rf waveguide CO2 laser

Tarnslated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 54, No. 6, pp. 939–945, June, 1991.     

Sensitive intracavity photoacoustic measurements with a CO2 waveguide laser

A photoacoustic intracavity configuration is presented; a resonant photoacoustic cell excited in its first longitudinal mode is placed inside the cavity of a CO₂ waveguide laser. Due to the high laser power and the sharp intracavity focus, saturation effects occur in the excitation and relaxation process of absorbing C₂H₄ molecules. A more optimal configuration is applied to measure the C₂H₄ emission of several Rumex species. A detection sensitivity of 6 ppt (parts per trillion) C₂H₄ is reached, equivalent to a minimal detectable absorption of 1.8×10^–10 cm^–1.     

The laser pulse from a rf waveguide CO2 laser

The behaviour of a rf-excited waveguide CO₂ laser in the pulse regime is studied experimentally. The specific time sections of the pulse have been defined and described in detail. The output pulse evolution versus input power, pressure of the laser mixture, output coupling, repetition frequency and pulse width has been investigated. The spectral content of the pulse has been analysed. A model explaining the effect of laser tuning during the pulse duration is given. The ultrahigh pulse (UHP), defined as the pulse for which the bulge effect occurs, is predicted. Received: 22 October 2002 / Revised version: 13 January 2003 / Published online: 26 March 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +48-71/3203-189, E-mail: eda@zr.ita.pwr.wroc.pl     

Ethylene monitoring by differential absorption with a CO2 waveguide laser

In this paper we report on a differential absorption technique using a CO₂ waveguide laser. The method is based on the measurement of the differential absorption between two different frequencies of the same selected CO₂ laser line. The sensitivity of the technique depends strongly on the total pressure and has been estimated to be about a few tens of ppb or better over a 1 km path length in C₂H₄ diluted with air to a total pressure of a few tens of torrs. Its relative simplicity and high sensitivity at low total pressure enable this technique to be applied to gas detection either at high altitude or to local monitoring of a low pressure sample.     

Dynamics of a waveguide pulsed-periodic CO2 laser with loss modulation

The nonlinear dynamics of a waveguide CO₂ laser with combined periodic loss and pumping modulation is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The possibilities of controlling time and energy parameters of the output radiation using the corresponding selection of the detuning of the cavity's longitudinal mode from the center of the amplification line, the amplitude, and the frequency of loss modulation are demonstrated. The observed asymmetric dependence of the lasing-radiation density on the detuning of the cavity frequency is explained by the attendant modulation of the refractive index of the loss modulator. To whom correspondence should be addressed. B. I. Stepanov Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 68, F. Skorina Ave., Minsk, 220072, Belarus. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 66, No. 4, pp. 471–478, July–August, 1999.     

Theoretical and experimental investigation of a waveguide CO2 laser with radio-frequency excitation

A comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of the optimization of a continuous-wave radiofrequency (rf) excited CO₂ waveguide laser is presented. The numerical simulation includes the modelling of the gas-discharge plasma parameters like the plasma impedance and energy deposition, the laser kinetics and finally the influence of the resonator feedback on the lasing process. Along with this theoretical study, an extensive experimental research program enabled us to optimize the laser performance of the CO₂ waveguide laser. As a result, a total output power of 42 W and a specific output power of 1.1 W/cm were obtained.     

Compact waveguide CO2 laser excited by a RF power supply

The design and performance of radio frequency (RF) excited partial Z-fold waveguide CO2 laser with two channels are exposed. The length of the partial Z-fold channel is 3×460 mm and that of the single channel is 460 mm. The electrodes for the two channels are common and excited by a same RF source. According to our analysis, this kind of structure can greatly improve the laser offset frequency stability. In the experiments, we studied the variation of laser output power with gas pressure for two different channels.The maximum laser output power is about 23 W for the partial Z-fold channel and about 6 W for the single channel.     

Novel technology and performance of a high-power CO2 waveguide laser

Several new techniques have been developed to solve the problems encountered in the design and construction of rugged, reliable, high-power, CO₂ waveguide lasers. High-power single transverse mode output requires long single- or multiple-folded waveguide paths to be created in a dense ceramic body. The limitations of extruded or drilled bores have been overcome by fabricating the waveguide in two halves which are subsequently bonded together with a glaze or by thermodiffusion to form a vacuum-tight assembly. Several lasers have been constructed by these methods, one such device giving over 10 W CW output is described. These techniques can be readily extended to larger, higher-power devices. Reliable seals between semiconductor optics and metals using pure In soldering have also been developed for clean “hard seal” assembly. Dissociation of the CO₂ gas can lead to rapid decline in output power. The effects can be reduced by attaching a reservoir to the laser, or more preferably by the incorporation of a catalyst to reverse the reaction. These techniques have been applied to sealed-off CO₂ waveguide lasers which have demonstrated 5 yr shelf life and up to 5000 h operating life.     

Two-Frequency waveguide CO2 laser for atmospheric pollution monitoring

The present paper suggests and discusses a method allowing one to produce a two-frequency switching mode between any two adjacent transitions of a CO₂ laser. Switching is achieved by means of simple modulation of the resonator length by a piezoelement. The use of conventional electronic circuits ensures the maintainance of a high power balance (10^–2–10^–1%) vs. switching rate) at the generation frequencies. The data of the two-frequency CO₂ laser with a waveguide resonator used for various systems, based on a differential absorption technique and designed to control the atmospheric pollutions, are presented.     

Selective optothermal detection of NO2 and H2O with a frequency-tuned CO waveguide laser

The results are reported of the CO-laser optothermal (OT) detection of impurity gases when their absorption spectra overlap with those of an interfering gas. The influence of the latter was avoided using low gas pressures corresponding to a maximum of the OT sensitivity. Frequency tuned in the 5.2–6.3 m wavelength range, ¹²C¹⁶O and ¹³C¹⁶O waveguide lasers were used. The fine frequency tuning at 490 MHz was achieved for 150 laser transitions of both molecules. The OT sensitivity was estimated by NO₂ detection in the presence of water vapor. The minimal detectable concentration proved to be 60 ppb at P _19–18(14) transition of a ¹²C¹⁶O laser for NO₂ and 75 ppb on P _12–11(13) transition of a ¹³C¹⁶O laser for H₂O.     

Active mode locking of a high pressure CW waveguide CO2 laser

In this paper, we report on a new concept for active mode locking of lasers. It has been successfully applied to a cw waveguide CO₂ laser and pulse widths as short as 2 ns have been obtained.     

Conditions for single-line and single-mode tuning of a CO2 waveguide laser

Single-mode tuning over 500 MHz in 90 lines, and 700 MHz in 70 lines is reported for a pyrex waveguide CO₂ laser in long-pulse operation. The peak power exceeds 100 W in the strongest lines, and the beam profile is diffraction limited. These features make the laser well suited as pump source for optically pumped molecular lasers.Work supported by the Danish National Science Research Council under Grant No. 11-3389     

Mode selection in an unstable-resonator TEA CO2 laser by injection from a waveguide laser

The effect of injecting radiation from a cw waveguide CO₂ laser into a TEA laser through a hole in one mirror of its unstable resonator has been studied experimentally. High-power single longitudinal mode operation of the TEA laser is achieved over a wide but finite range of injection frequencies, the frequency of the single-mode pulse being that of the TEA laser cavity mode lying closest to the injected frequency. Although a simple theoretical model shows good qualitative agreement with observations it underestimates the range of injection frequencies which result in single-mode pulses unless a fast chirping of the cavity mode frequency is postulated.     

Echelle diffraction grating demultiplexers with a single diffraction passband

Planar multiplexers based on echelle gratings are very popular devices for optical communication applications. However, the available channel number is restricted by the concept of free spectral range (FSR) due to their high operating diffraction order. Now, we can break the restriction of the FSR concept, and most of wavelengths in the operating passband of echelle grating multiplexers can be used based on a variable diffraction order design. We present the design, fabrication, and characterization of the echelle grating multiplexer with a single diffraction passband based on silica platform.     

Directly written monolithic waveguide laser incorporating a distributed feedback waveguide-Bragg grating

We report the fabrication and performance of the first C-band directly written monolithic waveguide laser (WGL). The WGL device was created in an erbium- and ytterbium-doped phosphate glass host and consisted of an optical waveguide that included a distributed feedback Bragg grating structure. The femtosecond laser direct-write technique was used to create both the waveguide and the waveguide-Bragg grating simultaneously and in a single processing step. The waveguide laser was optically pumped at approximately 980 nm and lased at 1,537 nm with a bandwidth of less than 4 pm.     

Two-dimensional diffraction calculations for a fast-flow CO laser

Conclusion We have developed, a two-dimensional diffractive model of a free-flow CO:N₂ laser, using a detailed kinetic model of the active medium.We have shown that the constant-gain model and the diffractive model yield practically the same calculated energy characteristics of a free-flow CO laser. Calculation of the spectral characteristics has shown that the diffractive model yield the same numbers and intensities of the rotational-vibrational transitions on the cavity axis as the model with constant gain. We have determined the errors incurred in calculations by the constant-gain model.At an active-medium density 0.25 Amagat the angular divergence of the radiation is determined by the large-scale inhomogeneity of the subsonic gas flow while the radiation directivity in the far zone is manifested by a noticeable angular shift and is split.Translated from Preprint IAE-5724/11, Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, Moscow, 1990.     

Measurement of rotational temperature in CO2 waveguide laser medium

A small-signal gain in CO₂ waveguide laser medium has been measured on rotational-vibrational transitions in the P-branch of the (0, 0, 1)-(0, 2⁰, 0) band. It has been found that the rotational temperature is well defined in the waveguide laser system where high excitation power is injected and a large amount of energy is flowing through vibrational, rotational, and translational degrees of freedom. The rotational temperature is slightly higher than the translational temperature.