Generation of laser-polarized xenon using fiber-coupled laser-diode arrays narrowed with integrated volume holographic gratings

Volume holographic gratings (VHGs) can be exploited to narrow the spectral output of high-power laser-diode arrays (LDAs) by nearly an order of magnitude, permitting more efficient generation of laser-polarized noble gases for various applications. A 3-fold improvement in ¹²⁹Xe nuclear spin polarization, P_Xe, (compared to a conventional LDA) was achieved with the VHG-LDA’s center wavelength tuned to a wing of the Rb D₁ line. Additionally, an anomalous dependence of P_Xe on the xenon density within the OP cell is reported—including high P_Xe values (>10%) at high xenon partial pressures (1000 torr).     

Interdependence of in-cell xenon density and temperature during Rb/129Xe spin-exchange optical pumping using VHG-narrowed laser diode arrays

The (129)Xe nuclear spin polarization (P(Xe)) that can be achieved via spin-exchange optical pumping (SEOP) is typically limited at high in-cell xenon densities ([Xe](cell)), due primarily to corresponding reductions in the alkali metal electron spin polarization (e.g. P(Rb)) caused by increased non-spin-conserving Rb-Xe collisions. While demonstrating the utility of volume holographic grating (VHG)-narrowed lasers for Rb/(129)Xe SEOP, we recently reported [P. Nikolaou et al., JMR 197 (2009) 249] an anomalous dependence of the observed P(Xe) on the in-cell xenon partial pressure (p(Xe)), wherein P(Xe) values were abnormally low at decreased p(Xe), peaked at moderate p(Xe) (~300 torr), and remained surprisingly elevated at relatively high p(Xe) values (>1000 torr). Using in situ low-field (129)Xe NMR, it is shown that the above effects result from an unexpected, inverse relationship between the xenon partial pressure and the optimal cell temperature (T(OPT)) for Rb/(129)Xe SEOP. This interdependence appears to result directly from changes in the efficiency of one or more components of the Rb/(129)Xe SEOP process, and can be exploited to achieve improved P(Xe) with relatively high xenon densities measured at high field (including averaged P(Xe) values of ~52%, ~31%, ~22%, and ~11% at 50, 300, 500, and 2000 torr, respectively).     

External cavity design of high-power diode laser for polarized helium-3 neutron spin filters based on spin-exchange optical pumping

Polarized neutron spin filters are being developed based on spin-exchange optical pumping. In the present study a high-power diode laser (85 W) was used to excite Rb atoms and the laser linewidth was narrowed using an external cavity. The optics in the external cavity were designed by ray tracing. The ray-trace calculations demonstrated that a doublet lens in front of the laser eliminates aberrations. The maximum spectral peak height in the doublet optics was found to be 25% higher than for a singlet lens.     

Frequency stabilization and output power undulations of diode lasers with feedback by volume holographic gratings

The mode-hop behavior and the power characteristics of a laser diode with wavelength-selective optical feedback are experimentally investigated. The feedback is provided by external volume holographic gratings, also called ‘Bragg mirrors’, at normal incidence. We demonstrate that a Bragg mirror forces a laser diode to operate only within a narrow wavelength range, and that the emission wavelength of the laser diode is stabilized against variations of the injection current. Moreover, we present periodic undulations of the power characteristics of the laser, depending on the driving current. They can be qualitatively explained with a simple model which takes into account that the threshold gain in the laser system strongly depends on the wavelength.     

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.     

Development and characterization of Yb-Er laser glass for high average power laser diode pumping

A new strong erbium laser glass (SELG) based on a boro-alumo-phosphate composition is reported. We discuss the synthesis and chemical properties together with spectroscopic and thermo-mechanical data. The new glass composition shows excellent laser performance and withstands high-average power pump radiation. We present laser results at 1.54 μm from flashlamp and laser pumping. In tests with laser-diode pumped Q-switched Er-Yb microchip lasers, we have achieved up to 150 mW of average output power and generated 1.2 kW in peak power. Co²⁺:MgAl₂O₄ was here used as the saturable absorber. Received: 21 December 2001 / Revised version: 14 April 2002 / Published online: 8 August 2002     

Advances in hardware, system diagnostics software, and acquisition procedures for high performance airborne tunable diode laser measurements of formaldehyde

A tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) instrument was deployed onboard a DC-8 aircraft as part of the International Chemical Transport Experiment – North America (INTEX-NA) during the summer of 2004 to quantify atmospheric formaldehyde (CH₂O) concentrations. A number of improvements, both software and hardware, are discussed and include the laser tuning waveform, spectral wavelength centering, and optical stabilization. In addition, the impact of perturbations to the instrument in flight is reviewed and a number of advanced TDLASdata-acquisition and processing concepts are introduced to identify the presence of optical perturbations in flight to objectively eliminate such perturbed data, assess the validity of the fitting routine in the presence of perturbed data, provide various diagnostic measures to elucidate system behavior, and assess the efficacy of various opto-mechanical improvements implemented to reduce the magnitude of such perturbations. The concepts specific to our TDLASmeasurements of CH₂O should have broader and more universal applicability to measurement of other trace gases and possibly other methods of detection.     

Using Fabry-Perot laser diode and reflective semiconductor optical amplifier for long reach WDM-PON system

In this investigation, we propose and investigate the simple self-injection locked Fabry-Perot laser diodes (FP-LDs) in optical line terminal (OLT); and wavelength-tunable optical network unit (ONU) using reflective optical semiconductor amplifier (RSOA) and FP-LD laser for downstream and upstream traffic in long reach (LR) wavelength division multiplexed-passive optical network (WDM-PON) respectively. The output performance of the proposed two laser sources in terms of power and side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) has been discussed. Here, for the downstream traffic, the proposed optical transmitter can be directly modulated at 2.5 Gb/s on-off keying (OOK) format with nearly 0.4 dB power penalty at bit error rate (BER) of 10⁻⁹ through 75 km single-mode fiber (SMF) transmission. Moreover, the proposed upstream transmitter can be directly modulated at 1.25 and 2.5 Gb/s with nearly 0.5 and 1.1 dB power penalty, respectively, at the BER of 10⁻⁹.     

一种与光纤高效耦合的新型大光腔大功率半导体激光器

提出并实现了一种新型多有源区隧道级联大光腔半导体激光器，提高了激光器激射窗口的宽度，得到低于20°的垂直发散角，从而提高了光纤输出的耦合效率.对多种形式和规格的透镜光纤的测试结果表明，耦合效率可以提高30%以上. 关键词： 半导体激光器 大光腔 光纤耦合 透镜光纤     

Detection of sulphur dioxide at,and below,the part per billion level using a tunable diode laser

A laser absorption spectrometer is described which employs a wavelength tunable diode laser in conjunction with a multipass White cell. The instrument uses absorption lines in the ₃ band of SO₂ to monitor atmospheric SO₂ concentrations with sensitivities as high as 0.2 parts per billion (ppb) in a laboratory system. A portable instrument with a fast response time and a sensitivity of 1 ppb is described, and the development of a highly practical field instrument, based on pyroelectric detectors, is discussed.Work supported by the Department of National Health and Welfare, Environment Canada, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, and Atmospheric Service, Environment Canada.     

High nuclear polarization in3He and3He-4He gas mixtures by optical pumping with a laser diode

New diode lasers delivering 50 mW output power at 1083 nm are shown to be efficient sources for optical pumping of helium. They can polarize nuclei in a³He gas up toM = 50% over the pressure range 0.4–1.6 torr. Larger nuclear polarizationsM of³He nuclei, of order 80%, can be obtained in³He-⁴He mixtures when the laser frequency is tuned to a⁴He line. A standard optical measurement of nuclear polarizationM has been extended to the case of³He-⁴He mixtures. The effect of various parameters on the steady-state polarizationM and on the pumping timeT _p is discussed.Laboratoire associé au Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et à l'Université P. M. Curie     

Gas cells for tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy employing optical diffusers. Part 1: single and dual pass cells

New designs for gas cells are presented that incorporate transmissive or reflective optical diffusers. These components offer simple alignment and can disrupt the formation of optical etalons. We analyse the performance–limiting effects in these cells of random laser speckle (both objective and subjective speckle), interferometric speckle and self-mixing interference, and show how designs can be optimised. A simple, single pass transmissive gas cell has been studied using wavelength modulation spectroscopy to measure methane at 1651 nm. We have demonstrated a short-term noise equivalent absorbance (NEA, 1σ) of 2×10⁻⁵, but longer term drift of up to 3×10⁻⁴ over 22 hours.     

Compact, thermal-noise-limited optical cavity for diode laser stabilization at 1x10(-15)

We demonstrate phase and frequency stabilization of a diode laser at the thermal noise limit of a passive optical cavity. The system is compact and exploits a cavity design that reduces vibration sensitivity. The subhertz laser is characterized by comparison with a second independent system with similar fractional frequency stability (1x10(-15) at 1 s). The laser is further characterized by resolving a 2 Hz wide, ultranarrow optical clock transition in ultracold strontium.     

Ablation comparison with low and high energy densities for Cu and Al with ultra-short laser pulses

The effect of varying fluence for laser microprocessing of Al and Cu is studied at a pulse duration of 120 fs at atmospheric pressure. For low fluences (<2 J/cm²) quality is relatively good for both metals but completely melt free processing does not seem to be possible. For fluences above 2 J/cm², a huge difference is observed between Al and Cu. Important roughness and clear evidence for remelted and recast matter solidified like spikes, as well as significant burrs at the edge are observed for Al. In the case of Cu the micromachining quality is high, with practically no redeposit matter and low roughness in the bottom of the groove. An analysis is given in terms of processes of a thermal nature underlining the role of electron-phonon coupling. The existence of an optimal point for micromachining is also evidenced. PACS 79.20.Ds; 42.62.Cf; 81.65.Cf     

Frequency-selective laser optical pumping and spin exchange of cesium with129Xe and131Xe in a high magnetic field

We report the experimental results of frequency-selective laser optical pumping and spin exchange of Cs with¹²⁹Xe and¹³¹Xe in a high magnetic field of 11.74 T. Our results show that hyperpolarized¹²⁹Xe and¹³¹Xe nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) signals exhibit alternating phases when the laser frequency for pumping the cesium atoms is changed, which is explained on the basis of the high-field optical pumping of Cs. We obtain about 3% polarization of the¹²⁹Xe. The electron-spin polarization of the Cs atoms has been measured to be about 22% with a simple NMR method.     

A high-precision wavelength meter for tunable diode laser: Measurements of CO2 and N2O bands at 10 μm

We construct a high-precision wavelength meter for infrared tunable diode lasers (TDL) which consists of moving corner reflectors forming a Michelson interferometer, with a single-frequency HeNe laser as a standard. The design of the wavelength meter is described in detail, and possible sources of errors are discussed. An absolute accuracy of 10^?7 is demonstrated by measuring CO₂ laser wavelengths and almost the same order of accuracy is achieved by applying the wavelength meter to the ν₁ band of N₂O observed by a TDL.     

Narrow-band,tunable 2 μm optical parametric oscillator based on MgO:PPLN at degeneracy with a volume Bragg grating output coupler

A degenerate optical parametric oscillator (OPO) using an MgO:PPLN crystal and a volume Bragg grating (VBG) output coupler is presented. By changing the temperature of the VBG, the resonance of the OPO can be tuned exactly on the degeneracy point. A single-longitudinal and a multi-longitudinal mode pump scheme as well as the performance of the optical parametric oscillator on and off degeneracy are compared. It was found that the multi-longitudinal mode pump setup provides superior results with respect to spectral width and stability at degeneracy. At 2128.4 nm, a spectral width of less than 0.7 nm, an output power of 1.7 W with a slope efficiency of 31.8%, and low power fluctuation of 0.3% were achieved.     

Nd:GdVO4 self-Raman laser using double-end polarised pumping at 880 nm for high power infrared and visible output

We report and evaluate a novel double-end polarised 880?nm pumping scheme for a Nd:GdVO₄ self-Raman laser, aimed at efficiently generating high output powers in the near-infrared and visible. Compared to conventional single-end pumping, this pump scheme has significant benefits in terms of absorption efficiency, temperature effects in the crystal, and mode-matching between the pumping beam and TEM₀₀ resonator mode. The maximum first-Stokes output powers were 4.1?W for CW operation and 5.63?W for quasi-CW (50?% duty-cycle) operation, with the diode-Stokes conversion efficiency of 11.2?% and 10.3?%, respectively. Visible emission was also realised by intra-cavity frequency-doubling (586.5?nm) or sum-frequency-generation (559?nm) using BBO or LBO crystals. For CW operation, the maximum output power was 3.46?W at 586.5?nm and 4.05?W at 559?nm, with diode-visible conversion efficiency of 10.7?% and 12.5?%; while for quasi-CW operation (50?% duty-cycle), the maximum output peak power was 6.5?W at 586.5?nm and 9.2?W at 559?nm, corresponding to 13.1?% and 18.9?% diode-visible conversion efficiency.     

Hyperfine structure density shift coefficients for K,Rb and Cs at high buffer gas densities

The hyperfine structure (hfs) density and temperature shift has been measured for several alkalies K, Rb, and Cs against the noble gas collision partners He, Ne and Ar at buffer gas densities up to 26000 Torr. The measured shifts have been fitted by an expression dependent on density and temperature yielding as a main new result the quadratic hfs density shift coefficients.     

Metastability exchange optical pumping of <Superscript>3</Superscript>He at high pressure and high magnetic field for medical applications

Systematic studies of the metastability exchange optical pumping (MEOP) process in ³He gas at high magnetic fields (0.45, 0.9, 1.5, and 2 T) and pressures (32 and 64 mbar) are performed. The impact of experimental parameters such as laser power, beam profile, and shape of the pumping cell is evaluated. By varying the discharge intensity in the cell, the density of metastable state atoms and the plasma-induced nuclear relaxation rate are also controlled, and their effect on the MEOP efficiency can be investigated. Very accurate experimental results are obtained, opening the way to quantitative tests of a recently proposed model of the MEOP process at high magnetic field. We report selected MEOP results with nuclear polarizations exceeding 50 % at 64 mbar and 2 T, which represents a dramatic improvement in performances over MEOP at low magnetic field. The present findings suggest that still higher polarizations can be achieved in higher magnetic fields, and motivate investigations at higher gas pressures. New ways of producing hyperpolarized ³He for magnetic resonance imaging and medical applications can be envisaged, as most clinical whole-body scanners operate at 1.5 T.