Misalignment sensitivity of the cat’s eye cavity He-Ne laser

A concave mirror and a cat’s eye reflector acting as a resonator mirror form the cat’s eye cavity. Misalignment sensitivities of the cat’s eye cavity and conventional resonator are both analyzed in geometric method and matrix optics with misalignment sensitivity parameter. Valuable conclusions are drawn: in full-external He-Ne laser, cat’s eye cavity can improve the laser stability up to about 60 times better than the conventional one; diffraction loss introduced by the misalignment of the cat’s eye cavity attributes to the straight-line displacement vertical to the laser bore of the cat’s eye reflector; and with the convex lens center of the cat’s eye reflector secured immobile, the ultra-stable and adjustment-free cat’s eye cavity He-Ne laser is obtained. The analysis matches the experiment results very well. Cavities with three kinds of dimension errors are also calculated. This paper could be used as theoretic foundation for the design and application of cat’s eye cavity lasers.     

Control of transverse mode pattern in a helium-neon laser using the cat’s eye cavity

This paper introduces an innovative method to control and select transverse mode pattern in a He-Ne laser. The cat’s eye cavity is established by using a cat’s eye reflector as the reflecting mirror. Laser transverse mode pattern varies continuously when the distance between the convex lens and the concave mirror is changed, which form the cat’s eye reflector. By Newton-Cotes method, the numerical solution of two-dimensional diffraction integral equation in the cat’s eye cavity is obtained, the laser operating modes under various parameters are analyzed, and the eigenvalue η_mn and diffraction power loss corresponding with every transverse mode are calculated. The parameters assuring fundamental transverse mode output are figured out, which match the experiment results well. Therefore, a new convenient real-time means for the control and selection of the laser transverse mode is realized.     

折叠腔内的偏振效应对绿光输出稳定性的影响

 将Jones矩阵法与耦合波方程结合起来分析折叠腔腔内倍频中的绿光问题。在用Jones矩阵法分析折叠镜的偏振效应基础上，通过数值求解耦合波方程讨论了这一效应对绿光输出稳定性的影响，计算结果与相关实验结果的比较表明，合理设计的折叠腔可以比线性腔更有效地抑止绿光波动。     

束流轨道与相关环境参数的同步诊断技术

粒子加速器由于受地基振动、环境温度、热效应等因素的影响,导致束流位置探头(BPM)所在真空盒的机械中心相对四极铁磁中心的漂移较大,因此很难提高束流轨道的绝对测量精度。探索利用电容式探头实时检测该漂移量的方法。首先分析了电容式探头的测量原理,并设计了轨道振动同步诊断方案,然后设计了专用探头,并利用数据采集设备对探头的线性度、精度和频率响应进行实验室测试。结果显示电容式探头能检测到2μm的相对位移,且可有效检测300Hz以下的振动频率,可用于束流轨道与相关环境参数的同步诊断。     

Characteristics of the distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser sensor for lateral force measurement

Characteristics of the distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser sensor for lateral force measurement are investigated. The distributed Bragg reflector fiber laser operates in dual-polarization modes and converts the lateral force into a corresponding shift in the beat frequency generated by the fiber laser. The sensitivity dependence on the angle between the force direction and the polarization axis orientation of the fiber is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The impact of the force action location and force length on the sensor response is also discussed. Good agreement between the theoretical data and the experimental results was obtained. A maximal sensitivity magnitude of ∼10 GHz/(N/mm) is recorded.     

Single mode oscillation of TEA CO2 laser with an interference resonator

An effective single-longitudinal mode (SLM) pulse TEA CO₂ laser operation was demonstrated using a Michelson’s type resonator with a tilting Fabry-Perot etalon. A modified numerical model of the interference resonator was investigated for designing the laser. The experimentally measured values were found to have good agreement with the numerical model. A pulse width of about 90 ns and the maximum pulse energy of about 300 mJ were achieved at 10.59 μm in SLM and TEM₀₀ mode. The reliability of producing SLM pulses was 100% and there was no damage on the etalon. By turning the interference resonator, the SLM output was tuned 44 lines of the CO₂ spectrum.     

Role of optical resonator on the pointing stability of copper vapor laser beam

This paper presents a first comprehensive study on the pointing stability of copper vapor laser with an emphasis on bringing out the role of optical resonator. Long term (∼10 min), single pulse, far-field beam pointing stability of a 5.5 kHz repetition rate copper vapor laser (λ = 510 nm) with plane-plane, unstable and filtering resonators, is studied. It is established that the resonator optics largely decides the CVL pointing stability. Minimum beam pointing angle of 8 μrad from generalized diffraction filtered resonator (GDFR) is obtained in contrast to a maximum value of 120 μrad from the plane-plane resonator. The unstable resonators data is in between. The relative trends in CVL pointing stability are discussed in terms of wave-front distortions due to resonator mode build up from optical noise, thermal and mirror misalignment effects. The degree of optical resonator immunity to phase distortions dictates the net pointing stability achieved.     

532 nm laser based on V-type doubly resonant intra-cavity frequency-doubling

LD side-pumped dual interconnected V-type quasi-continuous wave green laser has been demonstrated. The two Nd:YAG modules were placed in a plane-concave V-type resonator and a plane-concave straight cavity formed two stable operation beam of the 1064-nm fundamental frequency laser. Through acousto-optic Q-switched and frequency doubling crystal, two double-frequency laser beams arrived at the folded flat mirror, which were unidirectional output by the folded flat mirror at the end. As the pumped current was 50 A, the 532 nm green laser maximum average output power of 206 W at a repetition of 22.4 kHz was achieved with a pulse width of 201 ns and the largest single pulse energy of 9.2 mJ, corresponding to a peak power of 45.8 kW and a double frequency efficiency of 60.2%.     

A probabilistic walk up power laws

We establish a path leading from Pareto’s law to anomalous diffusion, and present along the way a panoramic overview of power-law statistics. Pareto’s law is shown to universally emerge from “Central Limit Theorems” for rank distributions and exceedances, and is further shown to be a finite-dimensional projection of an infinite-dimensional underlying object — Pareto’s Poisson process  . The fundamental importance and centrality of Pareto’s Poisson process is described, and we demonstrate how this process universally generates an array of anomalous diffusion statistics characterized by intrinsic power-law structures: sub-diffusion and super-diffusion, Lévy laws and the “Noah effect”, long-range dependence and the “Joseph effect”, 1/f$1/f$ noises, and anomalous relaxation.     

Nanometer-scale displacement sensing using self-mixing interferometry with a correlation-based signal processing technique

A self-mixing interferometer is proposed to measure nanometre-scale optical path length changes in the interferometer’s external cavity. As light source, the developed technique uses a blue emitting GaN laser diode. An external reflector, a silicon mirror, driven by a piezo nanopositioner is used to produce an interference signal which is detected with the monitor photodiode of the laser diode. Changing the optical path length of the external cavity introduces a phase difference to the interference signal. This phase difference is detected using a signal processing algorithm based on Pearson’s correlation coefficient and cubic spline interpolation techniques. The results show that the average deviation between the measured and actual displacements of the silicon mirror is 3.1 nm in the 0–110 nm displacement range. Moreover, the measured displacements follow linearly the actual displacement of the silicon mirror. Finally, the paper considers the effects produced by the temperature and current stability of the laser diode as well as dispersion effects in the external cavity of the interferometer. These reduce the sensor’s measurement accuracy especially in long-term measurements.     

LD泵浦Nd:YVO4/LBO临界相位匹配腔内倍频瓦级绿光激光器

报道了一种光纤耦合LD泵浦Nd:YVO₄晶体、腔内Ⅰ类临界相位匹配(角度匹配)LBO倍频、瓦级输出的全固态绿光激光器的设计方法和实验结果.采用短三镜折叠腔结构,通过对热透镜焦距的估算及计算机优化设计选取合适的谐振腔参量,在8 W的泵浦功率下,获得了1.6 W绿光基模输出,光-光转换效率达20%.经测量,绿光的偏振比超过400:1,4 h功率稳定度为±1.6%.     

Enhanced luminescence of silver nanoclusters in mesoporous film

Luminescence of silver nanoparticles photodeposited on titan dioxide nanoparticles of mesoporous film is studied. Luminescence was registered under the two-photon excitation by femtosecond laser pulses of Ti:sapphire laser. It occurs that Ag/TiO₂ mesoporous films have high concentration of bright luminescence spots which reveal stability to degradation under long illumination. Various configurations of silver nanoparticles are analyzed to explain the physics of bright luminescence spots (“hot spots”). Luminescence intensity reveals “hot spots” dependence on excitation laser pulse polarization. Properties of Ag/TiO₂ system show its promising usage for single molecule spectroscopy and biological objects visualization.     

Performance of a 80 W copper vapor laser with “alignment free” unstable CAT-EYE resonator and other configurations using intra-cavity apertures

Performance of a kinetically enhanced copper vapor laser (KE-CVL) with various stable/unstable “alignment free” CAT-EYE resonator configurations are presented here in this paper. The laser used in the experiment was a 45 mm bore (∼2 l discharge volume) kinetically enhanced copper vapor laser developed in our laboratory and capable of generating maximum power of ∼80 W (at ∼9.8 kHz). The efficiency of the laser was ∼1.4% and beam divergence of ∼3.5 mrad in a plane-plane standard multimode cavity. For the first time performance of unstable CAT-EYE resonator is demonstrated with a CVL/KE-CVL. On using unstable CAT-EYE resonator the divergence of the laser beam reduced to ∼0.22 mrad (∼20-fold reduction as compared to conventional plane-plane cavity), ∼40 W output power and with excellent misalignment tolerance. The laser output power was found to be within ∼5% drift/decline with misalignment angle of about 4 mrad between the mirrors. This is a significant improvement in comparison to standard conventional unstable resonator (M ∼ 50) CVL where ∼0.5 mrad divergence is achieved with power drift/decline of about 45% at ∼4 mrad misalignment angle.Off-axis unstable CAT-EYE unstable resonator was also demonstrated for the first time with further reduction in beam divergence to ∼0.13 mrad and with output power of ∼28 W. The misalignment tolerance was found to be highest in case of off-axis unstable CAT-EYE resonator with decline/drift in laser power of only ∼10% for misalignment angle as high as ∼8 mrad. Performance with intra-cavity apertures in plane-plane type CAT-EYE resonator for transverse mode control is also presented for the first time in CVLs. It is observed that the laser beam divergence reduces significantly to 1.25 mrad (a factor of 2) on using an aperture of ∼3.5 mm at the CAT-EYE reflector as compared to its normal (R = F = d) configuration without aperture. In case of stable CAT-EYE resonator the average beam divergence reduces from 8 mrad to 4 mrad (factor of 2) on using intra-cavity aperture of about 3 mm. It was also observed that high misalignment tolerance was retained on using intra-cavity apertures in almost all the CAT-EYE resonators. Use of intra-cavity mesh was also demonstrated for the first time with stable CAT-EYE resonator for improving the beam focus-ability. Average beam divergence was reduced by a factor of 2.5 (from 8 mrad to 3 mrad) on using intra-cavity mesh. These new configurations in CAT-EYE resonators in KE-CVLs are found to be effective in improving and controlling the laser beam divergence significantly with additional characteristic of high misalignment tolerance.     

Properties of a laser beam generated from an axicon resonator

A high power cw CO₂ laser beam is generated from a resonator configuration having an axicon mirror as its end reflector. The properties of this beam are evaluated in terms of its polarization, focusing capability and temporal stability and the resulting effects on processing materials are presented. A comparison is made between a folded and a straight resonator having a spherical focusing mirror as its end reflector.     

LD抽运的折叠腔Nd∶YVO4/KTP倍频红光激光器

对LD端面抽运的Nd∶YVO₄/KTP腔内倍频激光器的三镜折叠腔结构进行优化设计,研究了总腔长、输入镜曲率半径和Nd∶YVO₄和KTP晶体的热效应对激光谐振腔的稳定区域、Nd∶YVO₄晶体内基模光束半径的影响。实验结果表明:该方法所得出的结论与理论相吻合。在实验中比较了折叠腔不同折叠角度的红光输出功率,并获得了最佳折叠角度为25°,其有效倍频效率为10.8%。最后使用基频光的偏振特性与KTP的相位匹配之间的关系对实验结果进行理论解释。     

Height gauge based on dual polarization competition laser

Based on dual polarization competition laser, we develop a new height gauge. By inserting a quartz crystal plate into the laser cavity, one laser beam splits into two orthogonally linear polarized laser beams, which appear one after another with the change in cavity length. After detecting their intensities, we obtain two power-turning curves. The longitudinal mode spacing is divided into 4 equal zones and each one has different intensity phenomena, which provides a new method of height measurement. According to experiments, the direct measuring range of this new method is 12 mm with resolution of 79.1 nm, and the indirect measuring range can be increased using first grade gauge blocks and a liftable platform. Compared to other height gauges such as vernier gauge, inductance sensor and gauge block interferometer, this new instrument has the advantage of self-calibration and simple structure without frequency stabilization system.     

A new laser displacement sensor based on triangulation for gauge real-time measurement

A new laser displacement sensor has been designed, constructed, and used in a train running at a speed of 64 km/h. The laser displacement sensor is insensitive to ambient light and to temperature. The parameters of the laser displacement sensor are as follows: the measurement range is 20 mm, and the laser displacement sensor resolution is 0.3 mm. All the results show that this new displacement sensor meets the requirement for real-time gauge measurement.     

双棒串接Nd∶YAG激光器的稳区分析和实验研究

用传输矩阵法理论分析了在含热致双折射补偿和不含热致双折射补偿两种情况下,r偏振和偏振对双棒串接激光器谐振腔稳区的影响.选用低掺杂浓度的Nd∶YAG棒,实验上用含90°石英旋光片的双棒对称平行平面短腔获得了最佳实验结果.1 064 nm激光最高输出功率达482.3 W,对应光-光转换效率为40.2％.     

A study of Ni-based WC composite coatings by laser induction hybrid rapid cladding with elliptical spot

Ni-based WC composite coatings by laser induction hybrid rapid cladding (LIHRC) with elliptical spot were investigated. Results indicate that the efficiency using the elliptical spot of 6 mm × 4 mm (the major and minor axis of laser beam are 6 mm and 4 mm, respectively, the major axis is parallel to the direction of laser scanning) is higher than that using the elliptical spot of 4 mm × 6 mm (the major axis is perpendicular to the direction of laser scanning). The precipitated carbides with the blocky and bar-like shape indicate that WC particles suffer from the heat damage of “the disintegration pattern + the growth pattern”, whichever elliptical spot is used at low laser scanning speed. However, at high laser scanning speed, the blocky carbides are only formed if the elliptical spot of 6 mm × 4 mm is adopted, showing that WC particles present the heat damage of “the disintegration pattern”, whereas the fine carbides are precipitated when the elliptical spot of 4 mm × 6 mm is used, showing that WC particles take on the heat damage of “the radiation pattern”. Especially, the efficiency of LIHRC is increased much four times higher than that of the general laser cladding and crack-free ceramic-metal coatings can be obtained.     

Investigation on achieving the diode-pumped weak line laser at 1.3 μm

In this paper, a continuous-wave (CW) diode-side-pumped Nd:YAlO₃ (Nd:YAP) laser operating at the weak line of 1339 nm has been achieved and investigated. The output of the 1339 nm laser was realized based on the polarization selection and reasonable transmittance design. The relationship between the output powers and resonator lengths of the 1339 nm Nd:YAP laser has been studied and the optimum resonator length was adopted to improve the output power. As high as 31.3 W output power of the a-axis polarized 1339 nm laser has been obtained at the pumping power of 555 W with the optical-optical and slope efficiencies to be 5.6% and 13%, respectively. This work will provide an effective way to obtain the weak line lasers for potential applications in spectroscopy, coherent terahertz generation, etc.