Tunable CW Tm,Ho:YLF laser at 2μm

A tunable continuous wave (CW) low temperature operating Tm (6 at.-%),Ho (0.6 at.-%):YLF laser pumped by fiber-coupled diode laser is reported. The maximum output power is 4.16 W at 2073 nm by use of 30% output coupling, the slope efficiency is 33%. A tuning range from 2049 to 2081 nm is achieved with a birefringent filter (BF). The factors that contribute to the output power and tuning range are discussed.     

Diode-pumped CW Tm:GdVO_4 laser at 1.9 μm

A high power cryogenic cooling Tm-doped (2%) GdVO4 laser double-end-pumped by fiber-coupled-diode with the center wavelength of 804.5 nm at 21 ℃ is reported. The highest continuous-wave (CW) power of 2.35 W at 1903 nm is attained at pump power of 24 W. The slope efficiency is 12.5% and the threshold is 3.2 W. Single- and double-end-pumped types are investigated.     

光纤耦合二极管端泵2μm CW双掺Tm,Ho∶GdVO_4激光器

同YLF和YAG基质相比,在TmHo∶GdVO4晶体中Tm3+离子在800nm附近有非常强的和宽的吸收带,所以该晶体非常适合商品化的GaAlAs激光二极管泵浦.在液氮制冷晶体条件下,利用光纤耦合激光二极管及消色差光学耦合系统端面泵浦双掺5%Tm,0.5%Ho∶GdVO4晶体,在泵浦功率14W、泵浦波长794nm时,实现了2.048μm激光输出,连续运转输出功率3.6W,相应的光光转换效率为25.7%,斜率效率26.6%.相对于吸收的泵浦功率,光光转换效率为35%.由于Tm3+离子间的交叉弛豫效应,泵浦量子效率达到1.3.     

A cw room-temperature Ho,Tm:YLF laser pumped at 1.682 μm

We present the results obtained with a Ho,Tm:YLF crystal grown at a new crystal growth facility in Pisa. The optical quality of the sample has been tested by studying its performance as the active medium of a laser operating at 2.06 μm. We employed three different pump laser sources: a Ti:sapphire, a diode (both tuned at 793 nm) and, for the first time, a continuous-wave Co:MgF₂ laser, tuned at 1.682 μm. At room temperature the best slope efficiency was 30 % in the case of “red” pumping, and 59 % in the case of “infrared” excitation. The typical lasing threshold is about 100 mW. Received: 14 March 2001 / Revised version: 15 June 2001 / Published online: 19 September 2001     

Performance evaluation of ZnGeP_2 optical parametric oscillator pumped by a Q-switched Tm,Ho:GdVO_4 laser

A doubly resonant ZnGeP_2(ZGP)optical parametric oscillator(OPO)pumped by a novel Tm.Ho:GdVO_4 laser was demonstrated.Cryogenic Tm(5 at.-%),Ho(0.5 at.-%):GdVO_4 laser with high pulse repetition frequency(PRF)of 10 kHz at 2.05μm was employed as pumping source of ZGP OPO.The 15-mm-long ZGP crystal,55°cut forⅠ-type phase-matching with low absorption coefficient less than 0.05 cm~(-1)at 2 #m, was placed in a plano-plano cavity with resonator length of 30 mm.The ZGP OPO generated a total combined output power of 1.2 W at 3.75 and 4.52μm under pumping power of 5.3 W,corresponding to slope efficiency of 40% from incident 2-μm laser power to mid-infrared(Mid-IR)output.A widely tunable range from 3.0 to 6.5μm was achieved by changing the crystal angle only 3.5°.     

High efficiency 2.05-μm CW and AO Q-switched operation of diode end-pumped Tm,Ho:GdVO4 laser

The continuous-wave (CW) and acoustooptically (AO) Q-switched operation of a Tm (4 at %), Ho (0.4 at %):GdVO₄ laser at a 2.05-μm wavelength were reported in this paper. The Tm,Ho:GdVO₄ crystal was cooled by liquid nitrogen and end pumped by a 29.8-W fiber-coupled laser diode at 801 nm. A conversion efficiency of 41% and a slope efficiency of 46% were acquired with a continuous-wave output power of 12.2 W. An average power of 11.6 W was obtained at a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 10 kHz, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 38.9% and a slope efficiency of 41.4%. The energy per pulse of 1.8 mJ in 14 ns was achieved at 5 kHz with a peak power of 130 kW.     

2.1μm Ho：LuAG ceramic laser intracavity pumped by a diode-pumped Tm：YAG laser

We report a compact Ho：LuAG ceramic laser intracavity pumped by a diode-pumped Tm：YAG ceramic laser. The laser oscillation is accomplished by using a common linear cavity configuration containing Tm：YAG and Ho：LuAG ceramics. The 1.0 at.% Ho：LuAG ceramic laser yields 1.15 W of maximum output simultaneously at 2094 and 2100 nm with a beam quality factor of M2-2.8.     

Room temperature operation of 2-μm microchip Tm,Ho:Lu2SiO5 laser

Room temperature operation of a c-cut microchip Tm,Ho:Lu₂SiO₅ laser end-pumping by a fibercoupled laser-diode is reported. A 4.03 W incident pump power is used to generate a maximum laser output of 98 mW, representing 2.43% optical-to-optical conversion efficiency and a 4.38% slope efficiency corresponding to incident power. In the experiment, the oscillating wavelengths shifting from 2.084 to 2.089 μm has been observed and approximately 10 mW single 2.087 μm wavelength oscillation has been obtained by changing the pump power to 1.43 W and the position of the pump focus.     

8.30 μm singly resonant ZnGeP2 optical parametric oscillators pumped by a Tm,Ho:GdVO4 laser

A single resonator 8.30 μm ZnGeP₂ (ZGP) optical parametric oscillators (OPO) was reported in the paper. The OPO was pumped by a 10.2-W Tm,Ho:GdVO₄ laser at 8 kHz in a Q-switch mode, a 170-mW idler was obtained at 8.30 μm, and the output power of the idler and signal wave was 1.0 W, corresponding to an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 10.3% and a slope efficiency of 20.9%. Tm,Ho:GdVO₄ laser was pumped by a 30-W fiber-coupled laser diode (LD) at the center wavelength of 801 nm. The output wavelength of Tm,Ho:GdVO₄ laser was at 2.05 μm, and the energy per pulse of 1.28 mJ in 18 ns was achieved at 8 kHz with the peak power of 71.1 kW.     

Efficient Ho : YAG laser pumped by a cladding-pumped tunable Tm : silica-fibre laser

Highly efficient room-temperature operation of a Ho:YAG laser end pumped by a cladding-pumped tunable Tm-doped silica-fibre laser operating at 1905 nm is reported. Using a simple two-mirror resonator configuration, we obtained 6.4 W of unpolarized output at 2097 nm in a diffraction-limited TEM₀₀ beam (with M²1.1) for 9.6 W of incident pump power, corresponding to a slope efficiency with respect to incident pump power of 80% and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 67%. Using a folded-resonator configuration incorporating a Brewster-angled glass plate, we obtained 5.8 W of linearly polarized TEM₀₀ output, corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 60%. Due to low quantum defect heating, the depolarization loss due to thermally induced birefringence in the Ho:YAG crystal was <0.14% at the maximum available pump power, indicating that there is scope for further power scaling. PACS 42.55.-f; 42.55.Xi; 42.55.Wd; 42.60.Pk     

High-power high-brightness 2-μm continuous wave laser with a double-end diffusion-bonded Tm, Ho：YVO4 crystal

This letter demonstrates an efficient high-power high-brightness 2-μm continuous-wave （CW） laser with double-end, diffusion-bonded Tm, Ho：YVO4 crystal cooled with liquid N2. The reduction in thermal stress in the composite Tm, Ho：YVO4 rod enabled the laser to achieve a laser output power of 23.4 W at 2.05 μm, which is 1.37 times higher than that of the non-composite Tm, Ho：YVO4 rod. The corresponding slope efficiency is 37.3% and the optical optical conversion efficiency is 35.4%. The beam quality M2 factor is about 1.85 at 20 W output level with circularly symmetric beam spot.     

3.6-W cryogenic Tm,Ho:YLF laser pumped by fiber-coupled diodes module

In this paper, we report a high power cryogenic cooling Tm(6 at.-%),Ho(0.5 at.-%):YLF laser end-pumped by a 19-fiber-coupled-diodes module with the central wavelength of 792 nm at 20°. The highest continuous-wave power of 3.6 W at 2.051 μm is attained under pumping power of 13.6 W, corresponding to optical-optical conversion efficiency of 26%, and the slope efficiency is larger than 30%. The threshold power is only about 0.16 W because of the long lifetime, large effective emission cross section, and low re-absorption in Tm,Ho:YLF crystal.     

Fe:ZnSe laser pumped by a 2.93-μm Cr,Er:YAG laser

We demonstrated an Fe:ZnSe laser pumped by a 2.93-μm Cr, Er:YAG laser at liquid nitrogen and room temperature in single-shot free-running operation for the first time. The xenon flash lamp pumped Cr, Er:YAG laser had a maximum single pulse energy of 1.414 J, and the threshold and slope efficiency were 141.70 J and 0.70% which were respectively reduced by 29.3% and increased by 52.2% compared with the Er:YAG laser. At liquid nitrogen temperature of 77 K, the maximum single pulse energy of the Fe:ZnSe laser was 197.6 m J, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 13.4%. The central wavelength and full width at half maximum(FWHM) linewidth were 4037.4 nm and 122.0 nm, respectively. At room temperature, the laser generated a maximum single pulse energy of 3.5 mJ at the central wavelength of 4509.6 nm with an FWHM linewidth of 171.5 nm.     

Efficient tunable laser operation of diode- pumped Yb,Tm:KY(WO4)2 around 1.9 μm

A new laser medium – Yb,Tm:KY(WO₄)₂ – for diode pumped solid state laser applications operating around 1.9 to 2.0 μm has been investigated and the main laser characteristics are presented. Diode pumping at 981 nm and around 805 nm was realised. For 981-nm pumping, the excitation occurs into Yb³⁺ ions followed by an energy transfer to Tm³⁺ions. A slope efficiency of 19% was realised. For pumping around 805 nm, the excitation occurs directly into the Tm³⁺ ions. Here a maximum slope efficiency of 52%, an optical efficiency of 40%, and output powers of more than 1 W were realised. Using a birefringent quartz plate as an intracavity tuning element, the tunability of the Yb,Tm:KY(WO₄)₂ laser in the spectral range of 1.85–2.0 μm has been demonstrated. The possibility of laser operation in a microchip cavity configuration for this material has also been shown. Received: 12 March 2002 / Revised version: 20 May 2002 / Published online: 25 September 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +49-531/592-4116, E-mail: stefan.kueck@ptb.de     

Fiber-coupled diode end-pumped Q-switched Tm,Ho:YLiF_4 laser

At liquid-nitrogen temperature, at 10-kHz pulse repetition rate, Q-switched 36-ns pulses with average output power of 4 W at 2.05 μm and 4.5-W continuous wave output power with a total optical-optical conversion efficiency of 30%, were achieved from a 6% Tm, 0.5% Ho:YLiF4 laser. This laser was end-pumped by a fiber-coupled laser diode emitting up to 15 W around 792 nm. The 1-m-long optical fiber carrying the pump radiation has a core diameter of 700 μm with a numerical aperture of 0.22.     

Study of passive Q-switching for flash-lamp-pumped 1.34-μm Nd:GdVO_4 laser

The static laser performance of a-growth Nd:GdVO4 crystal (a-cut, 4×4×25 (mm)) at 1.34μm pumped by flash-lamp is investigated with different transmissions of output couplers. With the output coupler transmission of T = 30%, the static output energy of 148 mJ is obtained when the pump energy is 35.2 J, and the corresponding electric-optical conversion efficiency is 0.42%. The Q-switched output of lasers with the output wavelength ranging from 1.3 to 1.6μm can be realized by using Co2 :LaMgAl11O19 (Co:LMA) as saturable absorber. A flash-lamp-pumped, passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO4 laser with Co:LMA as saturable absorber is demonstrated in plano-concave laser cavity. With the cavity length of 16.3 cm and pump energy of 19.8 J, the single-pulse output energy, pulse width, and peak power are obtained to be 4 mJ, 80 ns, and 5×104 W, respectively.     

Light scattering and 2-μm laser performance of Tm:YAG ceramic

The scattering effect of Tm:YAG ceramic has been investigated and the scattering coefficient at 1064 nm wavelength is measured to be 0.014 cm⁻¹. Furthermore, a high power Tm:YAG ceramic laser with a slope efficiency of 10.7% has been built, which is end-pumped at a central wavelength of 805 nm. The 2-μm maximum output power is 7.1 W with an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 7.2%.     

A 2 μm Single-Longitudinal-Mode Ho:GdVO4 CW Laser

Journal of Russian Laser Research - We demonstrate a single-longitudinal-mode Ho:GdVO4 continuous-wave (CW) laser at 2048.6 nm. We achieved excellent single-longitudinal-mode performance using a...     

2-μm high-power multiple-frequency single-mode Q-switched Ho:YLF laser for DIAL application

We report on the development and the demonstration of a two-wavelength single-frequency laser oscillator based on Ho:YLF crystal. This laser is especially suitable for application as a transmitter in differential absorption lidar (DIAL)/integrated path differential absorption (IPDA) measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) using the R30 CO₂ absorption line at 2,050.967 nm. The oscillator consists in a fiber-coupled and free-space solid-state hybrid system and can be used in high-energy middle-rate or moderate-energy high-rate configurations. The latter produced On and Off sequentially single-frequency laser pulses with 13 mJ of energy at a repetition rate of 2 kHz and pulse duration of 42 ns. The pulse energy and frequency stabilities are specially documented in free-running, single-frequency and two-frequency seeding single-mode operations. Standard deviation is 7.7 % for pulse energy and 2 MHz for frequency stability for the two-wavelength seeding operation. Allan variance plot shows that frequency fluctuations are reduced below 70 kHz for 10 s of averaging which is suitable for accurate CO₂ DIAL or IPDA measurements.