Highly directive 18.9 nm nickel-like molybdenum x-ray laser operating at 150 mJ pump energy

We experimentally demonstrate that by longitudinally pumping 2 mm long molybdenum preformed plasma with high-intensity 475 fs duration laser pulse, a highly directive soft-x-ray laser at 18.9 nm wavelength is generated. The divergence of the beam is evaluated to be of the submilliradian order, and only requires a pump laser energy of 150 mJ.     

Simulations of grazing-incidence pumped Ni-like Sn X-ray laser at 11.9 nm

Grazing-incidence pumped Ni-like Sn X-ray laser media at 11.9 nm (4d-4p, J = 0-1) is modelled using code EHYBRID and a post-processor code. The required atomic data are obtained using the Cowan code. In this study the pre-formed plasma is pumped on longitudinal direction with a grazing angle. Detailed simulations were performed to optimize the driving laser configurations. Relatively high gain is produced for the Ni-like Sn X-ray laser at 11.9 nm with long pre-pulse and short main pulse drive energy of only 100 mJ on 4 mm slab targets. Using low intensity pre-pulse prior to long pulse decreases the electron density gradient. X-ray resonance lines between 13 and 25 Å emitted from tin plasma have been simulated using post-processor coupled with EHYBRID. The ratio of these resonance lines can be used to measure electron temperature of the laser produced Sn plasma.     

Holmium-doped fluoride fiber laser at 2950 nm pumped at 1175 nm

We report a single-mode, highly stable, continuous-wave Ho³⁺: ZBLAN fiber laser. The system was pumped by a 1175-nm fiber Raman laser and emitted at ～2950 nm. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency was 43% that is the highest reported in the literature. Characterizations revealed a quasigaussian intensity profile with a power stability of less than 1%. This high stability relies on the single-wavelength emission of the system because the system does not require simultaneous oscillation at 2100 nm. Coincidence between the emission wavelength and the absorption peak of water makes the system suitable to replace a high-power (～9.34-W) Er³⁺: ZBLAN fiber laser for cutting materials with high moisture content.     

Demonstration of soft x-ray laser of Ne-like Ar at 69.8 nm pumped by capillary discharge

The demonstration of a 69.8?nm laser on 3p 3P2 - 3s 1P1 (J=2-1) transition of Ne-like Ar pumped by capillary discharge is reported in this Letter. A main current of 12?kA with rise time of 43?ns was chosen to generate the plasma in a 35?cm long capillary filling with pressure of Ar as low as 11?Pa, resulting in a gain coefficient of 0.34?cm(-1) and gain-length product of 11 at 69.8?nm. Also observed is a weak laser on 3p 3D2 - 3s 3P1 (J=2-1) transition of Ne-like Ar at 72.6?nm in the same condition. In addition, multiwavelength lasing at 46.9, 69.8, and 72.6?nm was simultaneously realized in a capillary discharge plasma column, conditioning the pressure of Ar to 13?Pa.     

LD抽运Yb:GSO实现1090 nm低阈值激光运转

用Yb:Gd₂SiO₅(Yb:GSO)晶体实现激光运转.利用940 nm的二极管激光器作为抽运源，得到Yb:GSO激光器的激光中心波长为1090 nm，抽运阈值功率密度仅为1.27 kW/cm²，小于Yb:YAG的理论阈值1.53 kW/cm².利用2%的输出镜得到最大输出功率为360 mW，相应的斜效率为19%. 关键词： Yb:GSO晶体 激光二极管抽运 阈值     

Nd:YAG laser pumped at 946 nm

A Nd:YAG laser crystal was pumped at 946 nm and lased at 1064 nm. This pump-lase format was investigated in order to reduce the quantum defect between the pump and laser photons as compared to other pump schemes of this material. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first realization of this scheme. A room temperature absorption coefficient and linewidth of approximately 0.075 cm(-1) and approximately 1 nm for 1% at. Nd(+3) concentrations were measured for the 946 nm absorption line. Those parameters impose both narrow-bandwidth pumping and a long absorption path. By increasing the laser crystal temperature above room temperature, the absorption cross sections at 946 and 938 nm increase due to enhanced thermal population of the upper energy level of the ground manifold. The possibility of exploiting this phenomenon to enhance the pump absorption is also discussed.     

1064 nm Nd:YAG laser intracavity pumped at 946 nm

We present for the first time a Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1064 nm intracavity pumped by a 946 nm diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser. A 885 nm laser diode is used to pump the first Nd:YAG crystal emitting at 946 nm, and the second Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1064 nm intracavity pumped at 946 nm. We achieved an output power of 7.97 W at 1064 nm for an absorbed pump power at 946 nm of 9.55 W, corresponding to an optical efficiency of 83.4%. The beam quality M² quality factor is about 1.1 at the maximum output power.     

Molecular iodine laser optically pumped at 521 nm and 531 nm

We report the observation and identification of over 50 new cw laser lines belonging to the B³∏?X¹∑ system of I₂ optically pumped by a single mode krypton ion laser. When pumping at 531 nm, simultaneous oscillation was achieved on up to 16 lines in the range 540 nm to 650 nm. This system offers considerable potential as a multi-wavelength laser source in interferometry.     

Discharge pumped C1F laser at 285 nm

This paper reports on experiments carried out in order to improve the performance of the TEA discharge pumped C1F uv laser at 285 nm. Factors which influence the gas degradation with increasing operating time, resulting in a decrease of laser output power, were investigated, aiming at a better understanding of the relevant mechanisms. By optimizing several parameters, laser pulse energies beyond 25 mJ were obtained in a high-pressure discharge laser chamber. C1F lasing has also been demonstrated in a commercially available multigas TEA laser system.As a byproduct of our C1F experiments, laser action on the correspondingDA transition of Cl₂ at 258 nm has also been achieved for the first time in a discharge laser chamber.     

Gain-saturated Ni-like antimony laser at 11.4 nm in grazing-incidence pumping geometry

We report on gain-saturated operation of the 4d → 4p, J = 0-1, 11.4 nm soft-X-ray laser line in Ni-like antimony (Sb) at a pump energy of only 2.5 J. The driving laser used was a 1054 nm Nd:glass CPA laser system with a pulse duration of 7 ps (FWHM). The pump beam was focused with a tilted on-axis parabolic mirror in a grazing-incidence (GRIP) pumping configuration at an incidence angle of 45°. A fraction of 2.8% of the pump energy (∼70 mJ) was used for the prepulse, which was propagated along the same beam line as the main pulse and arrived at the target 4.4 ns before the main pulse.     

Resonantly pumped single frequency Er:YAG laser at 1645 nm

An efficient and single frequency Er:YAG laser pumped by an MGo:PPLN laser locked at 1532 nm with double F-P etalons was reported. The Er:YAG laser operated at 1645 nm, 550 mW of 1645 nm output was achieved under total incident pump power of 7 W. Using the etalons, 45 mW single frequency 1645.1 nm laser was achieved.     

Diode pumped 850 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

Very little, if any, has been published on optically pumped 850 nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), particularly for doped structures. This paper investigates GaAs-based VCSELs which have not been optimized for optical pumping work. Characterisation was carried out for both pulsed and continuous wave (CW). Pulsed operation causes a lower rise in temperature, thus postponing the onset of thermal rollover, and allowing the device to be operated at higher powers. A threshold of ∼160 kW/cm², and single mode output with incident power density of up to 225 kW/cm² were obtained. From the simulation work done, it has been observed that for optically pumped VCSELs, at higher pump density, there was faster turn on and higher output power, and that dilute nitride active material give better output performance compared to GaAs.     

二极管泵浦全固态589 nm脉冲激光器

 报道了一台二极管激光器(DL)泵浦的全固态Nd:YAG和频激光器,激光是由Nd:YAG晶体的1 064 nm 和1 319 nm 谱线外腔和频产生,以6 mm×6 mm×12 mm KTP为和频晶体,采用Ⅱ类临界相位匹配, 在400 Hz重复频率下,当分别注入3.05 W和2.46 W的1 064 nm和1 319 nm调Q脉冲到KTP晶体时,和频最大输出达到了1.3 W,脉宽为35 ns,线宽优于3 GHz,和频效率达到了23.5％, 光束质量因子分别为1.84和1.93。实验结果表明采用激光二极管阵列泵浦Nd:YAG/ KTP 腔外和频技术是获得黄激光的高效方法, 并通过精确控制谐振腔内标准具的倾角与温度,和频输出波长可精确调谐到Na D2线。     

High energy flash-lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1073.8 nm

A flash-lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser emitting 1073.8 nm is demonstrated. A thin film polarizer is inserted into the cavity for generating linearly polarized lasers. With incident pump energy of 69.6 J and pulse repetition rate of 1 Hz, output pulse energy of up to 487 mJ is obtained from a 1.0 at % Nd-doped Nd:YAG rod with a size of Ø6 mm × 110 mm. And the polarization ratio is more than 1000:1 at the output pulse energy of 487 mJ. The beam quality factors in the two orthogonal directions are 24.4 ± 0.2 and 24.6 ± 0.2, respectively.     

Highly efficient Tm:YAG ceramic laser resonantly pumped at 1617 nm

We report on a highly efficient polycrystalline Tm:YAG ceramic laser in-band pumped by an Er:YAG laser at 1617 nm. Lasing characteristics of 4.0 and 6.0 at.%Tm(3+)-doped YAG ceramics were investigated and compared. With an output coupler of 10% transmission, a maximum output power of 7.3 W was obtained at 2015 nm under 12.8 W of incident pump power, corresponding to a slope efficiency with respect to incident pump power of 62.3%.     

1064 nm Nd:YVO4 laser intracavity pumped at 912 nm and sum-frequency mixing for an emission at 491 nm

We present for the first time a Nd:YVO(4) laser emitting at 1064 nm intracavity pumped at 912 nm by a Nd:GdVO(4) laser. We carried out a model to design the system properly, and laser performance was experimentally investigated. Intracavity sum-frequency mixing at 912 and 1064 nm was then realized in a BiBO crystal to reach the blue range. We obtained a cw output power of 155 mW at 491 nm with a pump laser diode emitting 20 W at 808 nm.     

Numerical study of the Ne-like Cr x-ray laser at 28.6nm

We investigate the Ne-like Cr x-ray laser at $28.6\,\mathrm{nm}$ by using a modified 1D lagrangian hydrodynamic code MED103 coupled with an atomic physics data package and a 2D ray tracing code as a post-processor. The laser pumping configuration includes two prepulses and one main pulse. The first prepulse normally irradiates the target, while the second prepulse and the main pulse irradiate the target at grazing-incident angles. We predict that saturation can be achieved for the Ne-like Cr x-ray lasers with a total pumping energy of $125\,\mathrm{mJ}$. Good beam qualities with no deflecting angle and a small divergence angle of $5\,\mathrm{mrad}$ are observed.     

Laser diode pumped actively Q-switched Nd:GdVO4 self-Raman laser operating at 1173 nm

A laser diode pumped actively Q-switched Nd:GdVO₄ self-Raman laser operating at 1173 nm is presented. The maximum output power was 2.26 W at an incident pump power of 18 W, with the corresponding optical conversion efficiency of 12.6%. Two different resonator configurations were investigated in order to achieve high output power and efficiency.     

Diode-pumped continuous-wave Nd:LuVO4 laser operating at 916 nm

We realized an efficient diode-pumped Nd:LuVO4 continuous-wave (CW) laser operating at 916 nm. Laser experiments with 0.5 at. % Nd-doped Nd:LuVO4 crystals of various lengths and cutting directions were also investigated. The maximum output power of 930 mW was obtained with a slope efficiency of 27.2% and an optical conversion efficiency of 20.8% at the absorbed pump power of 4.5 W. The laser experiment shows that Nd:LuVO4 crystal can be used for an efficient diode-pumped laser system.