Kinetics of iodine photodissociation laser in a free running regime at slow pumping

Systematic analysis of pumping kinetics of iodine photodissociation laser was performed in a free running regime. For a practical example, the A 3 amplifier of the iodine laser system PERUN was placed inside a planar resonator and the output energy was calculated in dependence on the mixture composition and compared with the extractable energy in the amplifier case.     

Diode-side-pumped AO Q-switched Tm, Ho:LuLiF laser

Diode side pumped and acousto-optical (AO) Q-switched Tm, Ho, LuLiF laser at 2 μm wavelength obtained in a ring resonator is reported in this paper. The three LDAs were placed 120° apart around the laser rod of ?4 × 20 mm dimension. A ring resonator has been used for its At free run mode, four different output loss ouplers has been tried. When the output loss is 20%, 103 mJ per pulse at 1 Hz pulse repetition frequency has been obtained with the optical to optical energy conversion efficiency of 3.17%. At the Q-switched mode, the laser pulse energy is 30 mJ with the pulse width of 417 ns. The optical to optical energy conversion efficiency is 0.93%. The slope efficiency is 6.36 and 2.90% under the two running mode, respectively.     

Time structure of iodine laser pulse in the free running mode of operation

Time structure of iodine laser pulse in the free running mode of operation was studied using the power amplifier of laser system PERUN as the laser oscillator. Two characteristic shapes of laser pulse correspond to different regimes of laser operation, the existence of which is ascribed to the critical concentration of I₂ molecules. Simultaneously an additional chemical pumping was proved at least in the initial phase of photodissociation and in a late-time lasing after the end of flashlamps pumping light.     

Tm,Ho双掺调Q激光系统理论与实验研究

本文针对Tm,Ho双掺的激光系统,利用速率方程理论,得出了激光各能级的反转粒子数分布规律.通过计算预测出了超过1 ms的时间有巨脉冲的光子输出,脉冲能量为88.4 mJ,脉冲宽度为426 ns.实验采用环形腔声光调Q,Tm,Ho:LuLF为激光介质,三向侧面抽运.自由运转和调Q状态的斜率效率分别为6.36%和2.9%.注入能量3.25 J时,自由运转激光能量103.2 mJ,调Q激光能量为30.3 mJ,对应光-光效率为3.17%,0.93%;注入能量3.5 J时,自由运转激光能量为129.3 mJ,调Q激光能量35.9 mJ,对应光-光效率为3.69%,1.02%.最大的动静比为32.8%.激光脉冲宽度为417.2 ns.如果环形腔能够单向运转,那么得到的激光能量和光-光转换效率都将增大一倍,与预测结果更加一致.     

Theoretical study of a new energy extraction scheme of a chemically pumped pulsed iodine laser amplifier

A new energy extraction scheme of a chemically pumped pulsed large-scale iodine laser based on a high-pressure pulsed singlet oxygen generator is proposed. In previous investigations only low-pressure oxygen generators have been considered. Since they require a high iodine density for an efficient amplifier operation, the lifetime of the stored energy is correspondingly small and thus only small-sized iodine amplifiers appear to be technically feasible. We found, however, that when the singlet oxygen is generated at high-pressure, the iodine density required can be considerably reduced so that the lifetime of the stored energy becomes sufficiently long to fill up large amplifier cells. A numerical model is developed and the extractable energy is theoretically estimated. It is shown that 0.2J/1·pass can be extracted when an input pulse of 20 ns duration (FWHM) and 1 J/cm² fluence is fed into the amplifying medium.     

Free running mode of operation of high-power amplifier of PERUN iodine laser

A high power amplifier of a PERUN iodine laser is described and tested in free running regime. Dependences of the output energy on the composition and pressure of the gas filling are explored for the purpose of optimization.     

Characterization of 60 GHz Multi Quantum well passively mode-locked laser under optical self-injection locking

The quality and pulse compression of the 60 GHz millimeter wave signals generated by 750 μm long InAlGaAs Multi Quantum Well (MQW) passively mode locked laser under free running and optical self-injection locked conditions are experimentally characterized in terms of longitudinal modes under certain bias currents that range from 24 mA to 90 mA. Initially, the MQW laser is characterized in free running condition with no external injection. The measurements reflect that the free spectral range of laser under test is around 61 GHz and exhibit more than 22 lasing modes. The laser is then integrated into low phase noise self-injection locking oscillator by feeding a part of output RF signal back into the laser cavity to enhance passive mode locking. By doing so the microwave line width of our laser is reduced from 900 kHz to 24 kHz with significant increase in output of resultant beat tones which exhibits strong passive mode locking. This is the first time that the free running microwave line width of MQW laser is reduced up to this level. It is evident from our experimental investigation that as we increase the power and phase correlation between different longitudinal modes inside laser cavity through optical self-injection, the strength of the passively mode locked mechanism is significantly increased and the phase noise of radio frequency signal is drastically reduced.     

Experimental study of the pulse energy of pulsed LD-pumped acousto-optically Q-switched Tm:YAG lasers

We study a pulsed LD-pumped high-energy acousto-optically (AO) Q-switched Tm:YAG laser. The output pulse energy is mainly influenced by the output energy at free running and the energy-extraction efficiency under Q-switching operation. The output energy at free running can be improved by optimizing the parameters of the pump source, laser cavity, and laser medium. We show that, in order to avoid the insufficiency or waste of the population inversion and obtain higher energy-extraction efficiency, a proper pumping width and opening time of the Q switch can be found.     

Saturated absorption experiments using a free running CW dye laser

The hyperfine structure of some new iodine lines has been observed over the tuning range of Rhodamine 6G (5800–6200 Å), using a free running, single mode cw dye laser. The resolution obtained in this experiment allowed to calculate the hyperfine constants of the excited state (³π₀⁺) of iodine with an accuracy of 2% for the quadrupole coupling constant and 50% for the magnetic one.     

Chemical oxygen-iodine laser with external production of iodine atoms in CH3I/Ar dc glow discharge

A cw chemical oxygen-iodine laser (COIL) operating in a subsonic mode with a high water content of ～15% and external production of iodine atoms in CH₃I/Ar dc glow discharge has been demonstrated. A straightforward comparison of COIL performance for two cases—conventional, when I₂ was injected in the singlet oxygen flow, and when iodine atoms produced externally together with other discharge products were injected—was made. In the latter case nearly four times increase in output power was observed, suggesting that the relaxation of the energy stored in the singlet oxygen slowed down substantially, when the laser operated using CH₃I/Ar discharge products instead of iodine molecules.     

Focal spot analysis of optical inhomogeneities appearing in the working medium of an iodine photodissociation laser with flashlamp pumping

We report on the results of experimental studies of optical inhomogeneities appearing in the working medium of an iodine photodissociation laser operating in the inversion accumulation mode and in the free-running mode. The dynamics of evolution of optical inhomogeneities in the free-running mode is studied experimentally.     

1550nm-VCSELs在偏振保持光反馈和正交光注入下的偏振转换特性

基于自旋反转模型,研究了1550 nm垂直腔面发射激光器(1550 nm-VCSELs)在偏振保持光反馈和正交光注入下的偏振转换特性.结果表明:正交光注入下的从激光器会随着注入强度的增加产生偏振转换.在归一化注入电流较小时,改变反馈强度,会使从激光器发生偏振转换的注入强度出现规律不同的变化;改变频率失谐,会使从激光器发生偏振转换的注入强度出现规律相同的变化.     

Low-pressure mercury lamp pumped atomic iodine laser of high efficiency

For single pulse operation it was demonstrated that a low-pressure mercury lamp can successfully pump the atomic iodine laser using the active medium CF₃I. For a 22 ms long pump pulse an output energy of 100 mJ emitted over the same time duration was obtained. Measured oscillator efficiency was 0.54%. With respect to stored optical energy an efficiency of 1.6% was realized, a value not obtained so far with any other pump source. Application to pulsed high repetition rate or cw-operation seems possible at equal or even better efficiency.     

Intermittent frequency offset lock of a symmetric three-mode stabilized He-Ne laser to an iodine stabilized He-Ne laser

There is a need for an intense, unmodulated single-frequency stabilized laser light that guarantees absolute optical frequency in a rapid laser calibration or an ultra-high resolution interferometer. To obtain such a light, we developed a new laser system that uses an intermittent frequency offset lock of a symmetric three-mode stabilized He-Ne laser to an iodine stabilized He-Ne laser. The proposed laser system provides two operational modes: (1) independent and (2) slave mode. In the independent mode, frequency of the three-mode laser is stabilized via control of frequency difference between two intermode beats. The resultant output is a single longitudinal mode light of maximum intensity that locates at the top of the gain curve. Frequency instability of 8X10^-12 (at a sampling time of 100 s) which is better than conventional stabilized lasers is attained in the independent mode. Slow optical frequency drift during the independent mode is periodically corrected by the offset lock to the iodine stabilized laser (slave mode), resulting in accurate reset of the frequency drift. After reset of the frequency deviation, the three-mode laser is again operated in the independent mode. Due to such intermittent offset lock, duty factor of the iodine stabilized laser was reduced to a few % of continuous operation.     

Experimental investigation of pulse diodes side-pumped 2 μm Tm:YAG lasers

The free running and Q-switched operation of 2 μm Tm:YAG lasers side-pumped by pulse laser diodes were reported. In the free running mode the maximum output energies were 102.5 mJ at 1 Hz and 94.6 mJ at 10 Hz, respectively. With an acousto-optic modulator in the laser resonator, 21 mJ 2 μm Q-switched pulse was obtained, with a pulse width of about 330 ns. The dependences of the output energy and the efficiency on the laser resonator parameters were investigated.     

Optically pumped molecular-iodine laser on the 342-nm band

Lasing of molecular iodine has been observed on 342-nm band system. The laser was produced with optical pumping by the radiation of high-current discharge mixtures of iodine vapour, sulfur hexafluoride and argon. The highest energy output 0.4 J in a 5 μs pulse corresponding to the specific laser energy of ～10^-3 J/cm³ has been obtained.     

高功率固体激光器锥形空间滤波孔应用

锥形空间滤波孔是一种应用于高功率固体激光装置空间滤波的新型结构滤波小孔,其内部光滑的锥形结构可以有效滤除光束中的高频成分且避免等离子堵孔现象的发生。根据神光-Ⅲ主机装置结构特点,设计并加工了适用于主机装置的锥形空间滤波小孔,并开展了应用实验研究。通过与传统的平面结构滤波小孔对比可以看出,锥形小孔有效地避免了等离子体度堵孔现象,在与光束波前补偿技术配合使用条件下,保证光束顺利过孔,并成功实现了基频光7988 J的满能量输出。     

Accurate Stabilization of a 3 mW Single-Mode Output He-Ne Laser by Intermittent Frequency Offset Locking to an Iodine Stabilized He-Ne Laser

A high-power, unmodulated frequency standard laser light with low running cost is a powerful tool for industrial measurement involving laser calibration and interferometry in length and shape. To obtain such a laser light, we developed an intermittent frequency offset locked laser (IFOL laser). This laser system, composed of an iodine stabilized He-Ne laser (I₂SL) and a high-powered symmetric three-mode He-Ne laser (HP-3ML, optical output=5 mW), provides two stabilization operational modes: (1) independent mode (I-mode) and (2) slave mode (S-mode). Utilizing the frequency pulling effect, HP-3ML is stabilized at the condition of symmetric three-mode oscillation, and a 3 mW single-mode light with frequency instability of 10^-12 is obtained (I-mode). When the optical frequency deviates from the allowed limit during I-mode, HP-3ML is temporarily offset-locked to I₂SL (S-mode) with frequency resettability of 10^-10 and frequency instability of 10^-12. After completion of the drift reset in S-mode, HP-3ML is stabilized in I-mode again, and then I₂SL is turned off. In a typical case of allowed drift in ±1 MHz, repetitive operation of I-mode for 10 days and S-mode for 5 min was satisfactory. Such an intermittent operation reduces the working time of I₂SL dramatically, resulting in low running cost that enables long-term use in industrial measurement.     

用于高能激光系统的共孔径光学装置设计

高能激光系统的主要工作方式是利用其精跟踪模块将发射激光传输聚焦至闭环跟踪条件下的目标上,使之受到毁伤或失效。为实现该工作方式,本文研究设计了一套共孔径光学收发装置。该装置的发射系统主要由离轴两反式主望远镜模块、伽利略透射式调焦望远镜模块和光束馈送模块共同组成二级扩束系统,接收系统主要由离轴两反式主望远镜模块、精跟踪成像模块和光束馈送模块共同组成长焦距光学系统,其中光束馈送模块由二向色镜、快速反射镜等光学元件组成。以非相干空间合束的基模高斯光作为激光光源,利用光学设计软件对该装置进行了优化设计。对于发射系统,获得了激光经过调焦望远镜模块不同的调焦量调制后,传输至0.5~5 km处的光斑分布情况,且激光波前像差RMS值均优于λ/20;对于接收系统,由各模块一同构成的成像光学系统的性能经优化后接近衍射极限,其中系统传递函数在70 lp/mm时大于0.6,最后通过样机实验也验证了设计的正确性。本文的设计和实验结果证实了该共孔径光学收发装置结构合理,性能可靠,满足高能激光系统的工程应用需求。     

Theoretical and experimental research on cryogenic Yb:YAG regenerative amplifier

Based on the theory of quasi-three-level rate equations modified by amplified spontaneous emission,the stored energy density and the small signal gain of the cryogenic Yb:YAG regenerative amplifier for a given geometry for pulsed pumping in three dimensions are theoretically studied using the Monte Carlo simulation.The present model provides a straightforward procedure to design the Yb:YAG parameters and the optical coupling system for optimization when running at cryogenic temperature.A fiber-coupled laser diode end-pumped cryogenic Yb:YAG regenerative amplifier running at 1 030 nm is demonstrated with a maximum output energy 10.2 mJ at a repetition rate of 10 Hz.A very good agreement between the experiments and the theoretical model is achieved.