Experimental study of the pulse energy of pulsed LD-pumped acousto-optically Q-switched Tm:YAG lasers

We study a pulsed LD-pumped high-energy acousto-optically (AO) Q-switched Tm:YAG laser. The output pulse energy is mainly influenced by the output energy at free running and the energy-extraction efficiency under Q-switching operation. The output energy at free running can be improved by optimizing the parameters of the pump source, laser cavity, and laser medium. We show that, in order to avoid the insufficiency or waste of the population inversion and obtain higher energy-extraction efficiency, a proper pumping width and opening time of the Q switch can be found.     

Feasibility of the solar-pumped fullerene-oxygen-iodine laser (Sun-light FOIL)

The feasibility of the optically pumped (in particular, solar-pumped) fullerene-oxygen-iodine laser (FOIL) is considered. The singlet oxygen is assumed to be formed through the interaction of molecular oxygen with a mixture of (both lower and higher) fullerenes in a photogenerated triplet metastable state. The estimates based on a photokinetic model show that the solar-pumped FOIL efficiency can reach several tens of percent. The singlet-oxygen yield resulting from the interaction of optical pumping radiation with fullerenes in solutions is studied both theoretically and experimentally. As the optical pumping, we used laser radiation at 532 nm and broad-band emission of a lamp with a solarlike spectrum.     

基于掩埋光栅一级分布反馈结构的太赫兹量子级联激光器

结合理论和实验研究了掩埋光栅一级分布反馈太赫兹量子级联激光器中的模式竞争和功率特性。理论计算得到掩埋光栅腐蚀深度与两个带边模式的波导损耗、光学限制因子、辐射损耗以及辐射效率的关系。理论计算表明,掩埋光栅分布反馈结构可以通过改变腐蚀深度,保证激光器稳定单模工作在高频带边模式的同时,调节激光器的阈值增益以及辐射效率。实验和测试结果表明,激光器辐射波长和掩埋光栅的周期成正比,激光器可以在整个动力学范围内稳定单模工作。单模激光器的波长范围可覆盖86.2~91.7μm的范围,边模抑制比可达25 dB,最大输出功率为9.1 mW。该工作有助于高性能单模太赫兹激光器及锁相耦合激光器阵列的研制。     

基于振动弛豫理论提高光抽运太赫兹激光器输出功率的研究

以半经典密度矩阵理论和分子振动弛豫理论为基础,研究添加适当比例缓冲气体与适当减小波导芯径对光抽运太赫兹激光器输出光强的影响.计算结果表明,加入适当比例缓冲气体或适当减小波导的芯径均能提高太赫兹激光的输出光强;同时优化两个参数能进一步提高抽运激光能量转化为太赫兹激光能量的效率,延长工作腔中的有效激活区,延缓抽运饱和效应的出现,提高太赫兹激光输出光强.该研究对提高光抽运太赫兹激光器的能量转化效率、提高光抽运太赫兹激光器的输出功率及实现光抽运太赫兹激光器的小型化有重要的指导意义.     

Fiber laser annealing of indium-tin-oxide nanoparticles for large area transparent conductive layers and optical film characterization

Indium tin oxide (ITO) coatings are widely used as transparent electrodes for optoelectronic devices. The most common preparation methods are sputtering, evaporation, and wet chemical deposition. ITO coatings can also be manufactured by solution deposition of ITO nanoparticles followed by furnace thermal annealing with the major motivation to reduce equipment investment. However, conventional furnace annealing is energy intensive, slow, and limited by the peak processing temperature. To overcome these constraints, we suggest using a laser beam for ITO nanoparticle annealing over a large area. It is shown in the present study that a low cost, high power, and high efficiency laser can yield large area functional ITO films in a process that carries substantial promise for potential industrial implementation. Furthermore, laser annealing generates higher electrical conductivity than conventional, thermally annealed nanoparticle films. The optical and electrical properties of the annealed ITO films can also be altered by adjusting laser parameters and environmental gases.     

Intracavity Raman conversion for 16-μm Stokes pulse generation in para-hydrogen

16-μm Stokes pulses were directly generated for the first time to our knowledge by an intracavity configuration for the para-hydrogen Raman laser. We have analyzed Stokes field growth using a focused gain model and designed a pump/Stokes cavity to satisfy CO₂ pump power and pulse duration requirements for Raman oscillation. The CO₂ laser oscillation with circular polarization was realized by seeding externally circularly polarized CO₂ radiation. An output energy of 2.4 mJ was obtained with the output coupler of 0.5% transmittance, which indicated that 420 mJ of Stokes pulse energy was stored inside the cavity. This suggests that a much higher energy can be extracted by the optimization of cavity parameters. Received: 18 November 1998 / Published online: 26 May 1999     

低阈值单横模852nm半导体激光器

基于波导理论、等效折射率方法,设计并制备了非对称波导隔离双沟结构脊型边发射激光器,最终获得了低闽值单基侧模852 nm激光器.详细研究了不同脊型台深宽比参数设计对激光器侧向模式特性的影响规律,实现了腔面未镀膜情况下脊型波导边发射激光器的单基侧模稳定输出,同时激射波长可以精确调谐到852 nm;工作电流达到150 mA,工作温度30℃;斜率效率最高可达0.89 nW/mA,光谱半宽小于1 nm.研究结果为进一步实现超窄线宽激光器提供了参考和借鉴,并且为实现激光器稳定输出提供了实验基础.     

808nm大功率半导体激光迭阵偏振耦合技术

随着半导体激光器在工业、军事、核能等领域的应用越来越多,单个迭阵输出的光功率密度已经不能满足实际的需求,这就需要将多个半导体激光迭阵的光束耦合成为一个共同的光束,以提高输出功率和亮度.所以采用怎样的光束耦合技术能实现高亮度、高质量的激光输出就成了一个关键性的问题.对于该技术的研究,国内还没有实验方面的报道.主要介绍了大功率半导体激光器偏振耦合原理、实验的技术路线,以及对808nm半导体激光迭阵进行耦合实验的结果及分析.对2个bar、功率为40W/bar的808nm连续半导体激光迭阵,实现偏振耦合的总效率超过90%,聚焦得直径为3mm光斑,输出功率达到134W,总体效率超过84%.对7个bar、峰值功率100W/ba、r占空比20%的808nm准连续半导体激光迭阵进行了偏振耦合,其效率达到67%,得到4.5mm×4.5mm的光斑.     

用滑模变结构控制方法实现外腔反馈式半导体激光器的混沌控制

通过增加外腔反馈式半导体激光器的激光反馈时间，使系统处于混沌状态，再采用滑模变结构控制方法实现这种激光器的混沌控制.该方法的优点是系统既能很快地获得稳定的输出激光，又能根据工程需要实现激光输出功率强度的灵活调整.理论分析和数值计算结果表明控制结果具有很强的稳定性和鲁棒性.研究结果对改善实际激光系统稳态输出的快速性、输出功率的灵活可调性和能量转换效率有较好的参考价值. 关键词： 混沌 外腔反馈式半导体激光器 滑模变结构控制 外腔长度     

Experimental study of electro-optical Q-switched pulsed Nd:YAG laser

We report the specification of a compact and stable side diode-pumped Q-switched pulsed Nd:YAG laser. We experimentally study and compare the performance of the pulsed Nd:YAG laser in the free-running and Q-switched modes at different pulse repetition rates from 1 Hz to 100 Hz. The laser output energy is stabilized by using a special configuration of the optical resonator. In this laser, an unsymmetrical concave-concave resonator is used and this structure helps the mode volume to be nearly fixed when the pulse repetition rate is increased. According to the experimental results in the Q-switched operation, the laser output energy is nearly constant around 70 mJ with an FWHM pulse width of 7 ns at 100 Hz. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency in the Q-switched regime is 17.5%.     

激光输出特性对介质薄膜损伤的影响

 采用输出特性不同的几种激光器测量了多种介质光学薄膜的破坏阈值,并对典型的破坏过程进行显微分析。研究了激光输出特性的不同对薄膜损伤效果的影响:在相同能量输出的条件下,脉冲激光比连续激光更容易形成有效的破坏;连续激光则能通过能量积累而更容易对作用目标造成烧蚀破坏。     

A frequency-doubled pulsed chemical oxygen-iodine laser

The intracavity second-harmonic generation of pulsed chemical oxygen-iodine laser radiation was investigated. A pulsed chemical oxygen-iodine laser with a maximum output energy of 6.14 mJ was used. The second-harmonic output of 0.5 mJ was demonstrated using a lithium iodate crystal. The conversion efficiency of 8% was limited by intracavity losses. Numerical simulation predicts that a conversion efficiency of 75% can be obtained with 1% intracavity losses.     

Gravitational wave detection with single-laser atom interferometers

We present a new general design approach of a broad-band detector of gravitational radiation that relies on two atom interferometers separated by a distance L. In this scheme, only one arm and one laser will be used for operating the two atom interferometers. We consider atoms in the atom interferometers not only as perfect inertial reference sensors, but also as highly stable clocks. Atomic coherence is intrinsically stable and can be many orders of magnitude more stable than a laser. The unique one-laser configuration allows us to then apply time-delay interferometry to the responses of the two atom interferometers, thereby canceling the laser phase fluctuations while preserving the gravitational wave signal in the resulting data set. Our approach appears very promising. We plan to investigate further its practicality and detailed sensitivity analysis.     

Lasing of iodine in the fullerene-oxygen-iodine system

The possibility of lasing in the fullerene-oxygen-iodine system with optical excitation of fullerene is studied. Laser radiation with an energy of 25 mJ and a pulse duration of 5–10 ms is obtained.     

光纤光栅外腔半导体激光器的多参量优化分析

采用多参量优化的多目标遗传算法优化了光纤光栅外腔半导体激光器（FGECL）管芯的两个端面反射率和外腔长度.研究了FGECL的阈值特性,并对多个参量优化和单个参量优化的结果进行了比较分析.表明获取最低阈值电流,要以激光器的电光转换效率和输出光功率为代价,从而得到高边模抑制比、窄光谱线宽、良好动态特性和高调制速率的FGECL.并且发现当两端面的反射率增加,同时激射波长在外腔长度中形成稳定谐振时,激光器的阈值电流达到最小值,但相应的电光转换效率和出光功率会急剧地减小.     

Research on a middle infrared and long infrared dual-band laser

We propose a continuous-wave(CW)middle infrared(MIR)and long infrared(LIR)dual-band laser for the calibration and effect research of infrared detecting and imaging systems.A total output power of 18 W is achieved by the proposed dual-band laser through one DF gain medium module and one parallel placed CO2 gain medium module using a common stable resonator and output mirror with nominal transmissivities of ～5%in the MIR band and～10%in the LIR band.Spectra of dual-band laser are acquired.The power extracting efficiency of this dual-band laser can be significantly improved,as validated by a single-band test of optimized parameters.     

The influence of the quality of ruby on the parameters of the Q-switched laser

The factors influencing energy threshold, slope efficiency and damage threshold of the Q-switched ruby laser are described. Energy output of crystals containing O^– centre (increased absorption near 430 nm) is not substantially decreased. Energy threshold increase and output decrease of the Q-switched ruby were also observed using rods with anomalous birefringence, whereas optical homogenity defined as a number of interference fringes is not so important as in the case of the free-running laser. Damage threshold due to laser radiation is decreased by the presence of divalent chromium, striations and to a lesser extent by the presence of inclusions.     

The use of plane-polarized beams in controlled surface temperature laser heat treating

Plane-polarized CO₂ laser beams can be successfully employed in controlled surface temperature laser heat treating in order to improve the coupling between radiation and steel. The coupling efficiency has been quantitatively determined by means of a simple energy balance model, by using a medium-power CO₂ laser. In this way, the angle at which the best coupling can be obtained has also been singled out. Moreover, some heat treatments performed with a high power laser beam obliquely impinging on medium carbon steel samples have confirmed that controlled surface temperature laser heat treating can be completely free of the problems concerning the use of coatings generally employed.     

Frequency doubled diode laser in alternative extended cavity

We report on an alternative extended cavity scheme used with a 180 mW quantum well GaAlAs diode laser, operating near 850 nm. A dispersing prism and a thin glass plate are employed to enforce stable single-mode operation in the strong feedback regime, with no need for laser AR coatings. Compared to other configurations where a grating is used, the lower loss in the extended cavity allows higher fundamental power available for second harmonic generation. For example, by frequency doubling using potassium niobate in a power enhancement cavity, enough power can be generated from a single diode laser to decelerate and trap calcium atoms with radiation at 423 nm.     

纳秒脉冲激光诱导土壤等离子体辐射强度研究

为了改善激光诱导击穿光谱质量,采用Nd∶YAG激光器输出的纳秒脉冲激光激发土壤样品,由光栅光谱仪和光电检测系统记录激光诱导等离子体发射光谱,研究了激光输出能量(100～500mJ)对等离子体辐射强度的影响。实验结果表明,在激光能量为200mJ的优化条件下,可以提高光谱强度和信背比。当激光束被适当散焦以后激发样品时,能够进一步改善光谱质量,散焦位置为+6mm时元素Mg,Al,K和Fe的谱线强度比未散焦时分别提高了46%,63%,59%和45%,而光谱信背比分别提高了11%,31%,35%和38%。这为检测土壤样品中痕量杂质元素奠定了基础。