Theory of a laser-plasma method for detecting terahertz radiation

A theory is developed for calculating the spectrum and the shape of a terahertz wave packet from the temporal profile of the energy of the second harmonic of the laser field generated during nonlinear interaction of laser and terahertz pulses in an optical-breakdown plasma. The spectral and temporal characteristics of the second-harmonic envelope and a terahertz pulse are shown to coincide only for short laser pulses. For long laser pulses, the second-harmonic spectral line shifts to the red and its temporal profile is determined by the time integral of the electric field of terahertz radiation.     

Linewidth and tuning characteristics of terahertz quantum cascade lasers

We have measured the spectral linewidths of three continuous-wave quantum cascade lasers operating at terahertz frequencies by heterodyning the free-running quantum cascade laser with two far-infrared gas lasers. Beat notes are detected with a GaAs diode mixer and a microwave spectrum analyzer, permitting very precise frequency measurements and giving instantaneous linewidths of less than -30 kHz. Characteristics are also reported for frequency tuning as the injection current is varied.     

CO和CO2的1.58μm波段可调谐二极管激光吸收光谱的二次谐波检测研究

红外可调谐二极管激光吸收光谱技术作为新的痕量气体监测分析方法,在大气化学研究和污染气体监测中得到了应用.文章介绍利用可调谐二极管激光吸收光谱学(TDLAS)技术对常压下的CO和CO2的近红外波段光谱静态测量研究和洛伦兹线型下的CO2二次谐波光谱与调制度的关系.     

Diode laser based light sources for biomedical applications

Diode lasers are by far the most efficient lasers currently available. With the ever‐continuing improvement in diode laser technology, this type of laser has become increasingly attractive for a wide range of biomedical applications. Compared to the characteristics of competing laser systems, diode lasers simultaneously offer tunability, high‐power emission and compact size at fairly low cost. Therefore, diode lasers are increasingly preferred in important applications, such as photocoagulation, optical coherence tomography, diffuse optical imaging, fluorescence lifetime imaging, and terahertz imaging. This review provides an overview of the latest development of diode laser technology and systems and their use within selected biomedical applications. 670 nm external cavity diode laser for Raman spectroscopy built on a 13 × 4 mm² microbench (Copyright FBH/Schurian.com ).     

Line-shape study of water vapour by tunable diode laser spectrometer in the 822–832 nm wavelength region

A near-infrared tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer is set up to measure the air-induced broadening coefficients and the line-strength parameters of water-vapour overtone transitions within the (2,1,1)(0,0,0) band in the 822–832 nm wavelength region. A Hitachi HL8311 E double hetero-junction structure diode laser is used as a probe. The diode laser controller is home-built and stable within ±10 A and ±10 mK, respectively. The laser-head mount has a simple design and provides easy access whenever changing of the laser head is required. The diode laser emission wavelength is thermally tuned between 50 °C and 12 °C. Thermal tuning of the diode laser emission wavelength is used to reveal the mode structure of the diode laser and to probe the overtone-band transitions of water vapour within its operating wavelength range. Current tuning of the diode laser is used at a fixed laser temperature to study the transitions one at a time. A balanced detector is used to improve the S/N ratio of the spectrum. A phase sensitive detection technique is followed to obtain the first-derivative spectra of the overtone transitions. The first-derivative spectra have been recorded at different air pressures inside the sample cell while the water-vapour pressure is kept fixed. The first-derivative spectrum is numerically integrated to obtain the original line shape. The original line shape is fitted with a Voigt profile by using a nonlinear least-squares fit program to extract the air-broadening coefficient and the line-strength parameter. The data obtained in our work is compared with the results of the HITRAN database. PACS 33.70.-w; 33.70.Fd; 33.70.Jg     

Generation of phase-locked and tunable continuous-wave radiation in the terahertz regime

Broadly tunable phase-stable single-frequency terahertz radiation is generated with an optical heterodyne photomixer. The photomixer is excited by two near-infrared CW diode lasers that are phase locked to the stabilized optical frequency comb of a femtosecond titanium:sapphire laser. The terahertz radiation emitted by the photomixer is downconverted into RF frequencies with a waveguide harmonic mixer and measurement-limited linewidths at the Hertz level are demonstrated.     

Experimental observation of noise precursors for virtual Hopf phenomena near period-doubling bifurcations in modulated diode lasers

We present an experimental analysis of the effect of a rf amplitude modulation of the injection current in a distributed-feedback diode laser at 1.55 mum near the first period-doubling bifurcation. First experimental results of a virtual Hopf phenomenon were observed when two moving bumps with Lorentzian shapes appeared in the spectrum before the onset of the first period-doubling bifurcation occurred. We characterized this observation by increasing the amplitude of the current modulation of the diode laser until period-doubling bifurcation took place. The shape and position in the spectrum of these Lorentzian bumps were studied by the noise precursors theory, which predicts that the presence of noise will act as a virtual Hopf precursor in systems undergoing a period-doubling bifurcation.     

Amplitude noise enhancement caused by nonlinear interaction of spontaneous emission field in laser diodes

The amplitude noise spectrum of the total laser output of a nearly single-mode laser diode is enhanced at low frequencies due to the nonlinear interaction between the spontaneous photons and the coherent laser field. This enhancement strongly depends on the spontaneous emission rate, resulting in a dependence of the amplitude noise spectral shape on the spontaneous emission rate. A linearized analytical model which predicts that the amplitude noise spectral shape is independent of the spontaneous emission rate is inadequate. The experimental data are consistent with a numerical simulation of the full nonlinear model.     

激光波长对双色激光等离子体产生太赫兹波的影响

基于瞬态光电流模型研究了激光波长对双色激光等离子体产生太赫兹波的影响.通过理论计算证明:太赫兹信号随激光波长的增大而增强,其变化趋势不会因为双色激光强度、脉宽、相位差、强度比的变化而改变;太赫兹波的频谱不会因为激光波长的改变发生变化.分析了双色激光波长影响太赫兹辐射强度的原因,并利用自由电子密度和漂移电流密度阐明了该影响的内在物理机制.     

A simple scanning semiconductor diode laser source and its application in wavelength modulation spectroscopy around 825 nm

A very simple and inexpensive tunable semiconductor diode laser controller is designed for stable operation of the diode laser. The diode laser controller is stable within +/−8 μA and +/−10 mK, respectively. The noise spectrum of the current controller is studied by FFT analysis. We have used our home-made diode laser system in a tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer (TDLAS) to probe weak overtone transitions of water vapour molecule. The diode laser wavelength is coarsely tuned by changing the operating temperature to probe (2, 1, 1)←(0, 0, 0) band overtone transitions of water vapour within 818–835 nm. To demonstrate line shape study, seven transitions are scanned by ramping the drive current of the diode laser (at constant operating temperature) under different perturber (laboratory air) pressures within the sample cell. A balanced detector and a lock-in amplifier are used for phase sensitive detection purpose. Small current modulation amplitude, balanced detection and proper adjustment of the lock-in amplifier help to obtain a S/N ratio ranging from 100 to 7 using a small sample path length of 1.5 m. Experimentally obtained derivative spectrum is numerically integrated to reveal the original line shape and fitted with a nonlinear least squares fitting program to extract air broadening coefficients and line strength parameters. The spectroscopic line parameters are compared with the results from HITRAN database.     

Generation of coherent terahertz radiation by photomixing of dual-mode lasers

We have reviewed and discussed the generation of continuous-wave terahertz radiation by the photomixing of dual-mode lasers, which includes a multi-mode laser diode (LD), a dual-mode microchip laser, a monolithic dual-mode DBR LD, and a widely tunable dual-mode external cavity LD. It is demonstrated by several experiments that the beat frequency of a dual-mode laser is more stable than the original laser modes because of the common-mode rejection effect. We also suggest a novel scheme by which the optical beat is stabilized to less than 1 kHz and its frequency can be precisely determined as well.     

基于液晶空间光调制器的太赫兹波频谱调制

频谱可调制的太赫兹波具有广泛的应用价值。利用一台纯相位式的液晶空间光调制器对飞秒激光脉冲进行空间整形,通过改变飞秒激光脉冲的横向空间分布,实现太赫兹波频谱的调制。在实验中,利用光泵浦整流方式产生太赫兹波,并利用太赫兹时域光谱系统对太赫兹信号进行探测。通过GS算法在液晶空间光调制器上加载不同的相位图,获得了不同的飞秒激光脉冲横向空间分布。通过改变探测距离和飞秒脉冲的空间分布参数,实现了太赫兹波频谱的调制。还利用菲涅尔衍射算法对这一过程进行了理论模拟,理论模拟结果与实验结果吻合的较好,这充分说明了基于飞秒脉冲空间整形的太赫兹光谱调制技术的可行性。     

0.38 THz混频器关键器件设计和仿真优化北大核心CSCD

太赫兹混频器是太赫兹波收发系统中的关键器件,是将信号频率从一个量值变换为另一个量值的电路器件,其中肖特基二极管是太赫兹混频器中的核心器件,除了肖特基二极管以外,低频滤波器、本振端口等也属于太赫兹混频器中的关键器件。对0.38THz混频器中的关键组件包括波导管、肖特基二极管、滤波器等在HFSS中进行了建模、仿真,最后通过对仿真结果的分析,实现了可以满足0.38THz太赫兹混频器的各个关键模块的模型,通过这些模型实现了混频器整体的优化。     

Relative line intensity measurement in absorption spectra using a tunable diode laser at 1.6 μm: application to the determination of 13CO2/12CO2 isotope ratio

The measurement of relative intensities in CO₂ combination bands spectrum is performed using wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) and a DFB (distributed feedback) diode laser operating at 1.6 μm. The diode laser is stabilized with an external Fabry–Pérot interferometer and absorption spectroscopy is performed in a multipass gas cell. A spectrum containing spectral lines of both ¹³CO₂ and ¹²CO₂ isotopic species is recorded. The variation of laser power during frequency scanning and the line shape are taken into account to accurately extract line intensities from experimental data. The isotopic concentration ratio is deduced from the intensity ratio. Both ratios are measured with an accuracy of about 0.5% in pure CO₂. Received: 9 June 2000 / Published online: 8 November 2000     

Parallel laser microfabrication of terahertz metamaterials and its polarization-dependent transmission property

Large-area split ring resonator (SRR) array was fabricated by femtosecond laser micro-lens array lithography at a fast speed. Transmission spectra of the SRR arrays at different incident terahertz wave polarization states were characterized by terahertz time domain spectroscopy. A polarization-dependent transmission property of the SRR array was observed. Polarization-dependent loss (PDL) spectrum was characterized to investigate the polarization properties of the terahertz metamaterials. The PDL characterization can eliminate the substrate effect and provide a flexible platform to study the characteristics of free-standing terahertz metamaterials.     

Theoretical model of terahertz radiation generation by laser pulses with tilted wave fronts

A theoretical model is proposed for terahertz radiation generation by femtosecond laser pulses with tilted wave fronts. Self-consistent evolution of the optical and terahertz pulses is investigated. The red shift of the pumping pulse spectrum and the formation of short-long-wave quasi-solitons are examined.     

线性调频半导体激光器自混频干涉理论模型

使用半导体激光器在弱反馈条件下的动力学理论,建立了线性调频半导体激光器的自混频干涉理论模型.基于该模型,分析了激光器振荡频率偏移与输出功率变化特性.通过测量激光器输出功率谱,可以得到激光器前端面与被测目标之间的距离.     

光泵重水气体产生THz激光的半经典理论分析

从半经典密度矩阵理论出发，采用三能级系统模型对光泵重水气体产生太赫兹激光进行了理论分析，求解得到了脉冲光泵重水气体分子产生太赫兹激光过程中激光信号增益系数G_s和抽运光信号被吸收系数G_p的表达式，通过迭代法对太赫兹激光信号的输出光强进行了数值计算，理论计算得到的频谱特性曲线完全符合受激Raman辐射的频谱特性，即频谱宽度较大、输出光强随抽运失谐量的改变而变化明显等特征.在脉冲激光抽运受激Raman辐射过程中，工作介质D₂O气体分子的偶极矩由于受到抽运脉冲光场的扰动发生变化，在频谱特性曲线中表现为受激辐射THz信号的谱线发生了分裂.理论计算结果与已报道的实验结果能较好地相符.     

光信息综合实验中光源的选择和性能改善

在光信息综合实验中,在分析氦氖激光器的优缺点的基础上,阐述了半导体激光器的显著优点以及存在的一些局限性。利用实验室现有的器件,引导学生对半导体激光器进行了光束准直和整形以提高激光器的性能,并用已优化的半导体激光器作为光源进行了全息光栅和全息透镜的制备以及电光调制和液晶光阀等实验。结果表明,性能改善的半导体激光器完全可以取代氦氖激光器,可满足光信息综合实验的要求。在整个设计制作过程中,培养了学生分析问题和解决问题的能力。