A high-power subpicosecond distributed feedback dye laser system pumped by a mode-locked Nd: YAG laser

The design and operation characteristics of a distributed feedback dye laser (DFDL) system pumped by the second harmonic of a flashlamp pumped mode-locked Nd: YAG laser are described. The DFDL oscillator facilitates a large tuning range with nearly Fourier limited pulse durations of about 1.6 ps. The combined action of saturated absorption and amplification results in a pulse shortening to about 600 fs, with small fluctuations in the pulse duration. Output pulse energies of more than 400 J are achieved, corresponding to a peak power of more than 650 MW. Since the dye amplifiers are pumped by pulses of only 25 ps duration the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) is very low, typically less than 10^–4.     

A high-power single-mode cw dye ring laser

Due to spatial hole burning, standing-wave dye lasers require a large amount of selectivity inside the cavity for single-mode operation. The output power of these lasers is limited by losses caused by the frequency selecting elements. In a travelling-wave laser, on the other hand, spatial hole burning does not exist, thereby eliminating the need for high selectivity. A travelling-wave cw dye laser was realized by unidirectional operation of a ring laser, yielding single mode output powers of 1.2 W at 595 nm and of 55 mW in the UV-region with intracavity frequency doubling.     

White-light laser cooling of ions in a storage ring

We propose the use of a white laser for laser cooling of ions in a storage ring. The use of a broad-band laser provides a radiation pressure force with wide velocity capture range and high magnitude, which is promising to improve the performance of both longitudinal and indirect transverse cooling. This wide-range force could also be suitable for direct transverse cooling of low-density beams.     

Active optical storage ring for high-power laser pulses

In an optical storage ring, a dye laser amplifier synchronously pumped by external laser pulses has been implemented and experimentally tested. The test was done at =580 nm, but the optical system can be used without limitations in a broad band of 400–700 nm. It is shown that a selected turn of the stored laser pulse can be amplified by typically a factor of 200. Power consideration gives an increase of the efficiency of the optical storage ring with a dye amplifying cell, as compared to a single passage of the laser pulse through the experimental section, by 23 times and it is shown that it can reach a factor of more than 100. PACS 42.60.Da; 42.60.Lh     

Direct high-power laser acceleration of ions for medical applications

Theoretical investigations show that linearly and radially polarized multiterawatt and petawatt laser beams, focused to subwavelength waist radii, can directly accelerate protons and carbon nuclei, over micron-size distances, to the energies required for hadron cancer therapy. Ions accelerated by radially polarized lasers have generally a more favorable energy spread than those accelerated by linearly polarized lasers of the same intensity.     

Externally-modulated high-power fiber grating ring laser for digital transmission

We have constructed a low-cost, double-cavity erbium-doped fiber ring laser with a fiber Bragg grating and a 2×2 coupler. A high output power of 8.7 dBm and a signal-to-noise-floor ratio of 43 dB were demonstrated. This fiber grating ring laser is used as the light source for the 2.488 Gb/s transmission experiment through a 100 km single mode fiber. To our knowledge, this is the first time a fiber grating ring laser is being used as an externally modulated source for digital transmission.     

A subpicosecond dye laser pumped by a xenon ion laser

A pulsed xenon ion laser has been used to pump a rhodamine 6G dye laser utilizing a ring resonator. The dye laser has been passively mode-locked; a pulsewidth of 0.5 ps and a 50 kW peak power have been obtained.Work partly supported by Italian C.N.R.     

Effective temperature and the directional motion of fast ions in a picosecond laser plasma

Experimental data are reported on the generation of fast ions in a picosecond laser plasma at a laser-radiation intensity of 2 × 10¹⁸ W/cm². The results are obtained by measuring the Doppler spectra of hydrogen-like fluorine ions. An important feature of the energy distribution of fast ions is a slow decrease up to an energy of 1.4 MeV. In addition, the directional motion of fast ions deep into a target is found due to the redshift of the Doppler profile of the Ly _α line. The parameters of the energy distribution of the ions are theoretically estimated.     

Production and distribution function of fast ions in laser produced plasma

Fast ions theoretical distribution functions deduced from ponderomotive force mechanism are computed and compared to those obtained in laser plasma experiments. Within the limit of validity of the calculations, experimental and theoretical results are in good agreement.     

Near-infrared subpicosecond pulse generation in a synchronously mode-locked cw dye laser

Tunable subpicosecond pulses have been obtained from a synchronously mode-locked Oxazine-1 dye laser by tandem pumping with output pulses of a mode-locked Rhodamine 6G dye laser. The effects of cavity detuning on the pulse-width and the second harmonic power (the peak intensity of the autocorrelation trace) have been investigated. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with those predicted by a recent model analysis.     

基于等离子体紫外辐射的强激光自动寻焦系统

精准定位激光束焦点位置是提高激光雕刻、切割、焊接等加工精度的重要基础,而传统测量方法不适用于自动寻找强激光焦点。基于激光烧蚀金属后等离子发光含大量紫外谱线的原理,以日盲的氮化镓肖特基光电二极管为传感器,设计了以304不锈钢靶材为耗材的红外强激光束自动寻焦方法及其装置。该方法与共聚焦显微镜检测平均烧蚀坑深的方法相比,当以脉冲宽度100 ns、重复工作频率20 kHz、平均功率10 W的1064 nm光纤激光雕刻机为实验对象时,二者定焦位置相差24 μm。     

Cyclotron mechanism of electron acceleration in subpicosecond laser plasma

The effect of ultrastrong magnetic fields generated in a relativistic-intensity subpicosecond laser plasma on the acceleration of fast electrons was studied. It is shown that resonance electrons can continuously accumulate energy from the circularly polarized laser field in the presence of a longitudinal magnetic field. For the linear polarization and a transverse magnetic field, energy accumulation has a pulse-periodic character, and the electron trajectories correspond to electron rotation in the Larmor orbit in a quasi-stationary magnetic field, while the energy strongly oscillates. In both cases, electron energy may attain values higher than 100 MeV for intensities of 10²⁰ W/cm².     

Internal amplification of subpicosecond pulses from a cw mode-locked dye laser

Subpicosecond pulses from a synchronously and passively mode-locked cw rhodamine 6G dye laser have been amplified with a gain of 10–80 in a range of 577–615 nm by a simple method in which the laser medium inside the cavity acts simultaneously as an amplifier pumped by the second harmonic of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. Under the good mode-locked condition, there was no appreciable pulse broadening effect due to amplification even in a very short subpicosecond regime, while imperfectly mode-locked pulses were amplified with considerable pulse broadening effect even in the picosecond regime.     

Diode-laser pumped high-power and actively mode-locked Nd:YLF laser with fast switching

In an actively mode-locked laser, self-phase modulation can make pulse shorter at the expanse of causing instability at high pumping power. Using fast switching on the acousto-optic modulator, we can generate an actively mode-locked pulse train with shorter pulse width and higher average power than that driven by a sinusoidal signal. A 9-ps pulse train was generated in a mode-locked laser with an average power of 600 mW whose power level, to our knowledge, is the highest for diode-pumped and mode-locked Nd:YLF lasers.     

The effect of prepulse on X-ray laser development using a powerful subpicosecond KrF laser

A high power UV laser has been developed as a pump source for short wavelength (down to 1 nm) X-ray lasers. Various schemes are considered and theoretical analysis is discussed. Spectroscopic studies of laser-target interaction have been performed and, in particular, the effect of a prepulse on plasma generation has been investigated. Analysis of the observed spectra indicates that reduction of the prepulse energy results in a higher temperature plasma. Investigation of the interaction using thin layered targets is also presented. These data provide evidence for initially hot plasma conditions generated from target layers 150 Å. Discussions of proposed laser schemes at 1–5 nm are presented.Also at the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ     

用于激光推进的高功率激光器的选择

 从激光推进的要求出发，阐述了用于激光推进的高功率激光器的选择原则，即激光器必须满足：（1）高的平均功率和峰值功率；（2）高的单脉冲能量；（3）高的重复频率；（4）优良的大气传输特性。主要分析了目前YAG固体激光器、自由电子激光器和TEA脉冲CO₂激光器的特点，通过上述4个方面性能的比较，认为在目前水平下，TEA脉冲CO₂激光器是进行激光推进的首选强激光源，其优点表现在：功率可达10kW量级，单脉冲能量可达0.5~1kJ，重复频率为20~40Hz；激光波长处于大气传输窗口，对大气变化不敏感；工作物质快速流动，不存在热透镜效应和破坏阈值；相关光学元件易于制造；光束质量较好；运行成本低。     

用于激光推进的高功率激光器的选择

从激光推进的要求出发,阐述了用于激光推进的高功率激光器的选择原则,即激光器必须满足：（1）高的平均功率和峰值功率;（2）高的单脉冲能量;（3）高的重复频率;（4）优良的大气传输特性。主要分析了目前YAG固体激光器、自由电子激光器和TEA脉冲CO2激光器的特点,通过上述4个方面性能的比较,认为在目前水平下,TEA脉冲CO2激光器是进行激光推进的首选强激光源,其优点表现在：功率可达10kW量级,单脉冲能量可达0.5~1kJ,重复频率为20~40Hz;激光波长处于大气传输窗口,对大气变化不敏感;工作物质快速流动,不存在热透镜效应和破坏阈值;相关光学元件易于制造;光束质量较好;运行成本低。