Compact extended cavity diode laser system for small optically pumped cesium beam frequency standards

A compact extended cavity diode laser (ECDL) system operating at 852 nm for small optically pumped cesium (Cs) beam frequency standards was reported. ECDL and a saturated absorption spectroscopy setup were all built in an aluminum box with dimension of 10×10×7 (cm). ECDL was based on a Littman-Metcaff configuration, whose free-running linewidth was less than 600 kHz. A digital automatic frequency lock unit (AFLU) was developed to lock the laser frequency to specify Cs absorption lines automatically and re-lock it in case of lock broken. With AFLU, the laser frequency was continuously locked for several weeks.     

A high sensitivity spectrometer with tunable diode laser for ambient methane monitoring

Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) has been widely employed in atmospheric trace gases detection. In the measurement of these trace gases, harmonic detection combined with a multi-pass white cell could remarkably enhance the detection sensitivity. In this paper, a portable TDLAS system built specifically for long time monitoring methane in the atmosphere is introduced. The detection limit is below 100 ppb that is enough for the monitoring of ambient methane, and the long time monitoring results obtained in Beijing are given, which is well coincident with that of the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.     

Optimal distance from high power laser diode to cylindrical microlens in a coupling system

In a practical coupling system, a cylindrical microlens is used to collimate the emission of a high power laser diode (LD) in the dimension perpendicular to the junction plane. Using passive alignment, the LD is placed in the focus of the cylindrical microlens generally, regardless of the performance of the multimode optical fiber and the LD. In this paper, a more complete analysis is arrived at by ray-tracing technique, by which the angle 9 of the ray after refraction is computed as a function of the angle θo of the ray before refraction. The focus of the cylindrical microlens is not always the optimal position of the LD. In fact, in order to achieve a higher coupling efficiency, the optimal distance from the LD to the cylindrical microlens is dependent on not only the radius R and the index of refraction n of the cylindrical microlens, but also the divergence angle of the LD in the dimension perpendicular to the junction plane and the numerical aperture (NA) of the multimode optical fiber. The result     

A cylindrical ?ffner stretcher based on ternary reflector for femtosecond petawatt-level laser system

A cylindrical ?ffner stretcher based on ternary reflector(COSTER) is proposed and analyzed. Compared with the traditional?ffner stretcher, the COSTER has no off-axis aberration in the multipass configuration, and the output laser of COSTER has lower spectral phase noise and higher temporal contrast in the far field. The COSTER is quite suitable to be used in multipetawatt laser facilities, and it might be the preferred stretcher configuration for ultrafast and ultra-intense lasers.     

Comparison of different side-pumping configurations for high power laser diode pumped solid-state laser

Ray-tracing method is used to simulate the distribution of absorption in crystal rod for different side-pumping configuration. The distribution of pumping power and absorption efficiency is compared, and the numerical results are presented. The results show that the more uniform pumping and the higher absorption coefficient are obtained with a diffuse cavity. And the method of the slow axis of laser diode stack perpendicular to the axis of lasing gives the higher central pumping density.     

Sinusoidal phase-modulating laser diode interferometer for real-time surface profile measurement

A sinusoidal phase-modulating (SPM) laser diode (LD) interferometer for real-time surface profile measurement is proposed and its principle is analyzed. The phase signal of the surface profile is detected from the sinusoidal phase-modulating interference signal using a real-time phase detection circuit. For 60 x 60 measurement points of the surface profile, the measuring time is 10 ms. A root mean square (RMS) measurement repeatability of 3.93 nm is realized, and the measurement resolution reaches 0.19 nm.     

A novel discrete mode narrow linewidth laser diode for spectroscopic based gas sensing in the 1.5 μm region

The characteristics of a novel Discrete Mode laser diode are described with particular reference to its capability in spectroscopic based gas sensing. In this regard, its emission linewidth, Side Mode Suppression Ratio and tuneability are of particular note. The measured narrow linewidth of 550?kHz has applications with respect to spectrally narrow absorption features found, for example, in saturated absorption lines, in hyperfine structure of some rotational manifolds and in whispering gallery mode features associated with optical microspheres. Other notable measured characteristics show mode-hop-free temperature tuning of 11 nm at a linear tuning rate of 0.1 nm/°C and a Side Mode Suppression Ratio in the range 56 to 46 dB and a long term (72?hours) wavelength stability of 1?pm per day. In essence, this novel Discrete Mode laser displays excellent potential for diode laser based sensing applications in the near infrared.     

A passively Q-switched diode pumped Yb:YAG microchip laser

A passively Q-switched diode pumped Yb:YAG microchip laser with Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber mirror is reported. The TEMoo laser pulses are obtained with 1,7-uJ pulse energy, 15-ns pulse width, 0.11-kW peak power, and a repetition rate of 2.2 kHz at 1049 nm. The doped concentration and dimension of Yb:YAG microchip crystal are 10 at.-% and 5×0.6 mm2, respectively.     

Optical switching in a Ξ system: A comparative study on DROP and EIT

Liquid Lennard-Jones clusters with magic number of atoms N = 55, 147, 309, 561 and 923 were cooled down in Monte Carlo simulations until freezing. Structural properties of the clusters, including the radial dependence of atomic concentration/density and the local regular structure in arrangement of atoms, just before freezing were analysed. Existence of spherical layers in atomic density around the centre of mass of liquid LJ clusters was confirmed. Formation of layers is explained by central net forces acting on every cluster atom and leading to positioning an atom close to the cluster centre of mass. The strong layering in small clusters of N = 55 and 147 affects atomic diffusion in radial and tangential directions inside the cluster, leading to easier movement of atoms on the layer surface. Analysis of radial profiles of four types of structural units detected in liquid clusters reveals that icosahedral units are the most numerous and are located mainly near cluster surface of all clusters and also in the centre of small clusters.     

Absorption measurements in dense cesium vapor using a UV–violet light-emitting diode

We present results of absorption measurements in a dense superheated cesium vapor generated in an all-sapphire cell using a UV–violet light-emitting diode as a continuum source. Due to the very effective thermal destruction of Cs₂ molecules, a number of diffuse and satellite bands appear around higher members of cesium principal series lines, which are not easily visible in saturated cesium vapor. From the temperature dependence of the diffuse features we can distinguish short-range singlet transitions from temperature-independent spectral features that stem either from a shallow lowest triplet state or from the long-range photo association spectra of triplet or singlet Cs₂ molecules. The limits of the present interpretation of the observed bands in the UV–violet spectral region are discussed. Received: 25 May 2000 / Revised version: 20 September 2000 / Published online: 13 December 2000     

Influence of laser intensity in second-harmonic detection with tunable diode laser multi-pass absorption spectroscopy

Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy （TDLAS） has been widely employed in atmospheric trace gases detection. The ratio of the second-harmonic signal to the intensity of laser beam incident to the multi-pass cell is proved to be proportional to the product of the path length and the gas concentration under any condition. A new calibration method based on this relation in TDLAS system for the measurement of trace gas concentration is proposed for the first time. The detection limit and the sensitivity of the system are below 110 and 31ppbv （parts-per-billion in volume）, respectively.     

A CO_2 laser rapid-thermal-annealing SiO_x based metal-oxide-semiconductor light emitting diode

Enhanced near-infrared (NIR) electroluminescence (EL) of a metal-oxide-semiconductor light emitting device (MOSLED) made on CO_2 laser-annealed SiO_x film is demonstrated.An EL power of near 50 nW from CO_2 laser rapid-thermal-annealing (RTA) MOSLED under a biased voltage of 85 V and a current density of 2.3 mA/cm~2 is preliminarily reported.     

A power and wavelength detuning-dependent hysteresis loop in a single mode Fabry-Prot laser diode

In this paper, we observe experimentally the optical bistability induced by the side-mode injection power and wave-length detuning in a single mode Fabry-Prot laser diode (SMFP-LD). Results show that the bistability characteristics of the dominant and injected modes are strongly dependent on the injected input optical power and wavelength detuning in an SMFP-LD. We observe three types of hysteresis loops: counterclockwise, clockwise, and butterfly hysteresis with various loop widths. In the case of a bistability loop caused by injection power, the transition from counterclockwise to clockwise in the hysteresis direction with the wavelength detuning from 0.028 nm to 0.112 nm is observed in a way of butterfly hysteresis for the dominant mode by increasing the wavelength detuning. The width of hysteresis loop, induced by wavelength detuning is also changed while the injection power is enhanced from 7 dBm to 5 dBm.     

Absorption resonances in A-type three-level system in cesium vapor cell with buffer gas

We report experimentally the transformation from the electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) resonance to a dispersion-like signal and eventually to a nearly symmetric absorption resonance as coupling detuning increases in A-type three-level system in the cesium vapor cell with buffer gas at room temperature. The observed absorption resonance occupies some remarkable properties of the strong amplitude and the narrow linewidth in comparison with the case without buffer gas. The relation between linewidth of the enhanced absorption resonance and buffer gas pressure is studied. With pressure increasing, linewidth of the absorption resonance becomes narrow. The sub-natural linewidth is observed in Doppler-broadened cesium vapor cell in our experiment. The experimental results are in qualitative agreement with the numerical simulations.     

Double sinusoidal phase modulating laser diode interferometer for thickness measurements of transparent plates

A double sinusoidal phase modulating (SPM) laser diode interferometer for thickness measurements of a transparent plate is presented. A carrier signal is given to the interference signal by using a piezoelectric transducer, and the SPM interferometry is applied to measure the thickness of a transparent plate. By combining the double-modulation technique with the Bessel function ratio method, the measurement error originating from Sight intensity fluctuations caused by the modulation current can be decreased greatly. The thicknesses of a glass parallel plate and a quartz glass are measured in real time, and the corresponding experimental results are also given.     

Development of a Lyman-α laser system for spectroscopy and laser cooling of antihydrogen

Hydrogen Lyman-α radiation (121.56 nm) is important because it allows for the excitation and detection of ground-state hydrogen atoms by a one-photon process. The trapping of antihydrogen, recently reported by the ALPHA collaboration at CERN, has revived interest in Lyman-α lasers. In order to perform high precision tests of matter-antimatter symmetry violations or gravity-antimatter interactions with antihydrogen, laser cooling using the 1s ? 2p single photon transition is essential. Recent theoretical simulations predict that even with a pulsed Lyman-α source, laser cooling of antihydrogen would be possible. Here we describe the implementation of a high power vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) laser at the Lyman-α transition of hydrogen. The VUV light was generated using a two-photon-resonant four-wave mixing process in a phase-matched mixture of krypton and argon. Two wavelengths (ω _R → 202.31 and ω _T → 602.56 nm) were mixed in a sum-difference scheme (ω _VUV = 2ω _R ? ω _T ) with a two-photon resonance at (4s ²4p ⁵5p[1/2]₀ ← 4s ²4p ⁶(1S ₀)) transition in Kr. With an Ar/Kr mixture of 3.9:1 we obtained 10 ns pulses of 0.1 μJ of energy at a repetition rate of 10 Hz.     

Femtosecond diode laser MOPA system at 920 nm based on asymmetric colliding pulse mode-locking

We report on the generation of 267 fs long pulses with a peak power of 661 W emitted by an InGaAs diode laser master-oscillator power-amplifier (MOPA) system with an external grating compressor. The oscillator emits strongly chirped picosecond pulses with several nanometer of bandwidth, which can be amplified without significant phase modulation and are compressed to femtosecond pulses after leaving the amplifier. We used a diode laser module for asymmetric colliding pulse mode-locking and optimized the collision point and the relative intensity of the counter-propagation pulses.     

A near-infrared acetylene detection system based on a 1.534 μm tunable diode laser and a miniature gas chamber

A near-infrared (NIR) dual-channel differential acetylene (C₂H₂) detection system was experimentally demonstrated based on tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) technique and wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) technique. A distributed feedback (DFB) laser modulated by a self-developed driver around 1.534 μm is used as light source. A miniature gas chamber with 15 cm path length is adopted as absorption pool, and an orthogonal lock-in amplifier is developed to extract the second harmonic (2f) signal. Sufficient standard C₂H₂ samples with different concentrations were prepared, and detailed measurements were carried out to study the detection performance. A good linear relationship is observed between the amplitude of the 2f signal and C₂H₂ concentration within the range of 200–10,000 ppm, and the relative measurement error is less than 5% within the whole range. A long-term monitoring lasting for 20 h on a 1000 ppm C₂H₂ sample was carried out, and the maximum concentration fluctuation is less than 2%. Due to the capability of using long-distance and low-loss optical fiber, the gas-cell can be placed in the filed for remote monitoring, which enables the system to have good prospects in industrial field.     

Diagnostic system for two dimension intensity distribution of laser beam

The diagnostic system for two dimension(2-D)intensity distribution of laserbeam is a measuring instrument for many parameters of laser beam.2-D intensity distributionplot of laser beam is obtained by the two dimension scanning mirror which is controlled by amicrocomputer to scan the laser beam on a detector.Many parameters of laser beam such asthe isointensity distribution plot,the beam diameter,the beam waist diameter,the laser pow-er,the diverge angle and the beam brightness,are given by means of the microcomputer pro-cessing the data measured.Theoretical analysis of beam parameter transform is given.