Novel procedure for the simultaneous determination of the Debye length and electro-optic coefficient for an optically active photorefractive Bi12SiO20 crystal

We present a novel procedure based on an improved physical model and a versatile numerical fitting technique, to simultaneously determinate the Debye screening length and electro-optic coefficient using a thick sample of an optically active photorefractive crystal Bi₁₂SiO₂₀ (BSO). For the computation, experimental data of gain vs. grating spacing were obtained by a two-beam coupling arrangement. Unlike former calculation models, in our work, the general expression for the diffraction efficiency in the presence of self-diffraction is considered, and the influence of the optical activity in the coupling parameters is had into account for the calculation of the gain values. The fitting of the experimental data to the predicted theoretical behavior by our model is achieved by finding the closest theoretical curve to a set of data sampled from a spline-smoothed curve of the experimental data. Both, the Debye screening length l_s and the electro-optic coefficient r₄₁ are used as fitting parameters by searching in a rather wide range for each one of the parameters, so that, the estimation of their values is obtained in a more reliable and direct way from the same experiment. The calculations are performed in diffusion regimen and the procedure leads to l_s = 0.22 μm and r₄₁ = 4.5 × 10 ^− 12m/V. Because the optical activity can alter the maximum gain and self-diffraction effects influence the energy exchange, the procedure reveals to be physically appropriated for the simultaneous determination of these physical parameters when thick photorefractive crystals with high optical activity are considered.     

Flat-top beam profile generated using a fiber-bundle prism-coupled beam shaper

In this paper, an optical beam shaping system is theoretically and experimentally investigated. The optical system design software ZEMAX is used to simulate and analyze the reported beam shaping design. By using this software ray tracing diagrams are presented with the aim of studying the direct beam propagation, total reflection rays, and the lost rays. The prism duct output beam shape and radiance profiles in both position space and angle space are also studied. For experimental investigation, a two-stage beam shaping design including a fiber-bundle and a prism duct is used. A source light is used for the fiber-bundle illumination and the photograph image of the output beam is taken by a digital camera. The fiber-bundle output beam cross section is a rectangular shape with a dimension of 25.65 mm width and 2.44 mm height. In another experiment, the prism output beam is captured by a CCD camera. The prism output beam shape depends on the prism exit face, which is a rectangle (4.15 mm × 3.55 mm) for this case. The image date of the prism output beam is converted to a response curve, which is approximately a flat-top profile. The experimental image profiles are compared with the simulated image profiles and there is a good agreement between the observed results.     

Broadband four-wave optical parametric amplification in bulk isotropic media in the ultraviolet

We report on four-wave optical parametric amplification of the ultrashort ultraviolet light pulses in bulk fused silica and CaF₂. Exact phase-matching in these isotropic media is achieved by means of non-collinear interaction with cylindrical beam focusing. Four-wave optical parametric amplifier efficiently operates in the UV spectral range with 1-ps laser pulses, delivering amplified signal energy exceeding 50 μJ using millijoule pump pulses in the visible (527 nm). Results of scanning of the parametric gain profile suggest that broad amplification bandwidth as wide as ∼20 nm (at FWHM) under these experimental settings is achieved, which might support amplification of sub-10-fs ultraviolet pulses with central wavelength around 330 nm. It is also shown experimentally and verified theoretically that the parametric gain profile exposes a distinct inhomogeneity and its bandwidth notably broadens due to effects of self- and cross-phase modulation imposed by the intense pump beam.     

High-power continuous wave green beam generation by use of simple linear cavity with side-pumped module

High-power continuous wave green radiation has been generated by means of type-II phase-matched frequency doubling in a KTP crystal located in a simple linear cavity incorporating a diode side-pumped Nd:YAG laser module. The cavity was designed to make the fundamental beam radius at the KTP crystal smaller than that at the gain medium, as is required for obtaining large mode volume in Nd:YAG crystal and realizing efficient CW intracavity frequency doubling. Output power of 51.2 W is obtained in the experiment with a diode-to-green optical conversion efficiency of 10.3%. The M²-parameters of the laser are measured at different output powers. For the output power of about 47 W, the power fluctuation is measured less than 1%. The experimental results show that the continuous wave green laser system using this simple linear cavity offers good laser performance and output stability.     

Magnetic layered structure for the production of polarized neutron microbeams

A neutron waveguide is a three-layer structure in which a guiding layer with low optical potential is placed between two cladding layers with high optical potential. Under proper operation conditions, the neutron density is resonantly enhanced inside the guiding layer. In our experimental scheme, the neutron beam enters through the surface of the top layer at glancing angle and goes out from the edge of the guiding layer, with an angular distribution corresponding to Fraunhofer diffraction from a narrow slit. The incident neutron beam is relatively wide (0.1 mm) and highly collimated (0.01°). The outgoing sub-micron beam is extremely narrow at the outlet (0.1 μm) and more divergent (0.1°). So far only the production of unpolarized sub-micron neutron beams has been reported. Here we present first experiments on polarized sub-micron neutron beams. For these studies a polarized incident beam was used and two types of magnetic waveguides were investigated: a polarizing magnetic waveguide Fe(20 nm)/Cu(140 nm)/Fe(50 nm)//glass and a non-polarizing magnetic waveguide Py(10 nm)/Al(140 nm)/Py(50 nm)//glass (Py is permalloy). The waveguide samples were characterized by polarized neutron reflectometry.     

Experimental results using an improved low-energy focussed ion beam column with booster principle and free-standing target

The design and experimental results achieved with an improved low-energy focussed ion beam (LEFIB) column are presented. The ion optical column is based on booster principle and electrostatic immersion lenses which are operated in the internal acceleration mode. Ion beam retarding is accomplished within the objective lens. Therefore the target is free-standing, i.e. on ground and in a field-free region, and the secondary electrons can easily be detected. The simulated diameters of the high-current gallium ion probe including the important underlying physics of Coulomb interaction have been confirmed in experiment, e.g. 780 nm at 1 keV landing energy, 1 nA beam current and a free working distance of 10 mm.     

Highly efficient optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification based on BiB3O6 and β-BaB2O4 crystals at low pump intensity

We report a very high signal gain of 1.13 × 10⁷ at a low pump intensity of 260 MW/cm² in a two-stage optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier (OPCPA), which is used as a pre-amplifier for a short-pulse front-end Nd: glass high-energy laser system. A signal energy of 0.17 nJ was amplified to 2 mJ with a central wavelength of 1053 nm and a repetition rate of 10 Hz using the OPCPA with a 15 mm-long BBO crystal at optical parametric amplifier (OPA) stage 1 and a 12 mm-long BiBO crystal at OPA stage 2.     

Sum and difference frequency generation of white light continuum with the ps pulses of Nd:YAG laser in a thick BBO crystal

The white light continuum (WLC) generated in water/D₂O mixture by pumping with the fundamental of ps Nd⁺³:YAG laser has been used as a variable frequency source for the sum frequency generation as well as for its amplification. 35 ps long pulses with 8 mJ energy at 1064 nm were mixed collinearly with the WLC generated by the same laser beam in a 20 mm thick BBO crystal. The obtained tunable output has been identified as the sum frequency between the fundamental and a portion of the WLC with the required phase matching. Theoretical simulations are also given along with a few initial experiments to use this combination for the difference frequency generation (optical parametric amplification) under non-collinear geometry.     

The nonlinear refraction and absorption dependence on the thermal effect for 4 ns pulse duration in binuclear Zn(II) phthalocyanine solution

The influence of thermal effect on the third-order nonlinear optical properties of binuclear Zn(II) phthalocyanine in chloroform solution was studied. The nonlinear refraction and absorption of the sample was measured by using Z-scan technique with 4 ns laser pulses at 532 nm wavelength. The opposite signs of the effective nonlinear refraction index were observed by changing the focal length of focusing lens from 10 cm to 20 cm in the experimental setup. Changing the focusing lens increased the beam waist radius from 7 μm to 20 μm. The nonlinear absorption coefficient was reduced about 200 times based on changing the fluence or beam waist radius. The drastic changes in the third-order nonlinear optical parameters were attributed to thermal effect. To investigate the role of thermal effects even further the effective nonlinear refraction and absorption coefficients were studied by using different repetition rates, input powers and concentrations.     

Polarization-dependent gain and saturation energy density in a TE N2-laser amplifier

The polarization-dependent gain, g₀, and saturation energy density, E_s, in a TE N₂-laser amplifier were measured, using an oscillator-amplifier laser system for different amplifier electrode gap separations, d_AMP, of 7, 9 and 4 mm and gas pressure of p = 77, 60, and 165 Torr, respectively. It was realized that for the amplifier with the gap separation of 7 and 9 mm, where the pd_AMP-value has its optimum-value of 54 Torr cm, the gain-coefficient for the input beam with the polarization parallel to the discharge electrodes (P-polarized beam) is slightly higher than the case when the beam polarization is perpendicular to the discharge electrodes (S-polarized beam). In this case, the depolarization ratio for d_AMP = 7 mm is the range of ∼0.998 to ∼0.962 as the input voltage increases from 12 to 15.5 kV, having a minimum of 0.937 around 14 kV. For the E_s-parameter, the reversed order is true. Also, it was found that the saturation energy densities for three states of polarization are linearly related to the output energy densities, having different slopes of 0.11, 0.14, and 0.17 for R (randomly), P- and S-polarization, respectively. The present measurement supports qualitatively the prediction of polarization-inhomogeneity model for the stimulated emission cross-section, showing that randomly oriented dipoles exhibit slightly larger gain on the direction of the electric field.     

Automatic fringe analysis of the induced anisotropy of bent optical fibres

A new theoretical model considering the refraction of the incident light beam by the fibre is suggested to determine the refractive index profile of bent optical fibres. This new model (slabs model) considering the cross section of the bent optical fibre consists of large number of slabs. The slabs model bases on the refraction of the incident beam by the fibre. The refractive index profile of the optical fibre cladding before bending obtained using the automated Fizeau interferometer with the aid of suggested model is compared with other models such as, the homogenous model and the multilayer model to verify the ability of this slab model. The refractive index profile of the bent optical fibre cladding is investigated using this suggested model. In addition, the new model is used to obtain the induced birefringence and the guiding parameters. The bending radius is recommended to be greater than 7.1 mm for the used optical fibre. The consideration of the refraction increases the accuracy of the results.     

Determination of the refractive index over a wide wavelength range through time-delay measurements of femtosecond pulses

We present a simple method to measure the refractive index dispersion over a broad wavelength range (0.6-1.6 μm). In a first step, the optical group indices are obtained by measuring the time-retardation of tunable 150 fs laser pulses within a sample relative to air. The refractive index dispersion is then calculated using a Sellmeier equation that describes the measured group index dispersion. We show that our experimental data agree with previously published results to within 2 × 10⁻⁴ for a 3 mm thick sample of fused silica and to within 3 × 10⁻³ for the index n₁ of a 2 mm thick crystal of the highly dispersive and anisotropic organic crystal 4-N,N-dimethylamino-4′-N′-methyl stilbazolium tosylate (DAST).     

Mechanism of phase conjugation via stimulated Brillouin scattering in narrow band gap semiconductors

We develop a theoretical model to study optical phase conjugation via stimulated Brillouin scattering (OPC-SBS) in narrow band gap transversely magnetized semiconductors. Threshold value of pump electric field and reflectivity of the image radiation for the onset of OPC-SBS are estimated. The analysis is applied to both cases viz. centrosymmetric (CS) and non-centrosymmetric (NCS) crystals. Numerical estimates made for n-type InSb crystal at liquid nitrogen temperature duly irradiated by nanosecond pulsed 10.6 μm CO₂ laser shows that high OPC-SBS reflectivity (90%) can be achieved in NCS crystals at moderate pump electric fields if the crystal is used as an optical waveguide with relatively large interaction length (L = 5 mm) which proves its potential in practical applications such as fabrication of phase conjugate mirrors.     

678 nm RTP electro-optical Q-switched ceramic laser

The RTP electro-optical Q-switched ceramic laser at the wavelength of 678 nm with narrow pulse width is studied. We used the laser diode arrays side-pumped Nd:YAG ceramic crystal with 1.1 at% Nd doping and dimensions of Φ3 mm × 50 mm, designed folding cavity parameters, and discussed the variation of the beam radius in the ceramic crystal and frequency doubling crystal with the thermal focal length of ceramic crystal or KTP crystal. By using double RTP crystals as electro-optic Q-switch and KTP crystal type II phase matching for intracavity frequency-doubling, a narrow pulse width electro-optical Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser was obtained. The output energy of 0.9 mJ and the pulse width of 41.6 ns at 678 nm are obtained at the repetition rate of 1000 Hz and pumped power of 144 W. The results formed the basis for the further development of the high power and high efficiency ceramic red laser.     

Optimizing the Yb:YAG thin disc laser design parameters

Based on quasi-three-level system, a numerical model of continuous wave thin disc laser is proposed. The fluorescence concentration quenching (FCQ), refractive index depending concentration effects and temperature distribution in the gain medium have been taken into account in the model. The first and second phenomena are not included in previously models. The model is used to determine optimum design parameters and to calculate the influence of various parameters like temperature, number of pump beam passes, active ions concentration and the crystal thickness on the operational efficiency of the laser. This model shows that for higher doping concentrations (>15%) the optical efficiency is decreased due to fluorescence concentration quenching. Our results are excellently in agreement with experimental results.     

High-power 3.8 μm tunable optical parametric oscillator based on PPMgO:CLN

The experimental results of a high-power 3.8 μm tunable laser are presented on a quasi-phase-matched single-resonated optical parametric oscillator in PPMgO:CLN pumped by a 1064 nm laser of an elliptical beam. Theoretical analyses of the PPMgO:CLN wavelength tuning are presented. The pump source was an acousto-optical Q-switched cw-diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG laser. The beam polarization matched the e-ee interaction in PPMgO:CLN. When the crystal was operated at 90 °C and the pump power was 150 W with a repetition rate of 10 kHz, average output power of 22.6 W at 3.86 μm and 63 W at 1.47 μm was obtained. The slope efficiency of the 3.86 μm laser with respect to the pump laser was 17.8%. The M² factors of the 3.86 μm laser were 1.74 and 4.86 in the parallel and perpendicular directions, respectively. The mid-IR wavelength tunability of 3.7-3.9 μm can be achieved by adjusting the temperature of a 29.2 μm period PPMgO:CLN crystal from 200 °C to 30 °C, which basically is accorded with the theoretic calculation.     

Optimized design of a new three branch optical waveguide

A new type of 1 × 3 Y-branch optical waveguide structure with a cone transitional section is introduced in this paper. The symmetrical branch ratio of the 1 × 3 Y branch optical waveguide is obtained by changing the width of this waveguide. The loss and the uniformity are obtained by using the finite difference beam propagation methods, and their values are 0.2 dB and 0.05 dB, respectively. Therefore, it provides some experimental basis for production of three branch optical waveguide.     

Investigation of cross-polarized heterodyne technique for measuring refractive index and thickness of glass panels

A new mathematical model of cross-polarized heterodyning is proposed for measuring glass panels. An optical system is presented for obtaining relative thickness variation and difference distribution of refractive indices simultaneously, and the dual-balanced coherent demodulation technique is used. The experiment results show that the transmittance of light beam can be less than 0.5% when the vibration amplitude of the glass panels is equal to 5 mm. It takes about 200 s to scan the whole glass sample with size of 1430 × 1360 mm². The resolution of the thickness variation is 0.3 μm, and the lateral sampling resolution is 1 mm.     

Crystal growth,structural, linear and nonlinear optical studies of 4-methyl-4′-N’-methylstilbazolium tosylate single crystals

Organic 4-methyl-4′-N’-methylstilbazolium tosylate, a new derivative of the stilbazolium tosylate family compound was synthesized by condensation method. The optical quality single crystals with dimension 5 mm × 4 mm × 2 mm were grown by slow evaporation technique at 40 °C. The crystal system and lattice parameters were found from single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The optical transmittance, cut-off wavelength (402 nm) and band gap energy (3.09 eV) were estimated by UV–visible studies. The surface laser damage threshold study was carried out for MMST crystal using Nd:YAG laser. The third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility (χ³) for MMST crystal was estimated by employing Z-scan technique using 1064 nm laser.     

Electro-optic Q-switched intracavity optical parametric oscillator at 1.53 μm based on KTiOAsO4

An eye-safe, high peak power optical parameter oscillator (OPO) intracavity pumped by electro-optic Q-switched Nd:YAG laser is presented. This OPO is based on a 20 mm length KTiOAsO₄ crystal with non-critical phase matching (θ = 90°, ?=0°) cut. An aperture ∅3 mm acted as limiting diaphragm to get good beam quality of pumping laser. The output energy of 25 mJ at the signal wavelength 1.53 μm was obtained with repetition rate of 1 Hz. The highest peak power intensity was up to 88 MW/cm² with pulse width of 4 ns. Without diaphragm, the maximum output energy of 90 mJ was achieved with area of light spot (∅6 mm) four times larger, but the peak power intensity was lower.