电子束泵浦XeCl准分子激光器及应用

为了获得高能紫外激光输出,开展了电子束泵浦XeCl准分子激光技术研究。详细介绍了四向电子束泵浦准分子激光装置的工作原理和结构特征,简述Marx发生器的放电电压、放电电流,激光气室中的沉积能量,激光脉冲能量、脉宽等参数的测量方法;研究了电子束泵浦XeCl准分子激光输出特性,得到了激光脉冲能量随激光气室内混合气体气压变化的规律,当激光器的充电电压为81kV时,获得了能量100J、脉宽200ns的XeCl准分子激光输出,其本征效率约为3.2%。并且开展了XeCl准分子激光辐照涂层材料力学特性研究,采用微型红外通光冲量探头测量不同条件下激光辐照涂层材料的冲量耦合系数,在常压空气环境中的冲量耦合系数约为8.32×10-5 N·W-1。     

Bandwidth limited amplification of 220 fs pulses in XeCl

Transform limited pulses of 200–250 fs duration at 308 ns generated by a specially designed excimer laser pumped dye laser system have been amplified in a XeCl gain module. Simultaneous study of the spectrum and the temporal behaviour of the amplified UV pulses showed bandwidth limitation by the gain spectrum of XeCl. This effect is strongly dependent on the operational condition of the amplifier; in a single pass amplification scheme 0.5 mJ, 250 fs pulses, in a double pass arrangement 5 mJ, 220 fs pulses were obtained, with excellent reproducibility.     

Exciplex liquid-phase thermometer using time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence

Pulsed photoexcitation of hydrocarbon fuels doped with organic molecules exhibits a temperature-dependent fluorescence spectrum that is used as the basis for a weakly intrusive optical thermometer. By use of pulsed excitation from a 308-nm 8-ns XeCl excimer laser with gated detection of the fluorescence emissions from doped n -heptane, we demonstrate that time-resolved measurement of the excited monomer and the redshifted excited-state complex (exciplex) fluorescence emissions can yield sub-1 degrees accuracy for temperatures ranging from 440 K to the vicinity of the critical temperature (540 K). The experiments also show that the exciplex fluorescence spectrum is pressure independent below and above supercritical pressure.     

用于薄膜沉积的XeCl激基激光器研制

以镀制半导体薄膜、巨磁薄膜、金刚石及其它薄膜,外延生长及后续的光刻,激光与物质的相互作用、等离子体研究为目的,设计、研制了脉冲放电激励的XeCl激基激光器.试验结果表明:激光脉宽18ns,单脉冲能量150mJ,矩形光斑大小2cm×1cm,束散角3mrad,最高重复频率5HZ.与同类激光器相比,具有结构简单、造价低廉、性能稳定等特点.     

Transmission of XeCl excimer laser pulses through optical fibers: Dependence on fiber and laser parameters

Measurements of the transmission of XeCl excimer laser pulses (308 nm) through optical all-silica fibers are reported. The observed photodegradation effects during long time irradiation are dependent on the laser energy density and the laser repetition rate. Also the influence of the fiber drawing parameters and fiber geometry have been investigated. Absorption spectra of the fibers in the wavelength range from 200nm to 400nm before and after the irradiation with the excimer laser give some insight in the physical reasons for the changes in transmission properties. A spectral analysis of the fiber fluorescence has been performed.Presented at LASERION '91, June 12–14, 1991, München (Germany)     

Simple generation of high-power,picosecond, tunable excimer laser pulses

A single excimer laser (a modified commercial oscillation-amplifier combination) is used to pump a dye laser generating a single ps pulse at twice the excimer wavelength and to amplify the frequency-doubled pulse to high peak powers. With XeCl at 308 nm an output pulse energy of 10 mJ with <5 ps pulse width was achieved with <5% ASE energy.     

Investigation of the plasma of a 308-nm XeCl excimer light emitter based on an inert-gas-CCl4 mixture

Results are presented from optical measurements of the plasma of a transverse volume discharge in He(Ar)/Xe/CCl₄(HCl) mixtures (at pressures of P=10–100 kPa) that are used in excimer lamps emitting the XeCl 308-nm band. Emission spectra in different stages of the formation and degradation of the active medium, as well as temporal and resource characteristics of the emitter, are studied. The main products of decomposition of CCl₄ molecules that are detected by the plasma emission are C* atoms and C ₂ ^* and CN* radicals. The operating resource of the XeCl emitter is found to be (3–5)×10⁴ pulses and depends strongly on the pressure and composition of the active medium. The duration of the emission pulse at a wavelength of λ=308 nm is 200–300 ns.     

Formation of two-dimensional periodic nanostructures on fused quartz,polyimide, and polycrystalline diamond by pulsed four-wave interference laser modification

Atomic force microscopy is used to examine the topography of submicron periodic structures formed on the surfaces of synthetic polycrystalline diamond and polyimide films. The films are deposited on fused quartz substrates by four-wave interference modification using a pulsed 308-nm UV XeCl excimer laser. It is demonstrated that a two-dimensional periodic relief with a submicron period can be formed on the diamond surface directly by laser evaporation in the absence of a photoresist. Depending on the exposure, two mechanisms of polyimide film modification are observed. At exposures less than 100 mJ/cm², the relief is formed due to swelling at the positions of interference maxima. At exposures greater than 100 mJ/cm², holes are formed in the films. A periodic relief on the fused quartz surface is formed by using a UV photoresist exposed to pulsed interference laser radiation and subsequent Ar ion etching.     

准分子激光等离子体开关控制脉宽研究

 利用准分子激光等离子体技术,在紫外预电离XeCl准分子激光器上获得了最短1.58 ns的短脉冲激光输出。实验中分析了聚焦到薄膜表面的光束能量密度对所产生的等离子体密度的影响,并对不同等离子体密度及维持时间情况下脉冲压缩效果进行了讨论,给出了激光器谐振腔在稳定腔及非稳腔两种工作方式下的实验结果。激光器在稳定腔工作时,脉宽可压缩至2.87 ns;采用非稳腔结构时,在脉冲能量不变情况下减小聚焦光斑面积,提高入射到薄膜表面的能量密度,得到了最短1.58 ns的短脉冲激光输出。该技术适用于任何其它准分子器件。     

Eye-safe, high-energy, single-mode all-fiber laser with widely tunable repetition rate

We present a novel high-energy, single-mode, all-fiber-based master-oscillator-power-amplifier （MOPA） laser system operating in the C-band with 3.3-ns pulses and a very widely tunable repetition rate, ranging from 30 kHz to 50 MHz. The laser with a maximum pulse energy of 25 μJ and a repetition rate of 30 kHz is obtained at a wavelength of 1548 nm by using a double-clad, single-mode, Er：Yb co-doped fiber power amolifier.     

Generation of high peak power excimer laser radiation by pulse shortening

Techniques for shortening the pulses of a commercial oscillator-amplifier excimer laser have been investigated. By a combination of a H₂-Raman cell and a saturable absorber dye jet the oscillator pulses are shortened from about 25 ns to typically 1.5 ns. Upon amplification pulses around 3.5 ns with peak powers of more than 100 MW for KrF (248 nm) and 25 MW for XeCl (308 nm) are obtained.     

High-energy Q-switched operation of a fiber-laser-pumped Er:YAG laser

A high-energy Q-switched Er:YAG laser in-band pumped by an Er,Yb co-doped fiber laser is reported. A simple two-mirror multi-mode resonator incorporating an electro-optic Q-switch and a multi-Brewster-plate polarizer was employed, together with a simple compensation scheme to reduce the depolarization loss due to thermally induced stress birefringence in the Er:YAG crystal at high pump powers. The laser yielded Q-switched pulses at 1617 nm with 30.5-mJ pulse energy and <20-ns pulse duration (FWHM) at 20-Hz repetition rate, corresponding to a peak power of >1.5 MW for 55 W of pump power at 1532 nm. The prospects for further improvement in Q-switched performance are discussed.     

Mixing of XeCl laser and mode-Locked Nd:YAG laser radiation in KDP crystal

This paper reports the first direct application of an excimer laser in phase matched mixing experiments. The sum and difference frequency of the radiation of a XeCl excimer laser and a mode-locked Nd:YAG laser were generated in KDP crystals. The energy of the obtained single subnanosecond pulses at 239 nm and 434 nm were almost 50% and 25%, respectively of the excimer laser energy taking part in the nonlinear interaction.     

Stimulated thermal scattering induced by two-photon absorption and experimental observation of stimulated Brillouin scattering in the UV region

An analysis of the results of previous studies of stimulated scattering of UV pulses in liquids has shown that they disagree with the theory of stimulated scattering. To resolve the inconsistency, stimulated scattering of XeCl excimer laser radiation (λ = 308 nm) with pulse duration τ ≈ 8 ns in liquid hexane is investigated experimentally. A theoretical analysis of the results obtained revealed a new nonlinear optical phenomenon: stimulated thermal scattering induced by the heating due to two-photon absorption, called two-photon stimulated thermal scattering (two-photon STS-2). The stimulated backscatter spectrum contains a previously unknown line corresponding to two-photon STS-2 and a newly discovered SBS line in the UV region. The line is observed in experiment on liquid hexane and is characterized by the frequency shift Ω_B = 0.33 cm^?1 relative to the pump wavelength λ = 308 nm, in complete agreement with the theory of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). The spectral line called the SBS line in previous studies has a frequency shift much smaller than that predicted by the SBS theory and must be interpreted as an unshifted two-photon STS-2 line. When two-photon STS-2 is used to obtain a phase-conjugate wave, the phase-conjugation fidelity is lower than that achieved by using SBS because of thermal self-action and slow decay of the thermal grating.     

Protective films of diamond for high Tc superconducting detectors

Deposition of diamond like carbon (DLC) films on YBCO superconducting detectors is reported. The method is to make a DLC film by C⁺ implantation and XeCl excimer laser irradiation. The implantation energy is 20–35 keV and C⁺ implantation dosages D=1×10¹⁴–5×10¹⁸ ions/cm². The parameters of XeCl excimer laser ablation are: wavelength, 308 nm; energy density, 20–50 mJ/cm²; and width of pulse, 45 ns. The superconductivity of C⁺-implanted YBCO is also investigated, while the damage behavior of C⁺ implantation and the mechanism of coating DLC are analyzed.     

Ultraviolet short pulses from an all-solid-state Ce:LiCAF master-oscillator power-amplifier system

We have developed an all-solid-state master-oscillator-power-amplifier system employing Ce:LiCAF, a new degradation-free tunable ultraviolet laser medium pumped by the fourth harmonic of conventional 10-ns Q -switched Nd:YAG lasers. The low- Q , short-cavity Ce:LiCAF master oscillator produced a satellite-free 1-ns pulse under appropriate pumping-fluence control. 18% energy extraction with sufficient gain was achieved in a single-stage, confocal, double-pass amplifier. As a result, 289-nm, 1-ns, 14-mJ pulses were efficiently obtained from this simple laser system.     

短谐振腔准分子激光输出的脉冲特性研究

用腔长为7.5cm～20cm的紫外光预电离Blumlein横向放电泵浦XeCl准分子激光器可产生半宽为1.8ns～5ns的短脉冲输出。速率方程的计算机模拟所给出的激光振荡初始尖峰和实验结果做了比较。     

Bright spatially coherent wavelength-tunable deep-UV laser source using an Ar-filled photonic crystal fiber

We report on the spectral broadening of ~1 μJ 30 fs pulses propagating in an Ar-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. In contrast with supercontinuum generation in a solid-core photonic crystal fiber, the absence of Raman and unique pressure-controlled dispersion results in efficient emission of dispersive waves in the deep-UV region. The UV light emerges in the single-lobed fundamental mode and is tunable from 200 to 320 nm by varying the pulse energy and gas pressure. The setup is extremely simple, involving <1 m of a gas-filled photonic crystal fiber, and the UV signal is stable and bright, with experimental IR to deep-UV conversion efficiencies as high as 8%. The source is of immediate interest in applications demanding high spatial coherence, such as laser lithography or confocal microscopy.     

Silicon carbide synthesis with energy pulses

Polycrystalline SiC layers were synthesized through nanosecond pulse heating of thin carbon films deposited on single-crystalline silicon wafers. The samples were submitted to electron beam irradiation (25 keV, 50 ns) at various current densities in vacuum (10^–4mbar) and to XeCl excimer laser pulses (308 nm, 15ns) in air. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) showed that in the e-beam annealed samples mixing of the elements at the interface starts at current densities of about 1200 A/cm². The mixed layer thickness increases almost linearly with current density. From the RBS spectra a composition of the intermixed layers close to the SiC compound was deduced. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron diffraction studies clearly evidenced the formation of SiC polycrystals. Using the XeCl excimer laser, intermixing of the deposited C film with the Si substrate was observed after a single 0.3 J/cm² pulse. Further analysis evidenced the formation of SiC nanocrystals, embedded in a diamond film.     

Optimum peak pulse investigation for OTDR instrumentation

This work presents an experimental study of the optimal peak-power pulse for testing telecommunications fibers. Using a Q-switched fiber laser at 1060 nm, we obtained 100-ns pulses at a 10-kHz repetition rate with an average power of 60 mW corresponding to a 60-W peak power. With these pulses, we generated up to fifth-order Stokes within the fiber, with wavelengths on the third window of telecommunications. We demonstrate that the power exceeding the optimum peak power does not increase the penetration length of OTDR systems because of the pump depletion. The shape of the Stokes-shifted pulses attained at the end of the test fiber is similar to the pulse shape from a Q-switched fiber laser, also showing the possibility to produce suitable peak powers and pulse shapes for OTDR applications at different wavelengths.