm有效激励长度的电泳式He-Sr⁺激光管,采用修饰Blumlein电路,通过纵向高重复率脉冲放电激励,实现了一价锶离子复合激光430.5nm和R-M跃迁激光1.03μm的同时振荡,其中复合激光占主要成分.测量分析了复合激光输出功率与工作参量(脉冲频率,充电电源电压和氦压)的关系曲线.获得了最大激光功率819mW和56mW/cm³功率密度的实验结果. 关键词： 锶离子激光 电泳 脉冲放电     

Pulsed 469.4 nm hollow cathode He-Kr laser

Design principles, construction and operation characteristics of a pulsed 469.4 nm He-Kr laser are described. The laser was operated in a 20 cm active length transverse hollow cathode discharge and was excited by 50 Hz repetition rate 0.1–1 ms duration square wave current pulses. Cataphoresis of Kr ions was found to play an important role in forming the laser pulse shape. By increasing the voltage a considerable increase of peak laser power occurred, the maximum power obtained was 80 mW. The sealed-off laser was operated using 400 s, 4 A current pulses, pulsed laser power being 20 mW, average power 0.4 mW, respectively. The lifetime of the laser was 440 h, tube failure being due to gas cleanup caused by cathode sputtering.     

CW HCN laser gain in a hollow dielectric rectangular cross-section discharge tube

This paper describes a 1 m-long CW HCN discharge laser with a hollow dielectric rectangular discharge tube of 5×20 cm² cross-section. For optimum working conditions, the characteristics of the amplifying medium have been made constant over the cross-section, by using an additional magnetic field. Then, the unsaturated gain for the 337 μm line is 6.8% m⁻¹. It is shown to be dependent on the smaller dimension of the cross-section rather than on the other dimension. By using the tube as a waveguide, laser output power of 1 Watt might be obtained with a discharge length of 4 m, instead of the 12m-long discharge required to get the same output power from a cylindrical waveguide laser.     

Design and manufacture of planar GaAs Gunn diode for millimeter wave application

GaAs-based planar Gunn diodes with AlGaAs hot electron injector have been successfully developed to be used as a local oscillator of 76 GHz in monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuits.We designed two kinds of structure diode,one has a fixed distance between the anode and cathode,but has variational cathode area,the other has a fixed cathode area,but has different distances between two electrodes.The fabrication of Gunn diode is performed in accordance with the order of operations:cathode defining,mesa etching,anode defining,isolation,passivation,via hole and electroplating.A peak current density of 29.5 kA/cm 2 is obtained.And the characteristics of negative differential resistance and the asymmetry of the current-voltage curve due to the AlGaAs hot electron injector are discussed in detail.It is demonstrated that the smaller size of active area corresponds to the smaller current,and the shorter distance between anode and cathode also corresponds to the lower threshold voltage and higher peak current,and hot electron injector can effectively enhance the radio frequency conversion efficiency and output power.