Nonlinear frequency conversion of copper vapor laser radiation using convergent and parallel laser beams

Results of experiments are presented on the comparison of the efficiency of radiation generation at the sum frequency (λ=0.271 μm) of copper vapor laser (CVL) in a nonlinear DKDP crystal using either convergent or parallel laser beam. An intensity of UV radiation of 0.34 W and a conversion efficiency of 6% obtained under conditions of strong focusing occur to be substantially lower as compared to those obtained using a parallel laser beam of the same power (0.73 W and 12%, respectively). Experimental data on the structure of a CVL beam generated with an unstable resonator are presented, and physical reasons for the limitation of the efficiency of nonlinear frequency conversion are analyzed.     

基于非线性偏振旋转锁模的高功率光子晶体光纤飞秒激光振荡器

为了探索大模场面积光子晶体光纤锁模激光器在全正色散锁模域内的耗散孤子锁模机理, 以获得更大的单脉冲能量和更高的峰值功率, 本文搭建了以掺镱大模场面积光子晶体光纤作为增益介质的耗散孤子锁模激光器. 激光器使用环形腔结构, 利用非线性偏振旋转以及滤光片提供的耗散作用实现了稳定的锁模运转. 实验中, 从激光器振荡级直接获得了平均功率10 W, 重复频率49.09 MHz(对应202 nJ的单脉冲能量), 脉冲宽度为1.03 ps的稳定锁模脉冲输出, 经过腔外色散补偿得到的脉冲宽度为95.5 fs.     

Discretely tunable, all-solid-state laser in the green, yellow, and red

We report an all-solid-state intracavity Raman laser with intracavity nonlinear sum-frequency generation providing visible output wavelengths selected from second harmonics and sum frequencies of the fundamental and Stokes fields. The laser comprises a diode end-pumped Nd:YAG laser, an acousto-optic Q switch, a KGd(WO4)2 Raman crystal, and a lithium borate nonlinear converter in a resonator designed to accommodate dynamic thermal lensing. For 20 W of pump power, output powers up to 1.8 W are demonstrated at wavelengths of 532, 555, 579, and 606 nm, selectable by angle and temperature tuning of the nonlinear medium.     

基于预啁啾管理放大的掺镱锁模光纤激光器

报导了一种采用预啁啾管理放大技术实现的百飞秒级掺镱光纤激光器系统。该系统首先利用非线性偏振旋转技术搭建锁模种子激光,实现重复频率为82.3 MHz、压缩后脉宽接近180 fs的近线性啁啾稳定脉冲序列。种子脉冲通过预放大级和预啁啾管理放大级后获得了平均功率为12 W、压缩后脉宽低于100 fs的脉冲。经过预啁啾管理放大级的压缩后脉冲宽度明显优于种子激光的压缩后脉冲宽度。     

High-power ultraviolet 278 nm laser from fourth-harmonic generation of a Nd:YAG laser in CsB3O5

We demonstrate a high-power UV 278 nm laser by fourth-harmonic generation (FHG) of a 1112 nm Nd:YAG laser in a nonlinear optical (NLO) crystal CsB3O5 (CBO) for the first time, to our best knowledge. A 30 W level diode-pumped Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 1112 nm with beam quality factor M2=1.2 was used as the fundamental light source at a pulse width of 500 ns. With an LiB3O5 crystal, the 1112 nm laser was first frequency-doubled to 556 nm with an average output power of 13.5 W. It was then frequency doubled again in a CBO crystal to obtain the FHG output at 278 nm. The maximum average output power of the 278 nm laser is up to 1.5 W. The results demonstrated that CBO crystal is a promising NLO material for UV high-power lasers below 300 nm.     

Self-focusing and nonlinear acceleration process in laser produced plasma

Ruby laser intensities exceedingI ^* - 10¹⁴ W/cm² create a predominant acceleration of dense plasma due to nonlinear collisionless interaction resulting mainly from collective effects. Recoil causes confinement of the plasma interior in the form of a superlinearly increased radiation pressure. Similar nonlinear forces produce self-focusing in plasmas at a threshold laser power of only 10⁵ to 10⁶ W. The resulting filaments have intensitiesI ^*, from which their diameter can be determined in agreement with measurements of Korobkin and Alcock. These high intensities should allow some observed properties of laser produced plasmas (keV ions, linear increase of the ion charge) to be interpreted on the basis of the nonlinear acceleration described.     

83 W yellow-green laser at 556 nm from frequency-doubling of a Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser at 1112 nm in LBO

We demonstrate a high power 556 nm yellow-green laser by intracavity frequency doubled of the diode-pumped 1112 nm Nd:YAG laser in a symmetrical L-shaped flat-flat cavity. The coatings of the resonator mirrors were carefully designed to achieve efficient operation of fundamental wavelength of the laser at 1112 nm. By using a type-II phase matching LBO nonlinear crystal as the frequency-doubler, the maximum output power of the 556 nm laser was measured to be as high as 83 W with a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 10 kHz under incident pump power of 1150 W, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of about 7.2%. The fluctuation of output power was less than 2% over 30 min.     

Measurement of the third order nonlinear optical coefficients of GaP and chirp parameter of laser pulse

The spectral resolved femtosecond pump-probe experiment is applied to measure the third order nonlinear refractive index coefficient, two-photon absorption coefficient of GaP crystal, and the chirp parameter of the input laser pulses. The results show that nonlinear refractive index coefficient is 2× 10-18 m2/W, twophoton absorption coefficient is 2× 10-11 m/W at wavelength of 783.5 nm, and the chirp parameter of laser pulse is l× 1025 s-2. Furthermore, the mechanism of nonlinear refraction due to two-photon absorption in GaP crystal and experimental results are discussed.     

Time-resolved analysis of nonlinear optical limiting for laser synthesized carbon nanoparticles

Nonlinear optical limiting materials have attracted much research interest in recent years. Carbon nanoparticles suspended in liquids show a strong nonlinear optical limiting function. It is important to investigate the nonlinear optical limiting process of carbon nanoparticles for further improving their nonlinear optical limiting performance. In this study, carbon nanoparticles were prepared by laser ablation of a carbon target in tetrahydrofuran (THF). Optical limiting properties of the samples were studied with 532-nm laser light, which is in the most sensitive wavelength band for human eyes. The shape of the laser pulse plays an important role for initializing the nonlinear optical limiting effect. Time-resolved analysis of laser pulses discovered 3 fluence stages of optical limiting. Theoretical simulation indicates that the optical limiting is initialized by a near-field optical enhancement effect.     

High power tunable picosecond green laser pulse generation by frequency doubling of an Yb-doped fiber power amplifier seeded by a gain switch laser diode

A compact tunable high power picosecond green laser pulse source based on frequency doubling of an Yb-doped fiber amplifier seeded by a gain switch laser diode has been developed. The fiber amplifier generates the picosecond infrared pulses with average power of 10.3 W, repetition rate of 1 MHz, pulse duration of 150 ps, and tunable range of 20 nm around 1064 nm. For underwater use, the tunable output infrared pulses are frequency doubled into picosecond green laser pulses, which can be tuned from 527 to 537 nm with average power of more than 1.1 W, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 10.7% by a BBO nonlinear crystal. This kind of laser source will have potential application for underwater optical communication.     

High-power diode-pumped picosecond Nd(3+):YVO(4) laser

A diode-pumped Nd(3+):YVO(4) laser passively mode locked by a nonlinear mirror based on second-harmonic generation has been developed. Pumping with a fiber-coupled 10-W diode array, we generated nearly diffraction limited, linearly polarized 11-ps pulses at 1064nm, with average power of 2.7 W at a 150-MHz repetition rate. Pulses as short as 7.9 ps were measured with reduced output power (1.35 W) by optimal focusing in the nonlinear crystal.     

全光纤高功率被动锁模掺铥光纤激光器

利用非线性光环形镜(NOLM)的可饱和吸收特性实现了可自启动的2μm全光纤高能量被动锁模掺铥光纤激光器。当泵浦功率大于3W时,激光器工作在连续或不稳定脉冲运转状态;泵浦功率达到4.69W后,输出为自启动锁模脉冲,重复频率4.26MHz,中心波长2 061.5nm,光谱半极大宽度18.1nm,平均输出功率8.8mW;继续增加泵浦功率到最大值7.56W,可以得到中心波长2 062.2nm、光谱半极大宽度17.1nm、斜率效率为6.2%、脉冲宽度和能量分别为424fs和65.6nJ的稳定锁模脉冲。这是目前已报道的在未经放大情况下脉冲能量最高的2μm锁模脉冲光纤激光器。     

基于中红外DFG光源的甲烷气体光谱检测方法研究

基于中红外光源的气体光谱检测是新的痕量气体监测与分析方法,在大气监测领域具有重要的应用。构建了一套基于中红外DFG光源的甲烷气体光谱检测系统。该系统以1 550 nm和1 060 nm波段可调谐半导体激光器作为基频光源,采用PPLN晶体作为差频非线性变频器件,实现了3.3 μm处的窄线宽可调谐中红外光源输出。实验结果表明,当PPLN晶体工作温度为99.5℃时,闲频光的输出功率为112 μW,差频转换效率达到1.246 mW/W2。晶体的温度接受带宽为4.3℃,泵浦光波长接受带宽为5.3 nm。在此基础上,分别利用直接吸收法和谐波检测法获得了3 028.751 cm-1处的甲烷气体吸收光谱和二次谐波检测信号。     

Efficient 532 nm laser using high gray-tracking resistance KTP crystal

A LD end-pumped acoustic-optic Q-switched intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:YVO₄ laser was demonstrated. It uses a high gray-tracking resistance KTP crystal as nonlinear optical crystal. The output characteristics of 532 nm green laser using different doping concentrations and cavity configurations were investigated. With the pump power of 27.5 W, a maximum average power of 13 W at 532 nm was achieved at a pulse repetition rate of 80 kHz, corresponding to the optical-to-optical efficiency of 47.3%. The pulse width is 30 ns and single pulse energy is up to 162.5 μJ. This work is a significant exploration for using a high gray-tracking resistance KTP crystal to generate highly efficient frequency-doubled green laser.     

Continuous-wave single-frequency 532 nm laser source emitting 130 W into the fundamental transversal mode

The nonlinear effect of second-harmonic generation is an efficient way to realize high-power green laser sources. But when scaling up the harmonic power, many setups reported in the literature have been limited by conversion efficiency degradation or the fundamental laser power. Here we report on the generation of 134 W of cw laser light at a wavelength of 532 nm from a fundamental power of 149 W by second-harmonic generation in an external optical resonator comprising a lithium triborate crystal. The external conversion efficiency was 90%. The harmonic light consisted of a single spectral line. At least 97% of it was emitted into the fundamental transversal mode.     

腔内倍频Nd:YVO4晶体激光获得的大功率671nm红光

本文报道了由双端泵浦Nd:YVO4晶体产生1342nm基频光，经过非线性晶体LBO腔内产生的671nm的红光光源。泵浦功率19.5W时，产生的671nm的红光平均功率是2.9W。光光转换效率为14.9%。分析了最近泵浦光斑尺寸，最佳聚焦位置，减少热透镜效应对输出功率的影响。双端泵浦结构和准连续运行模式大大减弱了热透镜效应。     

976 nm激光抽运二氧化硅微球级联拉曼散射激光的研究

利用电极放电产生的电弧高温熔融二氧化硅单锥细纤, 熔融的二氧化硅在表面张力作用下形成表面光滑的微球, 完成高品质因子微球腔的制备. 将976 nm激光通过锥光纤以倏逝场方式高效耦合入微球, 研究具有高能量密度回廊模的微球腔中的三阶非线性现象——受激拉曼散射现象. 在实验中测得了六级级联的拉曼散射激光, 各级拉曼散射激光分别测得单纵模或多纵模; 在抽运光功率不少于582.6 μW时, 测得位于1200 nm附近的拉曼散射激光; 当抽运光功率为3.014 mW时, 测得位于1287.04 nm附近的第六级拉曼散射激光. 关键词： 微球腔 锥光纤 高品质因子 拉曼散射激光     

50.2W high stability and high compact all-solid-state green laser with extra-cavity frequency-doubling at 500 Hz

A 50.2W high pulse energy green laser system at 532 nm was demonstrated by extra-cavity second-harmonic generation (SHG). The fundamental laser was based on laser diode (LD) side-pumped MOPA Q-switched technology, producing 79W of average power at the repetition rate of 500 Hz, while the pulse width was 6 ns. Type-II angle phasematched KTiOPO₄ (KTP) crystal was used as the nonlinear crystal. The 50.2W average power of 532 nm laser was obtained with the divergence angle less than 0.6 mrad and the corresponding peak power of 16.7MW. The optical frequency conversion efficiency from fundamental to green laser was up to 63.5%. The measured output power fluctuation was less than 0.38% in one hour operation.     

High-power all-normal-dispersion femtosecond pulse generation from a Yb-doped large-mode-area microstructure fiber laser

We report on an all-normal-dispersion mode-locked fiber laser based on a large-mode-area Yb-doped microstructure fiber and using a high nonlinear modulation depth semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. The laser delivers 3.3 W of average output power with positively chirped 5.5 ps pulses at a center wavelength of 1033 nm. The pulse repetition rate is 46.4 MHz, which results in an energy per pulse of 71 nJ. These pulses are extracavity dechirped down to 516 fs by using bulk gratings. The average power of the dechirped pulses is 2.3 W, which corresponds to a peak power of more than 96 kW.     

High-efficiency frequency doubling of continuous-wave laser light

We report on the observation of high-efficiency frequency doubling of 1550?nm continuous-wave laser light in a nonlinear cavity containing a periodically poled potassium titanyl phosphate crystal (PPKTP). The fundamental field had a power of 1.10?W and was converted into 1.05?W at 775?nm, yielding a total external conversion efficiency of 95±1%. The latter value is based on the measured depletion of the fundamental field being consistent with the absolute values derived from numerical simulations. According to our model, the conversion efficiency achieved was limited by the nonperfect mode matching into the nonlinear cavity and by the nonperfect impedance matching for the maximum input power available. Our result shows that cavity-assisted frequency conversion based on PPKTP is well suited for low-decoherence frequency conversion of quantum states of light.