High-power, high-efficiency cw diode-pumped Tm:YAP laser emitting at 1.99?μm

We elaborate a high-power, high-efficiency cw Tm:YAP laser dual-end-pumped by the laser diode. With 41.9?W pumping power, we obtain a maximum cw output power of 14.7?W at 1988?nm with a slope efficiency of 43.8%, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 35.1%. At the maximum laser output, we measure a beam quality of M ²?~?1.9.     

Neodymium concentration dependence of 0.94-, 1.06- and 1.34-μm laser emission and of heating effects under 809- and 885-nm diode laser pumping of Nd:YAG

Laser emission in the 0.94-, 1.06- and 1.34-micron ranges in diluted and concentrated Nd:YAG crystals longitudinally pumped by a 885-nm diode laser on the ⁴ I _9/2→⁴ F _3/2 transition is investigated. Continuous-wave operation at watt level in all these wavelength ranges is demonstrated with a 1.0-at. % Nd:YAG crystal; however, the laser performance is impeded by the low pump absorption efficiency. Improved output power and overall efficiency were obtained with a highly doped 2.5-at. % Nd:YAG crystal: 5.5 W at 1.06 μm and 3.8 W at 1.34 μm with 0.38 and 0.26 efficiencies, respectively. Comparative results with traditional pumping at 809 nm into the highly absorbing ⁴ F _5/2 level are presented, showing the advantage of the direct ⁴ F _3/2 pumping. The influence of the lasing wavelength and of the Nd concentration on the thermal effects induced by the optical pumping in the laser material is discussed. A clear relation between the heat generated in the Nd:YAG crystals in lasing and non-lasing regimes, a function of the Nd doping, is demonstrated. PACS 42.55.Rz; 42.60.By; 42.60.Da     

Quasi-three-level neodymium vanadate laser operation under polarized diode pumping: theoretical and experimental investigation

We propose a novel technique for pumping neodymium vanadate crystal in ⁴ F _3/2 ?? ⁴ I _9/2 transition with polarized diode light. With a theoretical model on quasi-three-level neodymium vanadate lasers including excited state absorption and energy transfer upconversion effects, the improvement on the laser performance of polarized pumping is evaluated. A maximum output power of 4.8 W in Nd:GdVO₄ 912 nm laser is achieved with the incident pump power of 21.8 W, the maximum output power increases about 85% and the slope efficiency is enhanced to 1.5 times towards the unpolarized pumping under the same condition. This technique is especially suitable for quasi-three-level systems end pumped by high-brightness fiber coupled diode sources associated with short neodymium vanadate crystals.     

High repetition rate intracavity frequency doubled LD side-pumped ceramic Nd:YAG green laser based on BBO electro-optical Q-switch

a high repetition rate and high power 532 nm green laser generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a 808 nm laser diode side-pumped ceramic Nd:YAG laser based on BBO electro-optical Q-switch has been demonstrated. in the simple V-folded cavity, the maximum green laser average power 32.6 W was obtained with a pulse width of 58.5 ns at a repetition rate of 10 kHz by using a LBO crystal for frequency doubling, corresponding to a conversion efficiency of 10.9% from diode pumping power to green laser power. An instability of 1.9% was measured over a period of 30 minutes and the beam quality factors were measured to be M _x ² = 3.55, M _y ² = 3.89 at the maximum output power.     

A broadband ytterbium-doped tunable fiber laser for <Superscript>3</Superscript>He optical pumping at 1083 nm

Large amounts of hyperpolarized ³He gas with high nuclear polarization rates are required for use in neutron spin filters or nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of human lung. Very high efficiency can be obtained by metastability exchange optical pumping using multimode lasers to excite the ^[ 2 _]3S-^[ 2 _]3P transition at 1083 nm. Broadband ytterbium-doped tunable fiber lasers have been designed for that particular application. Different options for the architecture of the fiber oscillator are presented and compared. Emphasis is given to a linear cavity configuration that includes a high reflectivity fiber mirror and a low reflectivity tunable fiber Bragg grating. Optical measurements are performed to finely characterize the spectral behavior of the lasers. Atomic response is also quantitatively probed to assess the optimal design of the oscillator for optical pumping. Multimode operation matching the 2 GHz Doppler-broadened helium resonance line and tunability over more than 200 GHz are demonstrated. Boosting the output of this fiber laser with a Yb-doped fiber power amplifier, all-fiber devices are built to provide robust, high-power turnkey sources at 1083 nm for improved production of laser polarized ³He. PACS 42.60.-v; 42.55.Wd; 32.80.Bx     

Performance assessment of a new laser system for efficient spin exchange optical pumping in a spin maser measurement of <Superscript>129</Superscript>Xe EDM

We demonstrate spin-exchange optical pumping of ¹²⁹Xe atoms with our newly made laser system. The new laser system was prepared to provide higher laser power required for the stable operation of spin maser oscillations in the ¹²⁹Xe EDM experiment. We studied the optimum cell temperature and pumping laser power to improve the degree of ¹²⁹Xe spin polarization. The best performance was achieved at the cell temperature of 100 ^°C with the presently available laser power of 1 W. The results show that a more intense laser is required for further improvement of the spin polarization at higher cell temperatures in our experiment.     

Continuous-wave high-power multi-pass pumped thin-disc Nd:GdVO4 laser

A thin-disc Nd:GdVO₄ laser in multi-pass pumping scheme was developed. Continuous-wave output power of 13.9 W at 1.06 μm for an absorbed power at 808 nm of 22 W was demonstrated from a 250-μm thick, 0.5-at.% Nd:GdVO₄ in a 4-pass pumping; the slope efficiency in absorbed power was 0.65, or 0.47 in input power. Output performances were also investigated under diode laser pumping at 879 nm, directly into the emitting ⁴F_3/2 level: maximum power of 3.6 W was obtained at 6.2 W of absorbed power with 0.69 slope efficiency. Compared with pumping at 808 nm, into the highly absorbing ⁴F_5/2 level, improvements of laser parameter in absorbed power (increase of slope efficiency, decrease of threshold) were obtained, showing the advantages of the pumping into the emitting level. However, the laser performances expressed vs. the incident power were modest owing to the low absorption efficiency at 879 nm. Thus, increased number of passes of the medium would be necessary in order to match the performances in input power obtained under 808-nm pumping.     

Diode-pumped continuous-wave Nd:YLF laser at 1313 nm

We present an efficiency Nd:LiYF₄ (Nd:YLF) laser operating at 1313 nm pumped directly into the emitting level ⁴ F _3/2. At the incident pump power of 10.3 W, as high as 3.1 W of continuous-wave output power at 1313 nm is achieved. The slope efficiency with respect to the incident pump power was 36.1%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of such a laser system. Comparative results obtained for the pump with diode laser at 806 nm, into the highly absorbing ⁴ F _5/2 level, are given in order to prove the advantages of the 880 nm wavelength pumping.     

A neodymium fluid laser: Laser emission in circulating state

Differing from conventional liquid lasers, a novel concept of fluid laser was provided, which has attractively potential using in high average power lasers. The laser medium was prepared by dispersing Nd³⁺: phosphate glass micro-balls in organic match liquid. Its optical properties were investigated and the radiative transition rate was calculated by Judd–Ofelt theory. The experiment of laser oscillation in static state indicates that the heat exchanging has limited effect on refractive index of the fluid laser medium in a short time. In circulating state, a laser oscillation occurred at 1058.1 nm when pumped by two 808 nm diode lasers. The maximum output energy is 2.58 mJ with the absorbed pumping energy of 460 mJ. This study offers a new way in the exploration of high average power laser.     

Timing-jitter reduced high-repetition-rate Q-switched Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>/Cr<Superscript>4+</Superscript>:YAG micro laser with low pump power

We report a high repetition rate Q-switched Nd:YVO₄/Cr⁴⁺:YAG micro laser with small pump power. Unwanted defects in pulse train, which are inherently large in passively Q-switched laser, was simply minimized by controlling temperature of Nd:YVO₄/Cr⁴⁺:YAG medium. When T ₀ = 90% Cr⁴⁺:YAG and R _OC = 90% output coupler were used, Q-switched Nd:YVO₄/Cr⁴⁺:YAG micro laser showed the optimum output; maximum output power of 58 mW, optical-to-optical efficiency of 9.1%, repetition rate of 1.1 MHz, and pulse width of 57 ns were achieved with 640 mW pumping. MHz-order repetition rate in Nd:YVO₄/Cr⁴⁺:YAG Q-switched laser with low pumping (<1 W) is the highest value to the best of our knowledge.     

High-power non-astigmatic TEM<Subscript>00</Subscript> and vortex mode generation in a compact bounce laser design

A novel design of a diode-side-pumped bounce amplifier laser is described that can produce a high-power TEM₀₀ mode and Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) vortex mode operation with high circularity and low astigmatism. The design utilises control of pump size and bounce angle such that the laser mode experiences substantially circular symmetric gain and spherical thermal lensing, in a highly compact fundamental mode resonator. In a simple plane–plane Nd:YVO₄ laser resonator with no other optical components and total length of just 13.4 cm, highly circularised TEM₀₀ operation is produced at wavelength 1064 nm, with 14.2 W of power and high beam quality M ²<1.05. Stable Q-switched TEM₀₀ operation is demonstrated up to 900 kHz and second harmonic power of 7.2 W at 532 nm is generated with conversion efficiency up to 64%. Minor modification of the design to exploit the spherical aberration of the thermal lens is shown to allow for generation of a doughnut-shaped LG vortex mode with average power 16.6 W, maintaining extremely low astigmatism. Q-switched operation of the vortex mode is accomplished up to 400 kHz. A detailed numerical thermal analysis of the amplifier design is performed and gives quantitative agreement with experimental results.     

IR and FIR Spectroscopy of 13CH3I

We have investigated the ¹³CH₃I isotopomer of methyl iodide as a source of Far Infrared (FIR) laser radiation using the optical pumping technique. The molecule is pumped by using a pulsed waveguided CO₂ laser, driven by a novel all solid state power supply that lases on the 10HP band as well as the regular bands. We discovered and assigned two new FIR laser emissions and we give further spectroscopic information about polarization and pump frequency offset for five already known lines.     

Parametric oscillation of high-power 3-THz pulse by synchronously pumped ZnGeP<Subscript>2</Subscript> crystal: Computer simulation

Possible parametric oscillation of 3-THz pulse at synchronous pumping of the ZnGeP₂ crystal by a train of short second-harmonic pulses from the CO₂ laser has been analyzed. Calculation shows that at changing laser pulse duration τ between 4 and 500 ps and correspondingly pumping energy density (0.5–3.5 J cm⁻²) THz pulse peak power varies from 3 to 70MW with maximum at τ =9 ps.     

Highly efficient Nd:Gd0.6Y0.4VO4 laser by direct in-band pumping at 914 nm and observation of self-mode-locked operation

A highly efficient Nd:Gd_0.6Y_0.4VO₄ laser by direct in-band pumping at 914?nm is demonstrated for the first time. With an absorbed power of 3.7?W, a maximum output power of 2.65?W at 1064?nm was obtained, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 72%. We also experimentally observed that the laser system could be efficiently operated in the self-mode-locked state in the range of 0.9?C3.3?GHz. The pulse width was measured to be 16 ps at a repetition rate of 1.75?GHz.     

Production of a nuclear spin polarized23Na-beam by optical pumping

Nuclear spin polarization of an atomic²³Na-beam was produced by a combination of optical pumping with a dye laser and a sextupole magnet and, alternatively, by optical pumping with two dye lasers. The maximum value measured for the vector polarization wasP _z=0.86+0.08, using beam foil spectroscopy. Further improvements of polarized ion sources based on this principle are discussed.     

PRODUCTION OF POLARIZED 7Li ATOMIC BEAM IN STRONG MAGNETIC FIELD BY OPTICAL PUMPING

The production of a polarized ⁷Li atomic beam in a strong magnetic field was experimentally studied by laser optical pumping of a single ground hyperfine F level. It was shown that nearly complete negative and partial positive polarizations of ⁷Li atoms could be realized under appropriate conditions by this pumping scheme, which was in agreement with the rate equation calculations. Based on the analyses of transition probabilities, the maximum polarizations for various transitions and light polarizations were given.     

Enhanced performance of thin-disk lasers by pumping into the zero-phonon line

Pumping Yb:YAG or Yb:LuAG into the zero-phonon line at 969?nm instead of using the common pump wavelength of 940?nm reduces the heat generation by 32%. In addition to the 3% increase of the Stokes efficiency, this significantly reduces the diffraction losses caused by the thermally induced phase distortions leading to a remarkable increase of the overall efficiency especially of fundamental-mode thin-disk lasers. Using this pumping scheme in an Yb:LuAG thin-disk laser, we achieved 742?W of nearly diffraction limited (M²≈1.5) output power at an unprecedented high optical efficiency of 58.5%. For multimode operation (M²≈15) the maximum optical efficiency of an Yb:YAG thin-disk laser was increased to 72%.     

Production of a highly polarized sodium atomic beam

Two experimental techniques for preparing atoms in selected states were combined in order to obtain a highly polarized sodium beam: Firstly state selection by an inhomogeneous magnetic field and secondly optical pumping with laser light. This results in a dominating population of the 3s ² S _1/2 ground state levelF=2M _F=+2 (or alternativelyF=2M _F=−2) corresponding to high electron as well as nuclear spin polarization. Polarization values of 0.85±0.05 were easily obtained. The sign of the polarization can be reversed by changing the light polarization. The method can also be applied to other atoms. In addition, it is demonstrated that the optical pumping process allows a determination of the spin-selectivity of hexapole magnets.     

高能光纤激光经准直系统后的光束质量研究

应用光线光学的理论,对透镜的几何像差、热非线性等因素对光纤激光光束质量的影响进行了分析和计算,给出了激光通过多透镜光学系统后,光束质量参数M²与系统参数的一般关系. 研究了高能光纤激光通过准直系统后的光束质量. 研究结果表明,随着激光功率的增大,经准直系统后光束的光束质量存在最佳值,其对应的激光功率与准直系统参数有关,为高能光纤激光准直系统的设计提供了参考. 关键词： 高能光纤激光 光束质量 准直系统 光线光学     

Improvement of the operation parameters for a Cr:LiSAF ultrashort-pulsed laser

The optimization of the pumping power that is focused on a gain medium inside an optical cavity is fundamental for increasing the efficiency of the power transferred inside a crystal, in this way increasing the output power of the laser. Nevertheless, in the case of pumping with a highly astigmatic laser diode, an undesirable form of the beam is focused on the cavity and the process to improve the cross section and sizes of the beam produce a notable reduction in the effective pump power ultimately focused in the crystal. The cavity design improvements for a Cr:LiSAF laser pumped with a 200 um × 1 um laser diode emission is presented for three different configurations, Z, V, and ring. The pump power is introduced in the cavity through a simple optical array, coupling more than 83% of the laser-diode power. The design requirements for the resonant cavity are reviewed in order to improve the coupling between the fundamental mode of the cavity and the cross-section form of the pumping beam. The stability limits of the cavities and Kerr sensitivity region are presented.