Nonlinear dynamics in lasing without inversion

We review lasing in homogeneously broadened coherently driven three-level systems in the framework of semiclassical density matrix formalism and using a nonlinear dynamics point of view. We discuss the following features of these systems: (i) self-pulsing lasing without inversion near the first lasing threshold, (ii) giant pulse lasing based on the population inversion without lasing phenomenon, and (iii) the enlargement of the cavity detuning range where lasing without inversion occurs by using broad-area cavities.     

双光子过程诱导的原子相干——从反转激光到无反转激光的转换

利用双光子过程诱导原子相干，可以简化封闭Ξ型三能级激光系统的抽运机制，只要抽运场存在．系统总可以产生激光，或产生反转激光，或产生无反转激光．在一定条件下，系统实现从反转激光到无反转激光的转换，转换前后的反转激光和无反转激光基本上是等效的 关键词：     

Universal Single-Mode Lasing in Fully Chaotic Billiard Lasers

By numerical simulations and experiments of fully chaotic billiard lasers, we show that single-mode lasing states are stable, whereas multi-mode lasing states are unstable when the size of the billiard is much larger than the wavelength and the external pumping power is sufficiently large. On the other hand, for integrable billiard lasers, it is shown that multi-mode lasing states are stable, whereas single-mode lasing states are unstable. These phenomena arise from the combination of two different nonlinear effects of mode-interaction due to the active lasing medium and deformation of the billiard shape. Investigations of billiard lasers with various shapes revealed that single-mode lasing is a universal phenomenon for fully chaotic billiard lasers.     

Effect of Pump Area on Lasing Modes in Active Random Media

We investigate the effect of pump area on lasing modes in an active random medium. Considering the structure characteristics in a real experimental system, the random medium is divided into two regions, i.e. pump and non-pump areas. The dependence of lasing modes on the pump area is qualitatively explained by means of the model in which the lasing is ascribed to the interaction of the complex localized modes in the active random medium with local aperiodic quasi-structure with appropriate pump light. There exist different pump sizes for lasing with different modes. As the pump size decreases in this random system, the pump threshold of the lasing modes increases. There are different lasing modes in different excitation regions in this random system. This gives us some information about the dependence of lasing modes on pump areas in active random media.     

LASING FROM A DYE-DOPED PENDANT DROP AND ITS PRECESSION

We have observed lasing from the rim of dye-doped ethylene glycol pendant drops. Spatial-resolved spectral measurements show that the lasing wavelength varies along a vertical rim of the drop. Time-resolved measurements indicate that lasing precession occurs within the drop. Various lasing patterns due to lasing precession are explained. The measured precession periods for different pumping points are in good agreement with the calculated values based on morphology-dependent resonance theory.     

Injection seeding of lasing in microdroplets

Injection seeding of lasing has been achieved in both small (~20-mu; m radius) and larger (~35-mu; m radius) dye-doped microdroplets. Seeding is effective in enhancing the intensity from one lasing mode that normally occurs because of the droplet morphology. Competition between the seeded mode and unseeded lasing modes that have good spatial overlap with the seeded mode prevents lasing on some unseeded lasing modes.     

Conditions and features of the lasing in traps for the bose condensation of dipolar excitons

We study the conditions and features of the polariton mode lasing in traps for the Bose condensation of dipolar excitons. We discuss the spectral linewidth of lasing modes and the effects of spatial and spectral inhomogeneity of the exciton distribution. We study in detail the possibility of the polariton mode lasing in the vicinity of the Bose condensation threshold. We analyze the impact of the inhomogeneous broadening of the exciton line on the stability of stationary lasing. We also propose additional experiments aimed at obtaining more information on the polariton mode lasing in semiconductor structures for the Bose condensation of excitons.     

Control of lasing in biomimetic structures with short-range order

We demonstrate lasing in photonic amorphous structures that mimic the isotropic nanostructures which produce noniridescent color in nature. Our experimental and numerical studies reveal that lasing becomes most efficient at certain frequencies, due to enhanced optical confinement by short-range order. The optimal lasing frequency can be tuned by adjusting the structure factor. This work shows that lasing in nanostructures may be effectively improved and manipulated by short-range order.     

Raman lasing near 630 nm from stationary glycerol-water microdroplets on a superhydrophobic surface

We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, Raman lasing from stationary microdroplets on a superhydrophobic surface. In the experiments, glycerol-water microdroplets with radii in the 11-15 microm range were pumped at 532 nm with a pulsed, frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser. Two distinct operation regimes of the microdroplets were observed: cavity-enhanced Raman scattering and Raman lasing. In the latter case, the Raman lasing signal was higher than the background by more than 30 dB. Investigation of the Raman spectra of various glycerol-water mixtures indicates that lasing occurs within the glycerol Raman band. Raman lasing was not sustained; rather, oscillation would occur in temporally separated bursts. Increasing the rate of convective cooling by nitrogen purging improved the lasing performance and reduced the average interburst separation from 2.3 to 0.4 s.     

轴向隐失波激励的回音壁模式光纤激光器

采用轴向隐失波激励增益的方式,使激光增益区域局限在光纤回音壁模式的模场区域内,显著地降低了回音壁模式光纤激光辐射的抽运阈值,由此形成一种低阈值的回音壁模式光纤激光器.在微焦耳量级的低抽运能量条件下,用回音壁模式光纤激光器研究了激光染料的浓度效应.实验结果表明,随着激光染料浓度的增加,回音壁模式激光辐射的波长向长波方向移动,激光波长范围变宽.用回音壁模式染料激光的四能级模型得到激光上能级和所有能级上的分子数比值γ(λ)曲线后,很好地解释了实验结果.低抽运阈值的回音壁模式光纤激光器,为研究液体激光现象提供了极为便利的手段.     

An eigenvalue method to study the threshold behaviors of plasmonic nano-lasers

An eigenvalue method is proposed to study the threshold behaviors of plasmonic nano-lasers. The medium gain and dispersion are taken into consideration based on semi-classical laser dynamics, and therefore the lasing threshold, mode pattern, and lasing frequency can be theoretically predicted. The lasing properties of dielectric, plasmonic core, and plasmonic shell nano-lasers are investigated in details. It is found that the lasing thresholds of nano-lasers can be reduced by two orders of magnitude when introducing localized surface plasmon modes.     

活性无序介质中泵浦功率对局域模发射的影响

基于具有局域-非周期-类结构的活性无序介质中的复杂局域模与合适泵浦光的相互作用模型,研究活性无序介质中泵浦功率对局域模发射的影响,定性解释了泵浦功率对局域模发射的影响.结果表明,局域-非周期-类结构的无序介质的透射谱只与介质的结构有关,而与介质的损耗和增益无关,不同的激发模具有不同的泵浦功率阈值.     

Compact,fiber-compatible,cascaded Raman laser

Cascaded Raman Stokes lasing in an ultrahigh-Q silica microsphere resonator coupled to a tapered fiber is demonstrated and analyzed. With less than 900 microW of pump power near 980 nm, five cascaded Stokes lasing lines are generated. In addition, a threshold power of 56.4 microW for the first-order Stokes lasing is achieved. The Stokes lasing lines exhibit distinct characteristics depending on their order, as predicted by theoretical analysis.     

Effect of inter-level relaxation and cavity length on double-state lasing performance of quantum dot lasers

Double-state lasing phenomena are easily observed in self-assembled quantum dot (QD) lasers. The effect of inter-level relaxation rate and cavity length on the double-state lasing performance of QD lasers is investigated on the basis of a rate equation model. Calculated results show that, for a certain cavity length, the ground state (GS) lasing threshold current increases almost linearly with the inter-level relaxation lifetime. However, as the relaxation rate becomes slower, the ratio of excited state (ES) lasing threshold current over the GS one decreases, showing an evident exponential behavior. A relatively feasible method to estimate the inter-level relaxation lifetime, which is difficult to measure directly, is provided. In addition, fast inter-level relaxation is favorable for the GS single-mode lasing, and leads to lower wetting layer (WL) carrier occupation probability and higher QD GS capture efficiency and external differential quantum efficiency. Besides, the double-state lasing effect strongly depends on the cavity length.     

Random lasing in dye-doped polymer dispersed liquid crystal film

A dye-doped polymer-dispersed liquid crystal film was designed and fabricated,and random lasing action was studied.A mixture of laser dye,nematic liquid crystal,chiral dopant,and PVA was used to prepare the dye-doped polymer-dispersed liquid crystal film by means of microcapsules.Scanning electron microscopy analysis showed that most liquid crystal droplets in the polymer matrix ranged from 30 μm to 40 μm,the size of the liquid crystal droplets was small.Under frequency doubled 532 nm Nd:YAG laser-pumped optical excitation,a plurality of discrete and sharp random laser radiation peaks could be measured in the range of 575–590 nm.The line-width of the lasing peak was 0.2 nm and the threshold of the random lasing was 9 m J.Under heating,the emission peaks of random lasing disappeared.By detecting the emission light spot energy distribution,the mechanism of radiation was found to be random lasing.The random lasing radiation mechanism was then analyzed and discussed.Experimental results indicated that the size of the liquid crystal droplets is the decisive factor that influences the lasing mechanism.The surface anchor role can be ignored when the size of the liquid crystal droplets in the polymer matrix is small,which is beneficial to form multiple scattering.The transmission path of photons is similar to that in a ring cavity,providing feedback to obtain random lasing output.     

Effect of inter-level relaxation and cavity length on double-state lasing performance of quantum dot lasers

Double-state lasing phenomena are easily observed in self-assembled quantum dot (QD) lasers. The effect of inter-level relaxation rate and cavity length on the double-state lasing performance of QD lasers is investigated on the basis of a rate equation model. Calculated results show that, for a certain cavity length, the ground state (GS) lasing threshold current increases almost linearly with the inter-level relaxation lifetime. However, as the relaxation rate becomes slower, the ratio of excited state (ES) lasing threshold current over the GS one decreases, showing an evident exponential behavior. A relatively feasible method to estimate the inter-level relaxation lifetime, which is difficult to measure directly, is provided. In addition, fast inter-level relaxation is favorable for the GS single-mode lasing, and leads to lower wetting layer (WL) carrier occupation probability and higher QD GS capture efficiency and external differential quantum efficiency. Besides, the double-state lasing effect strongly depends on the cavity length.     

Theoretical study on the lasing plasmon of a split ring for label-free detection of single molecules and single nanoparticles

This paper reports the plasmonic lasing of a split ring filled with gain material in water. The lasing mode(1500 nm)is far from the pump mode(980 nm), which can depress the detection noise from the pump light. The laser intensities of the two modes simultaneously increase by more than 10~3 in amplitude, which can intensify the absorption efficiency of the pumping light and enhance the plasmonic lasing. The plasmonic lasing is a sensitive sensor. When a single protein nanoparticle(n = 1.5, r = 1.25 nm) is trapped in the gap of the split ring, the lasing spectrum moves by 0.031 nm, which is much larger than the detection limit of 10~(-5) nm. Moreover, the lasing intensity is also very sensitive to the trapped nanoparticle. It reduces to less than 1/600 when a protein nanoparticle(n = 1.5, r = 1.25 nm) is trapped in the gap.     

管板式大功率横流CO2激光横模测量及数值模拟

为了提高激光稳定性和激光加工质量,实验测量了大功率横流CO2激光横模,并理论分析了横模形成机理。针对大功率横流CO2激光器管板式电极结构,由麦克斯韦方程给出电场的横向分布,并通过数值计算得到了激光强度的横向分布。实验结果与数值模拟得到的激光能量分布基本一致。结果表明,在给定放电电压条件下,电极结构和气体流动速率决定了激光横模峰值大小,激光峰值的横向位置取决于气体流动的速率。     

Laser dye stability

The experimental parameters for solution temperature, solvent purity, and ultraviolet (uv) light removal have been examined as they affect the first-order bleaching constant, lasing slope efficiency, lasing threshold, and laser half-life of three dyes using air as the cover gas. A±10°C change from the ambient temperature was found to reduce the lasing output of solutions of the dyes rhodamine 6G, LD-490, and coumarin 102. Improving the purity of the solvent made no dramatic effects but did tend to yield somewhat lower bleaching rates and longer lasing lifetimes. The first-order bleaching constant for the dye LD-490 in several solvents was found to decrease in the order methanol >95% ethanol>ethanol. Although LD-490 in ethanol had twice the laser lifetime of that in methanol, the use of uv light filtration reversed this order. However, LD-490 still bleached faster in methanol than it did in ethanol. Interestingly using the uv filter, germicil quartz, did not decrease the lasing slope efficiency, but it made a slight increase in both the lasing slope efficiency and the lasing threshold. The use of the more strongly absorbing pyrex filter did, however, decrease the lasing slope efficiency as well as increase the threshold.     

Time dependent theory for random lasers

A model to simulate the phenomenon of random lasing is presented. It couples Maxwell's equations with the rate equations of electronic population in a disordered system. Finite difference time domain methods are used to obtain the field pattern and the spectra of localized lasing modes inside the system. A critical pumping rate P(c)(r) exists for the appearance of the lasing peaks. The number of lasing modes increases with the pumping rate and the length of the system. There is a lasing mode repulsion. This property leads to a saturation of the number of modes for a given size system and a relation between the localization length xi and average mode length L(m).