Continuous-wave Raman generation in a diode-pumped Nd3+:KGd(WO4)2 laser

Continuous-wave Raman generation in a compact solid-state laser system pumped by a multimode diode laser is demonstrated. The Stokes radiation of stimulated Raman scattering at 1.181 microm is generated as a result of self-frequency conversion of the 1.067 microm laser radiation in Nd3+:KGd(WO4)2 crystal placed in the cavity. The Raman threshold was measured at 1.15 W of laser diode power. The highest output power obtained at the Stokes wavelength was 54 mW. The anomalous delay of Raman generation relative to the start of laser generation (the oscillation buildup) due to slow accumulation of Stokes photons in the cavity at low Raman gain and Raman threshold dependence not only on the laser intensity but also on the time of laser action are observed.     

Frequency-stable operation of a diode-pumped continuous-wave RbTiOAsO(4) optical parametric oscillator

Frequency-stable operation of a diode-pumped continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator (OPO) of RbTiOAsO(4) is demonstrated. Piezoelectric and fast electro-optic control of the optical length of the two-mirror OPO cavity (resonant for the pump and the idler waves) compensates for thermal changes in the refractive index of the OPO crystal (induced by absorption of pump light) and acoustic perturbations of the cavity length. Pumped by 405mW of the 810-nm output of a GaAlAs masterf-oscillator-tapered-amplifier diode laser system, the OPO generates a power-stable single-frequency signal wave at 1.24microm with an output of 84mW and a spectral bandwidth of less than 10MHz.     

Intracavity frequency doubling of a diode-pumped 946-nm Nd:YAG laser with bulk periodically poled MgO LiNbO(3)

We report what we believe is the first cw quasi-phase-matched intracavity frequency doubling of a diode-pumped 946-nm Nd:YAG laser by use of bulk periodically poled MgO-LiNbO(3). A maximum second-harmonic power of 5.9 mW was obtained at a laser diode power of 500 mW. The blue beam profile showed a TEM(00) single spatial mode of low ellipticity (1:1) because there was no walk-off problem. Bulk periodic domain inversion was accomplished by a corona discharge method with a first-order modulation period of 4.75 microm for a wavelength of 946 nm over a 2-mm interaction length in Z-cut 0.4-mm-thick MgO-LiNbO(3).     

Enhanced efficiency of Er:Yb:Ce:NaGd(WO4)2 laser at 1.5-1.6 microm by the introduction of high-doping Ce3+ ions

By the introduction of high-doping Ce3+ ions, the upconversion fluorescence of Er3+ ions was reduced, and the energy-transfer efficiency from Yb3+ to Er3+ ions was enhanced significantly in Er:Yb:Ce:NaGd(WO4)2 crystals. End pumped by a diode laser at 970 nm in a hemispherical cavity, a 2.0 W quasi-cw laser at 1.5-1.6 microm with slope efficiency of 19% and absorbed pump threshold of 2.0 W was achieved in a 1.7-mm-thick c-cut Er:Yb:Ce:NaGd(WO4)2 crystal. The results show that the Er.:Yb:Ce:NaGd(WO4)2 crystal with high-doping Ce3+ ions is a potential gain medium for a low-threshold 1.5-1.6 microm laser.     

Demonstration of long-term reliability of a 266-nm, continuous-wave, frequency-quadrupled solid-state laser using beta-BaB(2)O(4)

We report what we believe to be the first operation of more than 1000 h of a 266-nm (cw) frequency-quadrupled solid-state laser with a 100-mW output. We used beta-BaB(2)O(4)(BBO) crystal grown by the Czochralski method to double the green-light (532-nm) wavelength, using an external resonant cavity. The green light was generated with an intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:YVO(4)laser pumped by a 4-W laser diode. When the incident 532-nm power on the external resonant doubler was 500 mW, we generated 100 mW of cw 266-nm radiation with the BBO crystal. The degradation rate seems to be proportional to the strength of the UV optical electric field. We also obtained a relative intensity noise of -130dB/Hz at frequencies of 2 to 10 MHz for 266-nm laser light.     

Study on 660-nm quasi-continuous-wave intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser

A quasi-continuous-wave intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser which operates at 660 nm is studied.By using a flat-flat laser cavity, 2 Kr-lamps, KTP crystal and an acousto-optically Q-switch, 2-W outputpower at 660 nm is obtained. The relationship between laser cavity length and output power is analyzed.     

Hyperfine structure in Iodine at the 612-nm and 640-nm helium-neon laser wavelengths

The hyperfine structure of iodine-127 at 612 nm and 640 nm is observed by saturated absorption in a gas cell placed within a He-Ne laser cavity modified to operate at these wavelengths. At 612 nm, all the 21 components of the strong R 47 9-2 line lie within the laser gain profile, and the resulting saturated absorption peaks have a contrast of 10% at a gas pressure of 3 Pa.     

Diode-pumped 1123-nm Nd:YAG laser

We demonstrated a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser with a plano-concave resonator. When the pump power is 1.57 W, the output power of 1123-nm laser is 132 mW at the temperature of 20 ℃, and the power change is less than 2% in an hour. A periodically poled LiNbOa (PPLN) was used as outer cavity frequency-doubling crystal and 561-nm laser was observed.     

Passively mode-locked 914-nm Nd:YVO4 laser

We demonstrate what is to our knowledge the first mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser operating on the 4F3/2-4I9/2 transition at 914 nm. Using a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror for passive mode locking, we have obtained 3-ps pulses at a repetition rate of 233.8 MHz. The laser is based on a standard delta cavity and is pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser. We obtained an average output power of 42 mW through one mirror and an accumulated output power of approximately 150 mW (through all cavity mirrors) at a pump power of 1.4 W.     

Performance comparison of self-focusing with 1053- and 351-nm laser pulses

Hole boring characteristics of laser beams are studied using two different laser wavelengths in preformed plasmas with overdense regions. We have shown that a whole beam self-focusing is created in plasma with a considerable density scale length using a 1 microm wavelength laser. The whole beam self-focusing of this type could be used for guiding the ultrahigh intense laser pulse to a highly compressed core for studying the feasibility of a fast ignitor. There is a clear difference in the hole-boring characteristics between two laser wavelengths at 1053 and 351 nm, both in the experiment and the simulation. Using the third-harmonic laser, a whole beam self-focusing is never created. The 351-nm laser beam broke up into filaments resulting in plasma jets observed in our interferogram.     

A 657-nm narrow bandwidth interference filter-stabilized diode laser

We present a 657-nm external cavity diode laser (ECDL) system,where the output frequency is stabilized by a narrow-band high transmission interference filter.This novel diode laser system emits laser with an instantaneous linewidth of 7 kHz and a broadened linewidth of 432 kHz.     

Mode-locked ytterbium fiber laser tunable in the 980-1070-nm spectral range

Spectral tuning of a mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser over a 90-nm range is reported. Using semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors in a fiber laser cavity incorporating a grating-pair dispersive delay line, we obtain reliable self-starting mode locking over the whole tuning range. The wide tuning range is achieved by optimization of reflection characteristics and bandgap energy of the multiple-quantum-well semiconductor saturable absorber and by proper engineering of the laser cavity.     

Generation of ultraviolet (335-nm) light by intracavity frequency doubling from active mode-locking action of an external-cavity AlGaInP diode laser

An intracavity frequency-doubling scheme was merged with an actively mode-locked AlGaInP laser diode with an external cavity to provide efficient generation of 335-nm ultraviolet light. Intense pulses of <16ps were successfully generated inside the cavity at subgigahertz repetition frequencies. We applied those pulses to intracavity second-harmonic generation from a 5-mm-long LiIO(3) crystal, which resulted in average ultraviolet power of 70muW for an average fundamental power of 73 mW.     

An 8-W diode side pumped solid-state 593-nm laser

We report a double z-type folded plane-plane symmetrical cavity diode side pumped solid state yellow-orange laser at 593 nm by using intracavity sum-frequency mixing. By carefully designing the cavity and employing several techniques to increase sum-frequency efficiency, a Q-switched yellow-orange laser source, with an average output power of 8 W, a beam quality factor M ² = 4.86, and a repetition rate of 8 kHz is developed. In this paper, we first use 1338 and 1064 nm emissions of Nd:YAG crystal to generate 593 nm yellow-orange laser beam by intracavity sum-frequency mixing (SFM).     

Unidirectional Single-Mode 532-nm Nd:YAG Laser Using Intracavity Frequency Doubling in Nonplanar Ring Geometry

Intracavity frequency doubling of a single-mode Nd:YAG laser using a nonplanar ring cavity is demonstrated. The nonplanar ring cavity consists of a Brewster-angled Nd: YAG crystal placed in a magnetic field, a KTP crystal, and two spherical mirrors. In this design the Nd:YAG crystal acts as both a nonreciprocal polarization rotator and a partial polarizer, and the nonplanar portion of the ring cavity, which is formed by a relative twist angle between the Brewster-angled end surfaces of the crystal, serves as a reciprocal polarization rotator. Eigenpolarization theory for the cavity configuration is presented and a suitable value of the relative twist angle for unidirectional operation is estimated. A single-mode output power of 22 mW at 532 nm is obtained with a 1.2-W diode laser at 809 nm and a laser linewidth of less than 100 kHz is inferred from a beat note frequency spectrum between two identical laser systems.     

Simultaneous 13C/12C and (18)O/(16)O isotope ratio measurements on CO2 based on off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy

A prototype off-axis integrated cavity output spectrometer (OA-ICOS) utilizing two identical cavities together with a near-infrared (1.63 microm) external cavity tunable diode laser is described. The two-cavity design-one for a reference gas and one for a sample gas-takes advantage of classical double-beam infrared spectrometer characteristics in reducing uncertainties due to laser scan or power instabilities and major temperature variations by a factor of three or better compared with a single-cavity scheme. This is the first OA-ICOS instrument designed to determine 13C/12C and (18)O/(16)O ratios from CO2 rotation/vibration fine structure in three different combination bands. Preliminary results indicate that at 0.8 Hz a precision of 3.3 and 2.8 per thousand is obtained for delta13C and delta(18)O, respectively, over a period of 10 h and a pure CO2 gas sample at 26 hPa. By averaging 100 spectra over a subset of the data, we achieved a precision of 1.6 and 0.8 \permil\ for delta13C and delta(18)O, respectively.     

Generation of continuous-wave 243-nm radiation by sum-frequency mixing

We have generated tunable cw radiation near 243 nm with a linewidth of less than 4 MHz by sum-frequency mixing the 351 nm radiation from an argon-ion laser with the 789 nm radiation from a ring dye laser in a crystal of ammonium dihydrogen phosphate held at moderate temperature. An external ring cavity, resonant with the dye laser, gives a power enhancement of about 12 in the sum-frequency generated radiation. Thermal lensing due to laser heating of the nonlinear crystal, distorded the 351 nm mode structure. This effect could limit the efficiency of the sum frequency mixing process.     

Continuous-wave operation of a broadly tunable thermoelectrically cooled external cavity quantum-cascade laser

Continuous-wave operation of an external cavity quantum-cascade laser on a thermoelectric cooler is reported. The active region of the gain element was based on a bound-to-continuum design emitting near 5.15 microm. The external cavity setup was arranged in a Littrow configuration. The front facet of the gain chip was antireflection coated. The laser could be tuned over more than 170 cm(-1) from 4.94 to 5.4 microm and was single mode over more than 140 cm(-1). The output power was in excess of 10 mW over approximately 100 cm(-1) and in excess of 5 mW over approximately 130 cm(-1) at -30 degrees C.     

Diode-pumped 1018-nm ytterbium-doped double-clad fiber laser

We report a 1 018-nm ytterbium-doped double-clad fiber laser pumped by 970-nm diode. A pair of fiber Bragg gratings with reflectivities of 99.9% and 9% at a center wavelength of 1 018.9 nm are employed as cavity mirrors. The ytterbium-doped double-clad fiber is a 2.6-m-long Liekki fiber. Laser output power of 7.5 W at 1 018 nm is obtained under the pump power of 59.2 W. The overall slope efficiency of the fiber laser is about 16%. This low slope efficiency is mainly due to the incomplete absorption of the pump power.     

CO2的腔增强吸收与高灵敏吸收光谱研究

腔增强吸收光谱(CEAS)是在衰荡吸收光谱的基础上发展起来的一种新型的直接吸收光谱技术.文章报道了用中心输出波长为1.573μm的窄线宽连续可调谐半导体激光器(DFB封装)作光源,用两块高反射率平凹透镜(在1.573μm附近,凹面反射率R～99.4%,曲率半径r～1 m)组成对称共焦腔作吸收池的腔增强吸收光谱系统.采用扫描腔长的方法改变谐振腔的模式,当激光器的输出频率与谐振腔的某一腔模之间满足共振匹配关系时,激光被耦合到谐振腔内,用探测器接收透过谐振腔的光信号,同时用波长计精确测量激光器的输出波长.在33.5 cm长的吸收池内测量了吸收强度为1.816×10-23cm-1·(molecule·cm-2)-1的二氧化碳分子的弱吸收谱线,探测灵敏度达到了6.78×10-7 cm-1.实验结果表明,腔增强吸收光谱具有灵敏度高,装置简单,易于操作等优点.