Development of narrow-linewidth diode lasers by use of volume holographic transmission gratings

We present two diode laser setups that employ volume holographic transmission gratings to provide optical feedback. The advantage of this kind of grating is high diffraction efficiency and the possibility to place optical elements on both sides of the grating. This allows for advanced external cavities and adjustable feedback efficiency. The first setup is a diode laser in the Littman configuration with the transmission grating replacing the conventional reflection grating. The second setup improves the frequency selectivity by substituting the feedback mirror with a passive resonator. This grating-enhanced external cavity diode laser (GECDL) achieves excellent frequency stability. A prototype of the GECDL setup demonstrates an intrinsic linewidth of 7 kHz and an operation range that covers the full amplification profile of the laser diode.     

Diode laser spectrometer for high-resolution spectroscopy in the visible range

A high-resolution diode laser spectrometer operating at 657 nm is described. To achieve a narrow linewidth and a high power, a master-slave laser system is employed. The master laser is an extended cavity diode laser whose linewidth is reduced to less than 100 Hz by the FM sideband technique. The slave laser is an AR-coated diode laser and characteristics of injection locking are experimentally studied. The injection current of the slave laser is utilized to stabilize the output power or to produce pulsed output. Using this spectrometer, we probed the intercombination line of Ca and observed high-contrast optical Ramsey fringes with a linewidth of 10 kHz. A velocity-selective Ramsey fringe is also observed in the pulse-mode operation.     

Nitrogen-laser-pumped single-mode dye laser

Single-mode operation of a N₂-laser-pumped'dye laser has been obtained in a short laser cavity consisting of a diffraction grating used near grazing incidence and an uncoated resonant reflector. The dye laser pulse has a spectral linewidth of 420±30 MHz and a pulse width of 1.1±0.1 ns, giving a time-bandwidth of 0.46±0.07 close to the Fourier transform limit for Gaussian pulse.     

A novel double grazing-incidence single-mode dye laser

Using only one grating and plane parallel glass plate in a novel double-grazing incidence configuration, twice higher dispersion is obtained, resulting in twofold narrowing of the single-pass linewidth, compared to the single grazing-incidence scheme. This laser cavity design features several-times improved signal-to-noise ratio and enhanced stability. Single-mode operation of 210±50 MHz is demonstrated.     

Single Mode Er-Doped π-Phase-Shifted Distributed Feedback Fibre Grating Laser

A novel method incorporating the shielded method and the post-processing method has been proposed to fabricate the π-phase-shifted fibre grating. Then an Er-doped π-phase-shifted distributed feedback fibre grating laser has been fabricated using the grating. The laser threshold is 20mW. When pumped with 90mW light at 980nm, the laser gives an output of 1.1mW. Its signal-to-noise ratio is better than 60dB. It is demonstrated that the laser is single mode operation by means of a Fabry--Perot scanning interferometer.     

Linear cavity fiber laser with 100 nm wavelength tuning range

We report a 100 nm widely tunable double-clad Ytterbium doped fiber laser. The fiber laser has a linear cavity configuration, where the feedback is provided by a Sagnac fiber mirror on one side, and an external bulk grating on the other side. On the bulk grating side, the fiber has a balled curved-core-termination that suppress backreflection by roughly 50 dB, and does not affect the pump coupling efficiency. The tuning range goes from 1055 nm through 1155 nm, with a maximum output power of 360 mW at 1080 nm, and 0.3 nm linewidth.     

光梳主动滤波放大实现锶原子光钟二级冷却光源

提出一种结合注入锁定技术的主动滤波放大方法,将光梳直接注入锁定至光栅外腔半导体激光器,产生窄线宽激光光源,该光源可以用于锶原子光钟二级冷却.实验中,将中心波长为689 nm,带宽为10 nm的光梳种子光源注入689 nm光栅式外腔半导体激光器,通过半导体增益光谱与半导体光栅外腔,从飞秒光梳的多个纵模梳齿中挑选出一个纵模模式来进行增益放大,再通过模式竞争,实现单纵模连续光输出;同时,光梳的重复频率锁定在线宽为赫兹量级的698 nm超稳激光光源上,因此,注入锁定后输出的窄线宽激光也继承了超稳激光光源的光谱特性.利用得到的输出功率为12 mW的689 nm窄线宽激光光源实现了88Sr原子光钟的二级冷却过程,最终获得温度为3μK,原子数约为5×10~6的冷原子团.该方法可拓展至原子光钟其他光源的获得,从而实现原子光钟的集成化和小型化.     

基于低散射和高增益全息液晶/聚合物光栅的分布反馈式激光器

利用低官能度的丙烯酸酯单体进行全息液晶/聚合物光栅的制备, 获得了具有聚合物支撑形貌的光栅结构. 由于这种光栅内部不存在液晶微滴, 当作为分布反馈式激光器的谐振腔时, 可以有效降低光栅内部的散射损失(<4%), 降低激光腔损耗. 此外, 选用的高折射率单体提升了光栅的折射率调制量, 增强了光栅的反馈增益. 在以上两种因素的共同作用下, 采用染料DCM为激光工作物质, 以532 nm的Nd:YAG脉冲激光器作为抽运光源, 最终获得了中心波长为635 nm, 转化效率为1.2%的高性能激光, 在以阈值能量0.8 μJ/pulse抽运下获得激光线宽0.3 nm, 较之国内外同类激光器的报道, 在阈值、线宽、转化效率三方面均有不同程度提升.     

Subpicosecond,widely tunable distributed feedback dye laser

A simple, achromatic, widely tunable distributed feedback dye laser arrangement is described. It makes use of a microscope objective, which images a transmission grating into the active medium. With this arrangement subpicosecond operation and broad tunability (400–760 nm) is reported.     

半导体泵浦铷蒸气激光器出光实验

针对中心波长780 nm的商用连续波半导体激光器,使用斩波器将连续激光变为脉冲输出形式,用2400 line/mm的平面全息光栅搭建Littrow外腔将线宽压窄至0.2 nm以下。采用透镜组对线宽压窄后的半导体激光进行光束整形,半导体激光经线宽压窄和光束整形后,经透镜聚焦进长约8 mm的铷蒸气泡进行半导体泵浦碱金属激光实验。首次出光得到17.5 mW的基模线偏振铷激光;在最新的改进实验中,半导体泵浦铷激光输出功率已达到2.8 W。     

Widely tunable,narrow linewidth Tm: YAG ceramic laser with a volume Bragg grating

We report on a widely tunable, narrow linewidth operation of a Tm:YAG ceramic laser. A volume Bragg grating is used in the cavity as a folding mirror for wavelength selection. The wavelength is tuned from 1956.2 to1995 nm, leading to a total tuning range of 38.7 nm. The linewidth is around 0.1 nm over the whole tuning range. A maximum output power of 1.51 W at 1990.5 nm is achieved at 37.8 W absorbed pump power.Different saturation behaviors are observed in the laser performances at different wavelengths.     

Efficient high-power Ho:YAG laser directly in-band pumped by a GaSb-based laser diode stack at 1.9 μm

An efficient high-power Ho:YAG laser directly in-band pumped by a recently developed GaSb-based laser diode stack at 1.9 μm is demonstrated. At room temperature a maximum continuous wave output power of 55 W at 2.122 μm and a slope efficiency of 62% with respect to the incident pump power were achieved. For narrow linewidth laser operation a volume Bragg grating was used as output coupler. In wavelength stabilized operation a maximum output power of 18 W at 2.096 μm and a slope efficiency of 30% were obtained. In this case the linewidth is reduced from 1.2 nm to below 0.1 nm. Also spectroscopic properties of Ho:YAG crystals at room temperature are presented.     

Second-harmonic generation of 405-nm light using periodically poled KTiOPO4 pumped by external-cavity laser diode with double grating feedback

A frequency-doubled laser diode system for generation of blue–UV light is described. The system is based on an external-cavity high-power laser diode with double feedback from the zeroth and the first orders of a diffraction grating. Light at 405 nm is generated in a single-pass configuration using periodically poled KTiOPO₄. We show that the double grating feedback improves the second harmonic conversion efficiency by several orders of magnitude as compared to the freely running laser. The conversion efficiency may be improved further such that higher second-harmonic powers may be generated.     

External-cavity lasers based on a volume holographic grating at normal incidence for spectroscopy in the visible range

We present two external-cavity diode lasers that utilize a volume holographic grating as the frequency selective feedback element. By using the grating at normal incidence, it is possible to design simple and compact external-cavity diode lasers that have sufficient tunability for molecular spectroscopy. The first design utilizes a long-cavity designed for narrow linewidth and good long-term stability. The laser operates near 635 nm and it has a PZT-controlled tuning range of 28 GHz and a 1-s linewidth of 900 kHz. The second design utilizes a grating attached very close to the laser diode, making the laser compact, robust and easy to operate. The short external-cavity laser operates near 658 nm and it has a linewidth of 30 MHz. Continuous and mode-hop free tuning range of 145 GHz can be obtained by using a simple temperature tuning method.     

Linearly polarized operation of Yb-doped fiber laser by Brewster's angle-polished fiber end

<正>A new method to obtain linear polarization operation by Brewster's angle-polished fiber end is demonstrated. By using the special polarization operation technique together with introducing a narrow-linewidth fiber grating into the laser cavity,a cladding-pumped linear polarization and single-transverse-mode (M~21.1) Yb-doped fiber laser with narrow linewidth whose full-width at half-maximm(FWHM) is less than 0.2 nm,is obtained in a simple configuration.The output power is up to 10 W which is continuouswave output at 1085 nm,and the slope efficiency is 63%with respect to the coupled pump power and 75%with respect to the absorbed pump power,respectively.The measured 21-dB polarization extinction ratio does not degrade with the output power.The simplicity of such an approach is highly beneficial for a number of applications,including the use of a fiber laser for the nonlinear wavelength conversion (especially for the intracavity frequency doubling) and for the coherent and spectral beam combination.     

基于光纤平移的窄线宽可调谐Er3+/Yb3+共掺光纤激光器

针对输出耦合镜旋转调谐时输出光束方向变化问题,设计了一种光纤位置平移、而调谐输出光束方向不变的光纤激光器系统。运用光栅方程,分析了光纤平移的调谐机理;采用输出与反馈光束耦合模型,分析了输出增益线宽随光纤位置、光束半径的变化。理论分析表明:该光纤激光器可获得线宽小于0.2 nm的调谐激光输出。实验结果表明,该激光器在波长为1543.446 nm处获得的调谐输出功率最大,达到470 mW,计算的斜率效率为23.9 %;整个调谐区域达到36 nm,调谐范围内激光的3 dB线宽小于0.08 nm。     

激光线宽对单次通过PPMgO:LN晶体倍频效率的影响

通过单次穿过PPMgO:LN晶体产生了2.06 W的780 nm可调谐的连续倍频光. 采用1560 nm的分布反馈式(DFB)半导体激光器、光栅外腔半导体激光器(ECDL)和分布反馈式掺铒光纤激光器(DFB-EDFL)分别作为掺铒光纤放大器(EDFA)的注入光源, 所用的EDFA具有保持窄线宽的功能, 因此可以忽略它对基波线宽的展宽. 研究了激光线宽对单次通过PPMgO:LN 晶体的倍频效率的影响. 控制三台激光器各自注入EDFA的功率一致, 同时也保持EDFA 的输出功率. 在基波功率为12.42 W 时, 使用DFB半导体激光器注入EDFA时得到了1.36 W的780 nm倍频光输出, 转换效率为11.0%; 使用ECDL作为种子源时得到了1.78 W 的780 nm倍频光输出, 转换效率为14.3%; 使用DFB-EDFL作为种子源时得到了2.06 W的780 nm倍频光输出, 转换效率为16.6%. 测得三台种子激光器的线宽分别为1.2 MHz (DFB), 200 kHz (ECDL)和600 Hz (DFB-EDFL). 线宽越窄, 倍频效率越高, 实验结果与理论分析一致.     

Efficient distributed feedback solid state dye laser with a dynamic grating

We present the first operation of a distributed feedback solid state dye laser with a dynamic, pump-induced grating. Broadly tunable, narrow band operation in the region of 616 nm (604–649 nm) has been demonstrated with perylene red laser dye doped in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), when pumped with a frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser. Conversion efficiencies of 20%, corresponding to 35% optical-to-optical efficiency, have been measured. The laser bandwidth was between 0.01 and 0.04 nm, and smooth tuning over more than 200 GHz has been demonstrated. Received: 29 March 1999 / Published online: 24 June 1999     

611.8 nm single-mode He-Ne laser

The conditions for optimum 611.8 nm laser operation are obtained and a convenient method for indicating 3.39 µm suppression is proposed. Single longitudinal mode 611.8 nm generation is obtained using higher gas-mixture pressure and application of an axial magnetic field. Several milliwatt monomode output power and 0.75 multimode-to-monomode power conversion coefficients are obtained without an internal iodine cell. A comparison of the experimental results with a single-mode laser theory is given.     

A quasi double-grating grazing incidence pulsed dye laser

Continuous scanning of a 1 GHz pulsed laser line using only one 5-cm grating as an intracavity selective element is obtained from a pulsed dye laser pumped by a Nd: YAG (8 ns-532 nm) laser. Such a single-grating dye laser operates in the same way as a real double-grating grazing incidence laser and provides an appreciable improvement of the resolution (enhancement factor 2), compared with previous grazing incidence ones. The superiority of this laser cavity has been proved for single-longitudinal-mode operation.Laboratoire associé à l'Université de Paris-Sud