能量传递上转换对Tm，Ho：YLF调Q激光器上能级寿命的影响

根据激光二极管纵向抽运Tm,Ho：YLF激光器的能级跃迁和能量传递过程，在考虑能量传递上转换(ETU)的情况下，建立了Tm,Ho：YLF主动调Q激光器的准三能级速率方程，得出了激光单脉冲能量的解析表达式.在理论上指出，能量传递上转换不但减小了输出单脉冲能量，而且严重减小了激光上能级寿命.实验上给出了在固定抽运功率下，单脉冲能量随重复频率的变化关系，验证了理论所指出的能量传递上转换减小了激光上能级寿命. 关键词： 二极管抽运 Tm Ho：YLF晶体 能量传递上转换 速率方程     

1 J/pulse Q-switched 2 microm solid-state laser

Q-switched output of 1.1 J/pulse at a 2.053 microm wavelength has been achieved in a diode-pumped Ho: Tm: LuLF laser with a side-pumped rod configuration in a master-oscillator-power-amplifier (MOPA) architecture. This is the first time to our knowledge that a 2 microm laser has broken the joule per pulse barrier for Q-switched operation. The total system efficiency reaches 5% and 6.2% for single- and double-pulse operation, respectively. The system produces an excellent 1.4 times transform-limited beam quality.     

Single-frequency, Q-switched Ho:YAG laser at room temperature injection-seeded by two F-P etalons-restricted Tm, Ho:YAG laser

We demonstrated a 1.91 μm pumped, injection-seeded Q-switched Ho:YAG laser operating at room temperature. By inserting two Fabry-Perot etalons into the laser cavity, single-frequency Tm, Ho:YAG seed lasing was achieved at a wavelength of 2090.9 nm, with a typical output power of 60 mW. Single-frequency, nearly transform-limited Q-switched operation of the Ho:YAG laser was achieved by injection seeding. The output energy of the single-frequency Q-switched pulse is 7.6 mJ, with a pulse width of 132 ns and a repetition rate of 100 Hz. We measured the pulse spectrum, half-width of which was 3.5 MHz, by a heterodyne technique.     

高脉冲重复频率调Q Tm,Ho:GdVO4激光器

报道了一个高效率连续波和调Q高重频两种运行方式的Tm,HoGdVO4激光器.Tm,HoGdVO4晶体尺寸4 mm×4 mm×7 mm,a轴通光,液氮制冷到100 K,由发射中心波长为793 nm的光纤耦合激光二极管端面泵浦.Tm,HoGdVO4激光连续波输出功率4.0 W,光光转换效率26%.声光调Q条件下输出平均高功率3.9 W,脉冲重复频率10 kHz,脉冲宽度50 ns. 通过减小声光Q开关的开启时间,激光脉冲宽度由50 ns减小至23 ns.在10 kHz重频下,测量最大脉冲能量0.39 mJ , 峰值功率7.8 kW.     

Q-switched Ho:YAP laser with a volume bragg grating pumped by a Tm-doped silicon fiber laser

We reported the Q-switched Ho:YAlO₃ laser with a volume Bragg grating pumped by the Tm doped fiber laser. The Ho:YAP laser maximum output energy was 1.04 mJ under the repetition frequency of 5 kHz when the incident power was 12.49 W with the threshold of 2.38 W. The Ho:YAP output wavelength was centered at 2117.9 nm with bandwidth of about 0.3 nm. The pulse width is 23.9 ns.     

激光二极管抽运Tm,Ho∶YLF晶体声光调Q激光器

对激光二极管端面抽运Tm,Ho∶YLF晶体声光调Q激光器的激光特性进行了研究。根据粒子跃迁和能量传递过程,在考虑能级传递上转换的前提下,建立了Tm,Ho∶YLF脉冲激光器的速率方程,得到了初始反转粒子数的解析表达式,分析了能量传递上转换效应对激光上能级反转粒子数的影响。在室温下实现了2 μm波长激光的脉冲输出。实验上给出并分析了Tm,Ho∶YLF脉冲激光器的平均输出功率、单脉冲能量和脉冲宽度随抽运功率以及声光Q开关调制频率的变化关系。在抽运功率为2.8 W,重复频率为9 kHz时,获得了平均输出功率为189 mW的激光脉冲,光光转换效率为6.8%。在重复频率为1 kHz时,得到最大单脉冲能量为65 μJ,峰值功率为0.17 kW。     

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.     

Q-switched operation of an in-band-pumped Ho:LuAG laser with kilohertz pulse repetition frequency

We report continuous-wave (CW) and repetitively Q-switched operation of an in-band-pumped Ho:LuAG laser at room temperature. End-pumped by a Tm:YLF solid-state laser with emission wavelength of 1.91 μm, the CW Ho:LuAG laser generated 5.4-W output at 2100.7 nm with beam quality factor of M ²～1.03 for an incident pump power of 14.1 W, corresponding to slope efficiency of 67% with respect to absorbed pump power. Up to 1.5-mJ energy per pulse at pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 3 kHz and 4.5-W average power with FWHM pulse width of 28 ns at 5 kHz were demonstrated in repetitively Q-switched operation.     

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

A diode-side-pumped Tm,Ho:LuLiF laser at 2-m wavelength obtained in a ring resonator and its amplification experiment are reported. At the maximum pump energy of 4.7 J available for the oscillator,the output energy per pulse for the oscillator decreases from 904 to 483 mJ in free running mode,and decreases from 106 to 68 mJ in Q-switched mode,with an increase of pump pulse repetition rate from 1 to 5 Hz. When considering the amplifier,99-mJ Q-switched output energy is achieved at 5-Hz repetition rate.     

Passively Q-Switched Ho:SSO Laser by Use of a Cr~(2+):ZnSe Saturable Absorber

A cw operation and a passively Q-switched(PQS) Ho:SSO laser(Cr~(2+):ZnSe as a saturable absorber) end-pumped by a Tm:YAP laser operating at near room temperature are reported. It is the first time to report a PQS Ho:SSO laser. For the cw mode, a maximum cw output power of 3.0 W is obtained, corresponding to a slope effciency of31.4%. For the PQS mode, a Cr~(2+):ZnSe is used as the saturable absorber, with transmission of 88.4% at 2112 nm.A maximum pulse energy of 1.29 mJ is obtained, corresponding to the pulse repetition frequency of 2.42 kHz. In this study, we change the distance between:Cr~(2+):ZnSe and the output mirror to research the pulse characteristic of the PQS Ho:SSO laser. The minimum pulse width of 73.5 ns is obtained, corresponding to the pulse energy of0.9 mJ and the pulse repetition frequency of 2.65 kHz.     

Tunable repetition frequency passively Q-switched Tm,Ho:YLF laser with Cr:ZnS as a saturable absorber

We first report a tunable repetition frequency passively Q-switched 2053 nm Tm,Ho:YLF laser by tuning the tilt angle of the Cr:ZnS saturable absorber. When the pump power is 1.4 W, the pulse repetition frequency can be tuned from 1.6 to 19.4 kHz by changing the position of Cr²⁺:ZnS saturable absorber along the cavity axis. When the Cr²⁺:ZnS saturable absorber is near the Tm,Ho:YLF crystal, the repetition frequency can be tuned from 0.8 to 4.0 kHz by changing the tilt angle of the Cr²⁺:ZnS saturable absorber, furthermore, the pulse width and the pulse energy are near constants of 1.7 μs and 3.5 μJ, respectively.     

High power and efficiency of a 2044-nm c-cut Tm, Ho:YAlO3 laser

A high power and efficiency of c-cut Tm, Ho:YAlO₃ (YAP) laser is reported in the paper. The laser operated in continuous wave (CW) mode or Acousto-optical (AO) Q-switched mode at 2044 nm. The Tm, Ho:YAP crystal was cooled at the temperature of 77 K and pumped by a fiber-coupled laser diode (LD) with the centre output wavelength of 794.8 nm. In CW operation, a 9.30-W output power was obtained at a 150-mm physical cavity length, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 42.5%. In Q-switch mode, the output average power of 9 W was achieved at the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 10 kHz with a 130-ns pulse width. Moreover, the energy per pulse of 3.54 mJ in 47 ns was acquired at 2.5 kHz with a 75.3-kW peak power.     

Q-switched Ho:YAlO<Subscript>3</Subscript> laser pumped by Tm:YLF laser at room temperature

A Q-switched high efficient Ho:YAlO₃ (Ho:YAP) laser pumped by a diode-pumped Tm:YLF laser at room-temperature is realized. The maximum output energy reaches 1.58 mJ under the repetition frequency of 5 kHz, when the incident pump power is 15.6 W. The pulse width is 22 ns. The wavelength is 2118 nm when the transmission of output coupler is 30%. The beam quality factor is M ² ∼ 1.39 measured by the traveling knife-edge method.     

A periodically poled LiNbO3 optical parametric generator in wavelength conversion from 2 to 3.88-4.34 μm

A periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) optical parametric generator (OPG) pumped by a laser diode (LD)-pumped Q-switched Tm,Ho:GdVO4 laser operated at 2.048 μm with pump pulse of 25 ns and repetition rate of 10 kHz is reported.     

Diode-end-pumped CW and actively Q-switched Tm,Ho:YLF ring laser

This paper presents CW and acoustic-optical Q-switched Tm,Ho:YLF laser performance in a laser-diode end-pumping figure-eight ring resonator structure at 77 K. Under CW operation, different transmission of output couplers and different cavity length were used to achieve best characteristics of the laser. The maximum power of 1.85 W is achieved with the threshold of 2.09 W, slope efficiency of 28.14% and optical-to-optical efficiency of 20.3% on the condition of 1 m cavity length and 18% transmission. Under pump power of 4 W, laser characteristics under Q-switched operation with different pulse repeat frequency was investigated. Maximum energy of 5.86 mJ is achieved with pulse width of 171.2 ns, peak power of 34.2 kW and dynamic-static ratio about Q-switch laser of 0.62 at pulse repeat frequency 70 Hz.     

520 mJ langasite electro-optically Q-switched Cr, Tm, Ho:YAG laser

A flash lamp pumped 2.09 μm Cr, Tm, Ho:YAG laser utilizing a self-grown La(3)Ga(5)SiO(14) crystal as the electro-optic Q-switch generator is proposed and demonstrated for the first time. Operating at 3 Hz repetition rate, 520 mJ pulse energy with 35 ns pulse width is achieved by optimizing the Q-switch delay time and compensating for the thermal depolarization with a quarter-wave plate. The corresponding peak power is 14.86 MW, and the Q-switched-to-normal-mode energy extraction efficiency is 66.3%. To our knowledge, this Q-switched giant pulse is the best result reported to date in 2.09 μm laser resonator.     

High efficient double end-pumped <Emphasis Type="Italic">b</Emphasis>-cut Tm,Ho:YAlO<Subscript>3</Subscript> laser

High efficient continuous wave (CW) and acousto-optical (AO) Q-switched operation of a b-cut Tm,Ho:YAlO₃ (Tm,Ho:YAP) laser are reported in the paper. The Tm,Ho:YAP crystal was cooled by liquid nitrogen and pumped by a fiber-coupled laser diode (LD). Different pump wavelengths were tried in the experiment. An 8.36-W output power was acquired at 2.12 μm in the CW operation with an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 33.3%, and an 8.14-W average power was obtained at the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 10 kHz with an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 32.4%.     

High-Power Continuous-Wave and Acousto-Optical Q-Switched Ho:(Sc_(0.5)Y_(0.5))_2SiO_5 Laser Pumped by Laser Diode

We experimentally investigate the continuous-wave(cw)and acousto-optical(AO)Q-switched performance of a diode-pumped Ho:(Sc_(0.5)Y_(0.5))_2SiO_5(Ho:SYSO)laser.A fiber-coupled laser diode at 1.91m is employed as the pump source.The cw Ho:SYSO laser produces 13.0 W output power at 2097.9 nm and 56.0%slope efficiency with respect to the absorbed pump power.In the AO Q-switched regime,at a pulse repetition frequency of 5 kHz,the Ho:SYSO laser yields 2.1 mJ pulse energy and 21 ns pulse width,resulting in a calculated peak power of 100 k W.In addition,at the maximum output level,the beam quality factor of the Q-switched Ho:SYSO laser is measured to be about 1.6.     

High-powered millijoule pulse energy Tm3＋-doped fiber amplifier at 2.05μm

A high-powered millijoule pulse energy Tm 3+ -doped fiber amplifier seeded with a Q-switched operation of Tm (4 at.-%), Ho (0.4 at.-%):YVO 4 laser is reported. The output characteristics of the amplified laser are studied at the coupled powers of 0.266, 1.24, and 2.65 W. Maximum output power up to 15.7 W is at 10-kHz repetition rate. Nonlinear effects are not observed from the emitting spectrum and the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of the pulse duration is reduced from 40.1 to 25.9 ns at 1.57-mJ pulse energy. The beam quality factor M 2 x = 1.9±0.03, M 2 y = 2.1±0.02 at the output power of 14.5 W is measured using the traveling knife-edge method.     

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.