Analysis of sensitivity and low-frequency intensity noise characteristics of Bragg reflector lasers induced by reflected light

An analysis of the sensitivity and low-frequency intensity noise characteristics of Bragg reflector lasers is given. It is found that Bragg reflector lasers have increased sensitivity to reflected light for low grating coupling strength (l) and is similar to that of Fabry-Perot lasers except for highl values. Also, the intensity noise can be reduced by operating the device at high injection level.     

Magneto-optical Kerr effect of amorphous TbFeCoTa film with a quadrilayer structure

The magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) of a multilayered system has been described by using the characteristic matrix method of film optics. By using this method, the MOKE and read-out performance of an amorphous TbFeCoTa film with the quadrilayer structure of SiC/TbFeCoTa/SiC/metallic reflector/glass substrate, has been investigated in detail. Different from the MO/metallic bilayer structure, whose Kerr rotation can be strongly enhanced by the metallic reflector with low values of the optical constants n and , the Kerr rotation and the read-out figure of merit of the quadrilayer structure are strongly enhanced at wavelengths where the reflector layer has a high reflectivity, due to multiple reflection and optical interference. Among the Al, Ag, Cu, Cr and Au reflectors, Al and Ag reflectors result in the largest two increments in the Kerr rotation and the read-out figure of merit at short wavelengths, indicating that Al and Ag are the best reflector materials for the TbFeCoTa MO disk for short wavelength recording. The thickness dependencies of each layer on the MOKE, reflectivity and the figure of merit of the quadrilayer structure have been investigated. By employing this method, the optimum structure for the TbFeCoTa MO disk can be determined. PACS 78.20.Ls; 75.50.Ss; 75.50.Kj; 75.30.Gw; 42.79.Vb     

Spectral-Luminescent Properties of Deposited Rhodamine 6G Films

We have investigated the absorption and fluorescence spectra of Rhodamine 6G thin (20–100 nm) films vacuum-deposited on solid dielectric substrates: quartz and borosilicate glasses and polymer films. By the absorption spectra several molecular absorption centers — monomers, dimers, and complex associates — have been revealed. For the first time luminescence of vacuum-deposited Rhodamine 6G films has been obtained and investigated. We classified it as fluorescence of plane dimers and dimers of the house-of-cards type and also as luminescence of complex associates. The dependence of the spectral composition of the films on the excitation wavelength in the 293–353 K temperature range has been studied. It has been proposed that amorphous Rhodamine 6G films obtained by the vacuum deposition method contain crystalline zones and microclusters of adsorbed water molecules.     

Spectroscopic study of potential magneto-optic storage layers

We present an experimental investigation of magneto-optic (MO) thin film materials of interest in optical storage. XPS valence band spectra of ultrahigh vacuum deposited rare earth — Fe₅₀Co₅₀ alloys are correlated to magneto-optic and reflectivity spectra measured ex-situ in the photon energy range 0.5 E _ph 5.5 eV. It is found that 4f ⁿ 4f ^n–15d ¹ optical transitions contribute to room temperature Kerr spectra in Pr-FeCo and Nd-FeCo, but only in the UV spectral region (300 nm). Eu is found to enter Eu-FeCo intermetallic alloys with a 4f ⁷ ground state at –2 eV binding energy. However, no substantial contribution to the Kerr effect from excitations of this electronic state has been observed n either at room temperaturen or at 100 K. We present a general argument that 4f excitations of RE ions in typical intermetallic alloys can never be expected to contribute more than some tenths of a degree to _k in contrast to the well known huge rotations in RE-chalcogenides.For Yb-FeCo we have observed in XPS a mixed valence behavior of Yb showing a discontinuous transition from divalent Yb²⁺ in the pure metal to mixed valent Yb^2.55+ in amorphous Yb-FeCo films. Nofd contributions to the room temperature MO spectra have been detected. Strong optical enhancement effects are presented for metallic bilayer and multilayer structures of the type MO-layer/reflector. The total thickness of an optimized structure corresponds to about two times the penetration depth of light. Enhancement occurs predominantly at photon energies below the plasma frequency of the reflector material and is caused by low values of the optical constantsn andk of the reflector. In storage materials like Tb-FeCo the read-out performance can be improved by about a factor of 2 with a bilayer of 30 nm Tb-FeCo on Cu. Quantitative modelling of the optical and magneto-optic properties of these films is discussed.     

Continuous laser emission from sodium atoms by collision assisted two-step excitation

Continuous laser oscillation on different lines in the spectral range of 1.85 to 3.41 m, corresponding to transitions between higher lying atomic sodium levels, has been obtained by optical excitation of sodium vapor with Rhodamine 6G dye-laser radiation, tuned either around the 3p–4d resonance ( 568 nm) or the 3p–5s resonance ( 615 nm). The pump mechanism consists of an atomic two-step excitation as well as an excitation of diatomic sodium molecules and subsequent molecular-atomic collisional energy transfer. Laser operation with low threshold pump power (<10 mW) and large pump laser detuning (500 GHz) has been observed.     

Upper critical fields of chromium-rhenium alloys

Alloys Cr_1–x Re _x in theirbcc phase withx up to 0.31 have been studied through measurements of the upper critical magnetic fields, electrical resistivity and thermoelectric power. For this alloy system itinerant electron antiferromagnetism has recently been postulated to coexist with superconductivity. The critical field curvesB _c2(T) measured down to 0.06 K may be adequately described by the theroetical results obtained by Werthamer et al. and by Maki for normal dirty superconductors. Hence there is no indication of magnetic order in these data. The influence of spin orbit scattering is found to increase with the Re concentration. The sign and temperature variation of the thermoelectric power measured up to 300 K gives evidence of a drastic change of the electronic structure of the alloys with increasing Re concentration.     

Transient excited singlet state absorption in Rhodamine 6G

Transient excited singlet state absorption (ESSA) has been studied in Rhodamine 6G in ethanol using a nitrogen laser and nitrogen laser-pumped dye laser. Broad absorption with several submaxima and possible shoulders, which represent the vibrational structure, has been observed in Rhodamine 6G in the region, 4175–4640 Å. The position of the lowest vibrational level of the first excited singlet stateS ₁ has been determined from the crossing point of the long and short wavelength spectral wings of absorption and fluorescence respectively. The energy level scheme of the molecule has been obtained with the help of the absorption and fluorescence spectra recorded. The observed structure in ESSA has been tentatively interpreted to be due to transitions from the different vibrational levels ofS ₁ to one or more vibrational levels of the upper singlet electronic stateS ₄.     

Spectral-Kinetic Properties of Laser Dyes in Active Elements on the Basis of Sol-Gel Matrices

The absorption and photoluminescence spectra as well as the photoluminescence lifetimes of laser dyes (Phenylamine 430, Rhodamine 6G, Rhodamine 6G zwitterion, Rhodamine 4C, and Rhodamine 101) in new matrices are studied. These matrices represent the hybrid of two types of porous glasses (microporous and sol-gel glass). Chemical transformations of the dye molecules in the matrices are not found. The dye dimers mentioned above are also absent for concentrations up to 10^-4 M. The luminescence efficiencies of the dyes in the matrix and in the ethanol solutions are compared. The difference in concentration dependences of the photoluminescence spectrum of Rhodamine 6G in the matrix and ethanol solution is found and discussed. The collective emission of the dyes in new matrices is observed at a power density of exciting radiation of 10²⁵ cm^-2s^-1 and a concentration of 10^-4 M. The energies and collective emission spectra of the dyes in the matrix are compared with those in the solutions.     

Long wavelength operation of a CW CO-laser up to 8.18 μm

A liquid nitrogen cooled cw CO-Laser is described, with which laser action up to 8.18 m (v=3635) has been achieved.On leave from: Dalian Institute of Technology, Dalian, People's Republic of China.     

Circular groove shaped resonator for millimeter waves

In millimeter wave lengths region semiconductor generators, amplifiers, mixers and other solid state UHF devices find a wide application. In our work, we suggested to use aCircular Through-Shaped Resonator for obtaining power combination using active elements at frequency region f20–40 GHz.The resonator is formed by two plane aluminum reflectors. The first reflector has a circular groove. The second reflector has coupling elements. The first and the second reflectors are considered as a ring groove shaped waveguide.A resonator spectrum was calculated and analyzed in the frequency range f 20–40 GHz. It is showed that, in the given frequency range the resonator spectrum has a complicated structure and is formed by a series of spectrum lines; a frequency range between the series increases with the frequency increasing.We studied on transmission coefficient of the resonator, frequency shifts of spectrum lines when inserting a thin (t/0.003) dielectric substrates into the resonator, and also attenuation constants of waves propagating in circular groove (due to losses in metal).     

Pulsed mercury capillary lamps for dye laser pumping: Spectral measurements

Calibrated spectral measurements of the light emitted by a pulsed high-pressure mercury capillary lamp are presented. These pulsed lamps have been used in a previous work to pump a Rhodamine 6G laser. The measurements presented here show a very high efficiency in the blue and near UV part of the spectrum, suggesting that these lamps represent a very attractive pumping source for dye lasers emitting in the blue. In particular, as an example, a computation has been made for a basic solution of 4-MU yielding a spectral efficiency of 24%.     

Spectral Ellipsometry of Multilayer ZnS/ZnSe Heterostructures

By the method of spectral ellipsometry with binary modulation of the polarization state the dispersions of the refractive index n, absorption coefficient k, and layer thickness in ZnS/ZnSe multilayer structures grown by the chemical gasphase deposition method from heteroorganic compounds on GaGaAssubstrates with ZnSe buffer layers have been determined. The efficiency of local ellipsometric measurements (with a light beam size less than 150 × 500 m) permitting mapping of the parameters of structures with A²B⁶ layers up to a few microns thick has been demonstrated. The optical properties of oxide layers formed on the zinc selenide surface have been investigated. Multilayer structures (ZnSe/ZnS) _n /ZnSe/GaAs with a pronounced exciton absorption and specific features in the reflection spectra coinciding in energy with exciton transitions, as well as Bragg mirrors with a reflection coefficient up to 99% in the blue region of the spectrum, have been studied.     

Measurement and characterization of the frequency noise of a laser-diode-pumped single-frequency Tm-Ho:YAG laser

The frequency noise characteristics of a single-frequency 2.1-m Tm-Ho:YAG laser have been thoroughly investigated. From the measurement of the frequency noise spectral density, performed by means of an interferometric technique, a short-term laser linewidth of 550 kHz over 1-ms time interval has been obtained. The frequency stability, defined as the two sample standard deviation of the frequency fluctuations with dead time T, has been also evaluated, obtaining values ranging from 250 kHz to 2.5 MHz for T values between 1 and 100 ms over an observation time of 100 ns. It has been shown through a numerical analysis that a significant improvement is achievable, attaining a frequency stability of 25 kHz for T up to 100 ms, by using the Pound–Drever locking technique in connection with a roto-vibrational line of the HBr molecule.     

Study of hard scattering processes in multihadron production from γγ collisions at LEP

The production of multihadronic states in collisions at LEP has been studied with the DELPHI detector. The analyzed data correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 32pb^–1, collected in the LEP runs of 1990–1992. Minimum bias data and a sample of events with jets at highp _T have been selected under the requirement that no scattered electron or positron is observed. The two data sets have been compared to Monte Carlo predictions. The non-perturbative contribution described by the vector meson dominance Model and direct production from pointlike photons described by the quark parton model were found to be insufficient to reproduce the data. It has been necessary to include a third interaction component, which is due to perburbative hard scattering of the partonic constituents of the photon. Several parametrisations of the quark and gluon densities of the photon have been tested. The interplay with the cut in jet transverse momentum, which is necessary for the separation of the perturbative and non-perturbative regions, is discussed. The data favour parametrisations with rather soft partonic content of the photon.     

Disks vs. spheres: Contrasting properties of random packings

Collections of random packings of rigid disks and spheres have been generated by computer using a previously described concurrent algorithm. Particles begin as infinitesimal moving points, grow in size at a uniform rate, undergo energy-onconserving collisions, and eventually jam up. Periodic boundary conditions apply, and various numbers of particles have been considered (N2000 for disks,N8000 for spheres). The irregular disk packings thus formed are clearly polycrystalline with mean grain size dependent upon particle growth rate. By contrast, the sphere packings show a homogeneously amorphous texture substantially devoid of crystalline grains. This distinction strongly influences the respective results for packing pair correlation functions and for the distributions of particles by contact number. Rapidly grown disk packings display occasional vacancies within the crystalline grains; no comparable voids of such distinctive size have been found in the random sphere packings. Rattler particles free to move locally but imprisoned by jammed neighbors occur in both the disk and sphere packings.This paper is dedicated to Jerry Percus on the occasion of his 65th birthday.     

Recent results from the TCV tokamak

During the first two years of operation, the TCV tokamak has produced a large variety of plasma shapes and magnetic configurations, with 1.0B _tor1.46T,I _p800kA,k2.05, –0.71. A new shape control algorithm, based on a finite element reconstruction of the plasma current in real time, has been implemented. Vertical growth rates up to 1000s^–1 have been stabilized using the external coil system. Ohmic H-modes with Troyon factors ( _tor aB/I _p) up to two and densities up to 2.25×10²⁰m^–3, corresponding to the Greenwald limit, have been obtained in diverted discharges. Limiter H-modes with line averaged electron densities up to 1.7×10²⁰m^–3 have been obtained in elongated D-shaped plasmas with 360 kAI _P600 kA.Presented at 17^th Symposium Plasma Physics and Technology, Prague, June 13–16, 1995.This work was partly supported by the Fonds National Suisse de la Recherche Scientifique.     

Gas laser excitation by an electron beam formed at open discharge

The method of formation of powerful electron beams (EBs) with nanosecond duration has been described (electron energyu10 to 20 keV and beam currentl _EB>1 kA) in the medium pressure gas which is simultaneously the laser active medium. The value ofl _EB=7 kA has been achieved atU=22 kV, =20 ns andp _Ne=300 Pa in a coaxial cell 330 mm long and 99 mm in diameter. The 3 kA current from the cathode with 60 cm² square in the shape of a segment of a sphere 140 mm in diameter has been achieved atU=23 kV, =15 ns andp _Ne=300 Pa. With the help of a magnetic field this beam has been transported to a distance of up to 100 cm.Applications of the beams for pumping various lasers were broadened. Lasing in He + Cd⁺ mixtures at the optimal He pressure of 10 to 12 kPa and in the triple mixture He-Cd-Kr has been obtained. Using the method of doubled excitation pulses it has been shown that EB pumping provides preservation of the lasing pulse parameters in the Eu atom laser in comparison with glowing discharge, the sequential frequency being an order of magnitude greater. Lasing at a significantly greater ion concentration than in gas discharge has been obtained in the ion laser on the self-terminating transition of Ca⁺,=866 nm. Quasicontinuous lasing has been realized in the mixture He + Sr + Kr in the plasma laser on Sr⁺,=430.6 nm.     

Losses of Aperture Coupling Resonators for Extended Range of Fresnel Numbers

Laser resonator losses with output coupling apertures (holes) have been calculated before but in limited ranges. We have extended such calculations, for the benefit of laser designers, using full diffraction theory, to cover the range of the Fresnel Number N up to 100. Here N is defined by a ²/b with a the radius of the two mirrors and b their separation, while is the wavelength of interest. The losses have been examined from the point of view of the field configuration at the mirrors. Such field is modified, in turn, by the size of the aperture.In addition, the results have been compared with a simple linear model. This has been used to derive a simplified expression, in close form, to calculate cavity losses. Although limited in scope, this expression should prove valuable to a laser cavity designer in performing preliminary designs in regions not covered by our detailed calculations.     

Medium-spin excitations of the neutron-rich 84Se isotope: Possible decrease in energy of the N = 50 neutron-core excitation

The ⁸⁴Se nucleus has been produced as fission fragment in the fusion reaction ¹⁸O + ²⁰⁸Pb at 85MeV bombarding energy and studied with the Euroball IV array. Medium-spin states of this neutron-rich isotope have been identified for the first time. Its level scheme has been obtained up to 4.9MeV excitation energy and spin I 7. Its structure is interpreted by analogy with those of the stable heavier isotones. The evolution of the energy of the N = 50 neutron-core excitation is discussed as a function of the proton number.     

Structure of the145Sm states from the145Eu Decay

The -radiation from¹⁴⁵Eu has been studied by means of an anti-Compton spectrometer, the construction and operation of which are described. Altogether 91 -transitions have been observed, 20 of them for the first time. A decay scheme of¹⁴⁵Eu has been constructed incorporating 85 -transitions. Low-lying excited states in¹⁴⁵Sm have been analysed within the quasiparticle-phonon nuclear model as well as within the interacting boson-fermion model. Some systematic features in the positions of low-lying positive parity levels inN=83 nuclei have been revealed.