Self-starting Nd:YAG holographic laser oscillator with a thermal grating

Self-starting operation of a self-conjugating loop oscillator is achieved, for the first time to our knowledge, by use of an optically induced thermal hologram in a nonsaturable absorbing medium. Self-Q-switched single-longitudinal-mode pulses of 12-ns duration are obtained in a near-diffraction-limited spatial mode and with an output energy of >250 mJ . Good correction of intracavity phase distortions is obtained, as well as good extraction efficiency in the laser mode volume. It is shown that one has to set an additional nonreciprocal phase-shift element in the loop to ensure resonant operation of the system.     

Theoretical study on thermal behavior of passively Q-switched microchip Nd:YAG laser

This study deals with the thermal characterization of a continuous wave (CW-) and end-pumped passively Q-switched microchip Nd:YAG laser crystal by solving the rate and heat transfer equations in the laser cavity. In this approach, a parametric study has been performed to investigate the influence of the pumping parameters, cooling metal dimension and also the crystal dimension and doping concentration on the thermal behavior of the laser crystal. Obtained results reveal a closed correlation between the mentioned parameters and the thermal behavior of the crystal indicating that a proper selection of the laser parameters is essential to control the crystal's temperature and improve the performance of the laser accordingly.     

Experimental study of electro-optical-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 m J with an FWHM pulse width of 7 ns at100 Hz. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency in the Q-switched regime is 17.5%.     

脉冲激光二极管侧面抽运Nd:YAG激光器晶体时变热效应

采用数值计算的方法,对脉冲激光二极管三向侧面抽运固体激光器中,激光晶体的温度场时变分布进行了计算. 分析了三向侧面抽运情况下晶体内光强分布,在此基础上,采用有限元法,以脉冲激光二极管侧面抽运Nd:YAG激光器为例,对单脉冲过程中晶体温度分布及其影响因素进行分析. 结果表明,晶体升温过程受到抽运条件以及散热条件的影响,但是主要受到抽运条件即抽运光强度和光束半径的影响,降温过程受到晶体热物性参数和晶体半径以及散热条件的影响. 当晶体温度达到周期性分布后,由于晶体径向温度梯度的周期性变化,引起通过晶体的平面光波的中心和边缘光线相对光程差也随时间作周期性变化.     

Laser ablation of dental materials using a microsecond Nd:YAG laser

The action of microsecond laser pulses with a wavelength of 1064 nm on dental tissues (enamel and dentin) and various dental materials used for tooth replacement and filling (ceramics, metal alloys, and composites) is studied. It is demonstrated that the ablation thresholds of all of the dental materials are significantly lower than the threshold laser fluences for the dental tissue (E _thr = 200–300 J/cm²). At the laser fluences that do not allow ablation and damage of the dental tissues, the dental materials are effectively removed at a rate of no greater than 40 μm per pulse. It is shown that the laser ablation of the materials under study involves two processes (evaporation and volume explosion) depending on the optical density. The results obtained indicate that the laser radiation with a wavelength of 1064 nm and the microsecond pulse duration is promising for dental applications, since it allows effective cleaning of the tooth surface from various dental materials in the absence of the damages of dental tissues.     

Self-Q-switching Nd: YAG laser operation using stimulated thermal Rayleigh scattering

We have developed a self-Q-switching phase-conjugated laser resonator in which a medium cell containing a strongly absorbing liquid is used to replace a cavity mirror and a Q-switch. A stable laser output is obtained with a single pulse and single frequency. Unlike previously published papers, a conventional starter cavity is not needed in our experiment. The mechanism of the laser operation is interpreted by stimulated thermal Rayleigh scattering.     

Swift heavy-ion irradiated active waveguides in Nd:YAG crystals: fabrication and laser generation

An Nd:YAG planar waveguide laser has been fabricated by ultra-low-fluence (2×10(12) cm(-2)) swift heavy-ion irradiation (60 MeV Ar(4+) ions). The appearance of the buried waveguiding has been associated with an increased refractive index layer as a consequence of the ion-induced electronic damage. Continuous-wave laser oscillations at 1064.2 nm have been observed from the waveguide under 808 nm optical excitation, with the absorbed pump power at threshold and laser slope efficiency close to 26 mW and 5.9%, respectively.     

Comparative laser study of Nd:KGW and Nd:YAG near 1.3 μm

A comparative study of Nd:KGW and Nd:YAG laser crystals pumped by flashlamp has been conducted near 1.3 μm with output energy up to 1 J and at a repetition rate up to 50 Hz. An average power of 23 W for KGW in free-running mode was achieved with a total efficiency better than 2.8 % for the Nd:KGW and 1.8 % for the Nd:YAG. Received: 9 December 1996 / Revised version: 10 February 1997     

Experimental study of high-power pulse side-pumped Nd:YAG laser

The paper reports on the characterization of a compact and simple side-pumped 0.538 J×100 Hz pulse Nd:YAG laser. A side-pumping configuration with 100 laser diode bars is used in the laser head. We also experimentally studied the laser performance of the diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser head in the free running and Q-switched operation under different repetition rates.     

Nd:YAG板状激光器的理论和实验研究

本文对Nd:YAG板状激光器进行了理论和实验研究。给出了板状介质在重复率泵浦和连续泵浦情况下的温度分布和应力状态的解析解,对板的热效应进行了分析与讨论。并用一块9×30×70mm~3的Nd:YAG板状材料,对其热效应进行了测量与分析。实现了“之”字形光路板状激光器的高重复率运转,在50Hz时,输出能量约600mJ,平均功率30W。     

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%.     

脉冲LDA侧面泵浦大能量Nd:YAG激光器时变热效应分析

建立了激光二极管阵列（LDA）侧面泵浦棒状Nd:YAG增益介质时变热效应理论计算模型。采用有限元Ansys软件模拟分析了脉冲LDA侧面泵浦大能量固体激光器的时变热效应特性。研究结果表明,所研究的脉冲LDA侧面泵浦大能量Nd:YAG激光器热效应具有时变特性,介质横截面内中心点处的稳态温度场分布随时间呈锯齿形周期变化,锯齿形变化频率为LDA泵浦频率,脉冲LDA泵浦参数对介质稳态温度场分布有较大影响。分析和计算了介质内热梯度、应力双折射以及激光晶体端面效应等导致的晶体热透镜焦距。计算表明,介质的热焦距主要来源于介质内温度梯度引起的热透镜焦距。     

对采用BBO晶体锁模Nd：YAG激光器的实验研究

报道了在Nd:YAG激光器中使用BBO倍频晶体进行锁模运转的研究结果.获得的二次谐波单脉冲宽度为28ps.锁模序列脉冲能量为lnJ.     

A parametric study of negative feedback Nd:YAG laser

The output pulse parameters of a mode-locked Nd:YAG laser with a passive negative feedback element were studied experimentally. The pulse evolution within the train was experimentally recorded using a modified second harmonic generation autocorrelator. By comparing the laser operation with and without an acousto-optic modulator, we found that with the later there is a significant increase in the mode locking probability and the pulse acquires a temporally Gaussian symmetric pulse shape. Further with the active modulator there is a relaxation in alignment tolerances and increase in the range of permissible dye concentrations for stable mode locking. It was also observed that the pulse width of the negative feedback laser depends on the saturation intensity of the mode locking dye and reduces for a dye with higher saturation intensity. The pulse width was also found to reduce linearly as the initial transmission of the dye is reduced.     

Reduction of beam divergence of a thermal lensing insensitive Nd:YAG laser

In a previous paper we proposed an active resonator designed especially for Nd:YAG lasers. The beam generated by this resonator had a flat-top beam profile and a divergence that was insensitive to the thermal lensing effect. The beam generated by this resonator was, however, too divergent to be focused into a fibre. With the help of numerical simulations, we have found a way to reduce this divergence, and to render the far-field of the laser beam fine enough to be coupled into a fibre with 600 μm core and NA = 0.2.     

Diffraction losses of Nd:YAG and Yb:YAG laser crystals

Based on space-dependent rate equations, the lowest threshold input power for a diode end-pumped solid-state laser is obtained for the pump spot size w_p→0. However, as the pump beam waist is decreased, the thermally induced effects in the laser rod would be very high. Diffraction losses caused by radial and tangential variations of refractive index have been analyzed and compared for the Nd : YAG and the Yb : YAG at room temperature (300 K) and liquid-nitrogen temperature (77 K).     

带受激布里渊散射相位共轭镜的Nd:YAG激光器

应用液体中受激布里渊散射相位共轭镜,与普通反射镜一起构成位相共轭谐振腔,得到了能量在10OmJ以上,脉宽在15ns以下的激光脉冲输出。实验测量了各种腔结构参数对输出能量的影响,并用相位板对该腔干扰,测量了其补偿特性。     

Experimental study of a high-power CW side-pumped Nd:YAG laser

The paper reports on the characterization of a side-pumped 40 W CW Nd:YAG laser. A side-pumping configuration with six laser diodes is used for the laser. We show the comparison between the calculated and measured pump energy distributions in the laser crystal. The birefringence and the thermal lens effect of the Nd:YAG crystal have been experimentally investigated, and their influence on the performance of the laser are discussed. Output power and beam quality of the laser under different output couplings, cavity lengths, types of cavity and different temperatures of the cooling water have been experimentally studied.     

Accumulation morphology on the surface of stainless steel irradiated by a nanosecond Nd:YAG pulsed laser

In this study, results in the irradiation of stainless steel AISI 304 in air with nanosecond laser pulses at laser irradiation power density 4×10⁷ W/cm² are reported. Laser processing parameters, such as wavelengths 532 and 1064 nm, pulse duration 20 ns and repetition rate 10 Hz were used. It is shown that the surface morphology of the stainless steel is related to the number of pulses applied to the same spot. The following surface morphological changes were observed: (i) occurrence of the micro-grains microstructures at wavelengths 532 and 1064 nm after 10 000 pulses irradiation and (ii) occurrence of vermiform-like microstructures at wavelength 1064 nm after 1000 pulses irradiation. Generally, it is concluded that irradiation due to several consecutive pulses caused significant damage and enhanced the stainless steel surface roughness.     

Shorter and bandwidth-limited Nd: YAG laser pulses

Stable generation of 12 ps pulses in a passively mode-locked YAG system is reported using an intracavity etalon. It is also shown that self-phase modulation via the nonlinear index of YAG increases the frequency width of the laser emission; at low intracavity pulse energy < 200 μJ, chirp free pulses are observed.