External-cavity broad-area laser diode operating on the D(1) line of cesium

We present an external-cavity laser diode characterized by an intracavity cylinder lens to compensate for the astigmatism of the laser. This setup was applied to a broad-area laser diode operating on the D(1) line of the cesium atom at 894 nm, yielding single-mode emission. A saturated-absorption experiment on that atomic line tested the laser performance.     

Linewidth measurement of Littrow structure semiconductor laser with improved methods

In this Letter, the frequency noise spectrum is analyzed in the experiment of the laser linewidth measurement. The power spectrum of three most widely used laser linewidth measurement methods, i.e., the heterodyne measurement, the self-homodyne measurement and the self-heterodyne measurement, are restudied both theoretically and experimentally. A scheme adopting an avalanche photodetector (APD) in the delayed self-heterodyne (DSHT) method is proposed, and an indirect determined result is given.     

Infrared diode laser spectroscopy

Three types of lasers (double-heterostructure 66 K InAsSb/InAsSbP laser diode, room temperature, multi quantum wells with distributed feedback (MQW with DFB) (GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb based) diode laser and vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) (GaSb based) have been characterized using Fourier transform emission spectroscopy and compared. The photoacoustic technique was employed to determine the detection limit of formaldehyde (less than 1 ppmV) for the strongest absorption line of the v₃ + v₅ band in the emission region of the GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb diode laser. The detection limit (less than 10 ppbV) of formaldehyde was achieved in the 2820 cm⁻¹ spectral range in case of InAsSb/InAsSbP laser (fundamental bands of v₁, v₅). Laser sensitive detection (laser absorption together with high resolution Fourier transform infrared technique including direct laser linewidth measurement, infrared photoacoustic detection of neutral molecules (methane, form-aldehyde) is discussed.     

Free-running emerald laser pumped by laser diode

Free-running emerald laser pumped by 660-nm laser diode (LD) was reported. Free-running output powerof 24 mW has been obtained with overall efficiency of 1.4% and slope efficiency of 11.9% when the LD incident power was 2.56 W. The laser threshold value of emerald crystal was estimated to be 0.7 W.     

Electronically tunable external-cavity laser diode

We present a new concept for an electronically tunable diode laser. It is based on an external-cavity configuration with simultaneous feedback and intracavity spatial separation of the laser's spectral components. The electronical tunability is achieved by insertion of a liquid-crystal array as an electronically controlled aperture into the region of spatial separation of the spectral components. Wavelength tunability without mechanical movement over a range of 10 nm and two-color operation are demonstrated with a 670-nm laser diode.     

Mode-hop-free electro-optically tuned diode laser

A tunable external-cavity Littrow diode laser, with an intracavity electro-optical crystal, which combines a large mode-hop-free tuning range with high tuning speeds and high tuning accuracy, has been designed. A mode-hop-free single-mode tuning range of 50 GHz at 793 nm with an output power of 60 mW and tuning speeds of 1.5 GHz/micros is demonstrated. The instantaneous linewidth is smaller than 300 kHz. Generally mode-hop-free tuning is obtained when the elongation of the cavity is proportional to the cavity length measured anywhere across the beam. This elongation is achieved with an intracavity crystal in which the thickness, and thus the electric field inside it, varies across the beam.     

高密度封装二极管激光器阵列

 理论模拟了自制的高效冷却器的散热能力,分析了单元封装结构所需材料的导热特性,获得了高功率二极管激光器在高功率密度、高占空比条件下运行的可行性。改进了高密度封装的关键工艺,热沉金属化层达到了3~5 mm,焊料厚度为4~7 mm,封装间距0.6 mm,采用峰值功率1 kW的背冷式叠阵二极管激光器。实验测试结果表明:封装的二极管激光器叠阵单元的整体封装热阻为0.115 ℃/W,有良好的散热能力;该叠阵模块在电流为100 A、占空比15%时,输出峰值功率为986 W,峰值功率密度达到1.5 kW/cm2,平均每个板条的斜效率为1.25 W/A,激光器阈值电流为20 A左右。     

Infrared dye laser excited by a diode laser

A waveguide dye laser with an inner diameter of 30 μm and a length of 1.0 nm has been excited with a pulsed GaAlAs diode laser. The infrared-absorbing dye 5,5′-dichloro-11-diphenylamino-3,3′-diethyl-10,12-ethylenethiatri- carbocyanine perchlorate was used in tetramethylene sulfoxide solution. By changing dye concentration, laser wavelengths from 950 to 1005 nm were obtained.     

High-frequency pulsed laser diode application in multi-component laser Doppler anemometry

High-frequency pulsed AlGaAs semiconductor lasers with pulse durations in the nanosecond range show a distinctive enhancement of the time-averaged optical output power compared with continuous-wave mode operation. Hence, the signal-to-noise ratio is drastically increased in connection with fast Si-Avalanche photodetectors that show a maximum spectral sensitivity in the emission range of AlGaAs lasers. The emission behaviour and the application of sequential and phase- synchronized pulsed laser diodes in a multi-component laser Doppler anemometer with only one receiver, one signal processing chain and identical wavelength for all components, are outlined.     

IR diode laser spectroscopy in molecular beams

A molecular beam spectrometer for recording cold-jet spectra is described. Modulation of the molecular beam is provided by a mechanical chopper. Some results on CO, C₃H₆ and CF₃Cl are presented.     

Widely tunable diffraction limited 1000 mW external cavity diode laser in Littman/Metcalf configuration for cavity ring-down spectroscopy

We report on recent progress on external cavity diode lasers (ECDL) using a new concept of a Littman/Metcalf configuration. Within this concept one facet of the diode laser chip is used for coupling to a high quality Littman/Metcalf resonator whereas the other side of the diode laser chip emits the output beam. The alignment of the external resonator is independent from the alignment of the output beam and there is no need for any compromise in the alignment. This results in an improved behavior of the external resonator with the benefit of a drastic increase in power and single mode tuning.We investigated this light source for high resolution spectroscopy in the field of cw-cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS). The monitoring of environmental and medical gases from vehicles or human breath requires a suitable radiation source in the mid-infrared (MIR) between 3 and 5 μm that is frequency stable and can be widely tuned. Since this wavelength cannot be reached via direct emitting room temperature semiconductor lasers, additional techniques like difference frequency generation (DFG) are essential. Tunable difference frequency generation relies on high power, small linewidth, fast tunable, robust laser diode sources with excellent beam quality.With our new compact, alignment-insensitive and robust ECDL concept, we achieved an output power of 1000 mW and an almost Gaussian shaped beam quality (M²<1.2). The coupling efficiency for optical waveguides as well as single mode fibers exceeds 70%. The wavelength is widely tunable within the tuning range of 20 nm via remote control. This laser system operates longitudinally in single mode with a mode-hop free tuning range of more than 150 GHz without current compensation and a side-mode-suppression better than 50 dB. This concept is currently realized within the wavelength regime between 750 and 1080 nm.Our high powered Littman/Metcalf laser system was part of a MIR-light source which utilizes DFG in periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) crystals. At the wavelength of 3.3 μm we were able to achieve a high-resolution absorption spectrum of water with four different isotoplogues of H₂O components. This application clearly demonstrates the suitability of this laser for high-precision measurements. PACS 07.57.Ty; 42.55.Px; 42.62.Fi     

激光二极管点火系统研究进展

综述了激光点火方式、激光二极管点火系统的组成及最新发展。提出了一种激光二极管点火系统结构,描述了各部分的关键技术。介绍了国外在光回路检测、保险与解保险及多路点火方面的研究成果,以及国内在温度控制、光纤芯径对点火阈值功率的影响和激光点火器设计的研究成果。指出了当前激光点火技术在武器装备中的应用和现阶段激光点火遇到的技术难点。     

Phase perturbation investigation of laser diode for the laser diode to single-mode fiber coupling system

A novel phase-perturbation method as well as an experimental system were established to study the deviation of the laser diode (LD) far-field intensity distribution from the ideal Gaussian. An analytical expression of the LD far-field intensity distribution and a numerical method based on the Monte Carlo calculation were developed to fit the measured results. The loss of the LD to the single-mode fiber (SMF) coupling system caused by this kind of deviation of the LD far-field intensity distribution was quantitatively analyzed.     

现代激光应用技术——激光二极管点火

本文简述了激光二极管点火的优越性；从光学技术角度概括分析了与激光二极管点火技术密切相关的激光二极管技术，光纤及光纤耦合技术，光敏化技术和测试技术及其发展状况。对国外在激光二极管点火方面的研究成果做了一定的介绍。     

Rubidium vapor laser pumped by two laser diode arrays

Scaling of alkali lasers to higher powers requires using multiple diode lasers for pumping. The first (to our knowledge) results of a cw rubidium laser pumped by two laser diode arrays are presented. A slope efficiency of 53%, total optical efficiency of 46%, and output power of 17 W have been demonstrated.     

External-cavity birefringence feedback effects of microchip Nd:YAG laser and its application in angle measurement

External-cavity birefringence feedback effects of the microchip Nd:YAG laser are presented. When a birefringence element is placed in the external feedback cavity of the laser, two orthogonally polarized laser beams with a phase difference are output. The phase difference is twice as large as the phase retardation in the external cavity along the two orthogonal directions. The variable extra-cavity birefringence, caused by rotation of the external-cavity birefringence element, results in tunable phase difference between the two orthogonally polarized beams. This means that the roll angle information has been translated to phase difference of two output laser beams. A theoretical analysis based on the Fabry--Perot cavity equivalent model and refractive index ellipsoid is presented, which is in good agreement with the experimental results. This phenomenon has potential applications for roll angle measurement.     

External-cavity, actively mode-locked grating-coupled surface-emitting laser and amplification characteristics of a grating-coupled semiconductor optical amplifier

An external-cavity, actively mode-locked grating-coupled surface-emitting semiconductor laser (GCSEL) is demonstrated for the first time to the authors' knowledge. The mode-locked oscillator generates a train of optical pulses at a 297-MHz pulse-repetition frequency. The optical pulse from the oscillator has a width of 22.6 ps and a spectral bandwidth of 0.07 nm at 975.9 nm, giving a time-bandwidth product of 0.50. In addition, amplification characteristics of a grating-coupled semiconductor optical amplifier are studied with a continuous-wave external-cavity GCSEL.     

Power semiconductor laser diode arrays characterization

Nowadays, power semiconductor laser diode arrays are becoming a widespread source for a large variety of industrial applications. In particular, the availability of low-cost high-power laser diode arrays makes their use possible in the industrial context for material cutting, welding, diagnostics and processing. In the above applications, the exact control of the beam quality plays a very important role because it directly affects the reliability of the final result. In this paper, we present two different approaches useful for the characterization of the beam quality in laser diode arrays. The first one, starting from total intensity measurements on planes orthogonal to the beam propagation path, is able to deduce the working conditions of each laser setting up the array. The second one is aimed at the measurement of a global quality factor of the array itself; to this end, the empirical extension of the M² concept to composite beams is presented along with some experimental results. As the first technique is especially intended for the non-destructive detection of design problems in the array itself and in the bias circuitry, the second one represents a powerful tool for the rapid on-line diagnostics of the laser beam during its use.