Cross-phase modulation in one-dimensional photonic crystals: applications to all-optical devices

We present a numerical study of a finite photonic band gap structure with a χ⁽³⁾ nonlinearity that couples two input pump beams at frequencies ω₁ and ω₂. We show that in this configuration a variety of all-optical devices can be obtained: an optical transistor, a double switch, and a dynamical switch.     

Optimal phase steps of multi-level spiral phase plates

We analyze vortex properties of the optical beams generated by a multi-level spiral phase plate (MLSPP) and find that this kind of beams consists of vortex components with topological charges of L − kM, where k is zero or any integer, M is the level number and L is the intrinsic topological charge of the MLSPP. We proved that the orbital angular momentum of the beams generated by a MLSPP reaches its maximum only if the phase steps (or the ratio of M to L) satisfies some special conditions.     

Experimental study of the pulse energy of pulsed LD-pumped acousto-optically Q-switched Tm:YAG lasers

We study a pulsed LD-pumped high-energy acousto-optically (AO) Q-switched Tm:YAG laser. The output pulse energy is mainly influenced by the output energy at free running and the energy-extraction efficiency under Q-switching operation. The output energy at free running can be improved by optimizing the parameters of the pump source, laser cavity, and laser medium. We show that, in order to avoid the insufficiency or waste of the population inversion and obtain higher energy-extraction efficiency, a proper pumping width and opening time of the Q switch can be found.     

Field properties and vacuum electron acceleration in a laser beam of high-order Laguerre–Gaussian mode

The electric field intensity distribution and the phase velocity distribution of high-order Laguerre–Gaussian (LGρ?) mode laser beams are analyzed. Using three-dimensional test particle simulation, the numerical results of electrons accelerated by LG00, LG40 and LG41 mode laser beams are presented. Compared with the LG00 mode (the fundamental mode) laser beam, low-energy injection electrons can be more favorably accelerated in a high-order LG mode laser beam. Contrary to anticipation, a high-order LG mode laser beam with intense axial electric field distribution is inferior to the LG00 mode in capture acceleration for electrons with high injection energy.     

Conditional phase-shifter in refractive index enhancement scheme

We propose a conditional phase-shifter between two weak laser beams in an alkali vapor. We begin by enhancing the refractive index of a weak, far-detuned probe beam while maintaining vanishing absorption. The enhancement is a result of interfering an absorptive and an amplifying Raman resonance in a four-level atomic system. Then, a conditional switching beam ac stark shifts the narrow Raman resonances, modifying the phase accumulation experienced by the probe beam. We find that the scheme works with acceptable fidelity at the tens of photons level, and that the energy requirement can be reduced further at the expense of noise.     

Generation of thin and hollow beams by the axicon with a large open angle

We propose a method to produce diffraction-free thin and hollow beams. The method is based on Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams incident on a large open-angle axicon. We use the vector diffraction integrals and stationary phase method to deduce a simple and analytical formula of the propagating field of the linearly polarized LG beams through an axicon. The numerical results show that the hollow beams of whose diameter is in the order of the wavelength can be obtained by using the axicon with the refractive index n = 2 and the open angle α = 25°. These diffraction-free thin and hollow beams may be very useful to accurately trap and manipulate atoms. However, when the open angle is over large, the conversion efficiency from the LG beam to the diffraction-free hollow beam will decrease obviously.     

Ab initio investigation of the I-V characteristics of the butadiene nano-molecular wires: A light-driven molecular switch

We apply a first-principles computational approach to study a light-sensitive molecular switch. The molecule that comprises the switch can convert between a trans and a cis configuration upon photoexcitation. We find that the conductance of the two isomers varies dramatically, which suggests that this system has potential application as a molecular device. A detailed analysis of the projection of the density of states (PDOS) and the transmission coefficients T(E) of the system reveals the mechanism of the switch.     

Formation of optical vortices using coherent laser beam arrays

We present a proposal to generate an optical vortex beam by using the coherent-superposition of multi-beams in a radially symmetric configuration. In terms of the generalized Huygens-Fresnel diffraction integral, we have derived the general propagation expression for the coherent radial arrays of laser beams. Using the derived formulae, we have analyzed the effects of the beamlet number N, the separation distance ρ of the beamlets and the topological charge m on the intensity and phase distributions of the resultant beams. Our simulation results show that optical vortices could be efficiently generated due to the coherent-superposition effect of all beamlets, during the propagation process of the coherent radial array of laser beams with the initial well-organized phase distributions through the free space. In the focusing system, the resultant beam near the focusing plane has the strong rotational effect with the phase helicity.     

Nitridation of iron by the mixing technology with laser and plasma beams

Iron nitride (Fe_xN) is obtained by the mixing technology with laser and plasma beams coaxially on the surface of pure iron in atmosphere. In this technology, laser and plasma provide heat source and nitrogen ion source, respectively, easily to nitriding the sample. The feasibility of the method is analyzed in theory. Small-angle X-ray diffraction measurements reveal formation of iron nitride in the as-treated sample, and scanning tunneling microscope measurements describe the surface profiles of the irradiated area, at different laser energy densities or different scanning velocities.     

分数自成像平面波导的光束组束

研究了激光束在分数自成像平面波导中的传输特性,提出了利用分数自成像平面波导进行光束组束的技术方案,讨论了激光束之间相位失配对光束组束的影响,并对两个输出平均功率为300W的板条激光器的光束组束进行了数值实验模拟.结果表明,分数自成像平面波导的光束组束可以有效地改善多个激光器组束后的光束质量因子M²,从而提高激光输出的亮度;而且这种组束方法对激光束之间相位失配的敏感度明显降低. 关键词： 分数自成像 平面波导 组束 光束质量     

Elliptically polarized Terahertz emission through four-wave mixing in a two-color filament in air

We diagnosed the polarization characteristics of Terahertz emission from a two-color femtosecond laser filament when the polarizations of ω and 2ω beams are orthogonal. We discovered that the THz pulse is elliptically polarized. The generation mechanism could be through four-wave optical rectification inside the filament zone where the inversion symmetry of air is broken.     

Transverse optical patterns for ultra‐low‐light‐level all‐optical switching

We review recent theoretical and experimental efforts toward developing an all‐optical switch based on transverse optical patterns. Transverse optical patterns are formed when counterpropagating laser beams interact with a nonlinear medium. A perturbation, in the form of a weak switch beam injected into the nonlinear medium, controls the orientation of the generated patterns. Each state of the pattern orientation is associated with a state of the switch. That is, information is stored in the orientation state. A realization of this switch using a warm rubidium vapor shows that it can be actuated by as few as 600 ± 40 photons with a response time of 5 µs. Models of nonlinear optical interactions in semiconductor quantum wells and microresonators suggest these systems are also suitable for use as fast all‐optical switches using this same conceptual design, albeit at higher switching powers.     

Generation of tunable 16 μm radiation from CO2 by cascade lasing

In this paper we propose a scheme to generate tunable 16 μm radiation from CO₂ molecules by cascade lasing. The stimulating 9.5 μm radiation is generated internally by the fast rotating mirror Q-switching technique. The optical scheme proposed by us uses an intracavity prism to separate the 9.5 μm and the 16 μm beams. This facilitates independent tuning of the two beams if required. In the present configuration, only the 16 μm cavity is dispersive. The 9.5 μm beam grows spontaneously in a stable semiconfocal resonator. We have developed a theoretical model to simulate the proposed scheme. The model predicts the energy and power of 16 μm radiation. The calculated values are much higher than the previously obtained experimental values. The results point out the feasibility of developing a laser system based on the theoretical design parameters presented in this paper. Such laser systems can find application in uranium isotope separation studies.     

Beam quality of truncated laser beams with amplitude modulations and phase fluctuations in turbulence

The closed-form expressions for the Rayleigh range z_R and the M²-factor of truncated laser beams with amplitude modulations (AMs) and phase fluctuations (PFs) in turbulence are derived, and the beam quality is studied by taking the z_R and the M²-factor as the characteristic parameters of beam quality. The M²-factor of truncated laser beams with AMs and PFs is always larger than that of truncated Gaussian beams both in free space and in turbulence. However, in turbulence the beam quality of truncated laser beams with AMs and PFs may be better than that of truncated Gaussian beams if the z_R is taken as the characteristic parameter of beam quality. For laser beams with AMs and PFs in turbulence, the beam quality expressed in terms of z_R is consistent with that in terms of the M²-factor versus the phase fluctuation parameter α, but not versus the intensity modulation parameter σ_A. The beam quality of truncated laser beams with AMs and PFs is less sensitive to turbulence than that of truncated Gaussian beams. The beam quality of laser beams with smaller α and larger σ_A is less affected by turbulence than those with larger α and smaller σ_A.     

High efficiency and high energy parametric wavelength conversion using a large aperture periodically poled MgO:LiNbO3

We have demonstrated an efficient high energy 2 μm laser generation with a 36 mm long large aperture 5 mol% MgO-doped periodically poled LiNbO₃ (PPMgLN) nonlinear optical crystal. A high power Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (1.064 μm) was used to pump the quasi-phase matched (QPM) optical parametric oscillator (OPO). A total output energy of 186 mJ with 58% slope efficiency was obtained in two separate beams at 2 μm.     

Laser wake field acceleration: the highly non-linear broken-wave regime

We use three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to study laser wake field acceleration (LWFA) at highly relativistic laser intensities. We observe ultra-short electron bunches emerging from laser wake fields driven above the wave-breaking threshold by few-cycle laser pulses shorter than the plasma wavelength. We find a new regime in which the laser wake takes the shape of a solitary plasma cavity. It traps background electrons continuously and accelerates them. We show that 12-J, 33-fs laser pulses may produce bunches of 3×10¹⁰ electrons with energy sharply peaked around 300 MeV. These electrons emerge as low-emittance beams from plasma layers just 700-μm thick. We also address a regime intermediate between direct laser acceleration and LWFA, when the laser-pulse duration is comparable with the plasma period. Received: 12 December 2001 / Published online: 14 March 2002     

Kinetic Thomas-Fermi solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation

Approximate solutions of the Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation, obtained upon neglection of the kinetic energy, are well known as Thomas-Fermi solutions. They are characterized by the compensation of the local potential by the collisional energy. In this article we consider exact solutions of the GP-equation with this property and definite values of the kinetic energy, which suggests the term “kinetic Thomas-Fermi” (KTF) solutions. Despite their formal simplicity, KTF-solutions can possess complex current density fields with unconventional topology. We point out that a large class of light-shift potentials gives rise to KTF-solutions. As elementary examples, we consider one-dimensional and two-dimensional optical lattice scenarios, obtained by means of the superposition of two, three and four laser beams, and discuss the stability properties of the corresponding KTF-solutions. A general method is proposed to excite two-dimensional KTF-solutions in experiments by means of time-modulated light-shift potentials.     

Focal shift and focusing properties generation by radial cosine phase masks

Focal shift and focusing properties of Gaussian beams induced by radial cosine phase masks are investigated. Results show that focal shift and the energy distribution among intensity peaks are controlled by two different parameters of the radial cosine phase mask. Increasing the value of frequency parameter in the cosine part of the phase mask, focal shift and focal switch may occur, simultaneously, the focal shift direction may change. Moreover, by altering frequency parameter or phase variation parameter of the phase mask will change the energy distributions of maximum intensity peak and other small intensity peaks. And novel focal patterns also evolve considerably, such as from only one peak to six of multiple peaks. The tunable focal shift can be used to construct controllable optical tweezers. In practice, the tunable phase mask can be implemented through liquid crystal spatial light modulator, which can conveniently alter the wavefront phase distribution of the incident laser beam in the control of computer.     

Piston error characteristics of the self-phase-controlled stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugate mirrors

It was reported by Kong et al. that the self-phase-controlled stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugate mirror (SBS-PCM) is useful for the beam combination laser amplifier system, which generally introduces a phase delay (piston error) between combined beams along separate optical paths. In this work, we have investigated the piston error characteristics of two schemes for self-phase-controlled SBS-PCMs, a collinear scheme and a triangular scheme. Experimental results show that the piston errors of the reflected beams are 2kδ and kδ for the former and the latter scheme, respectively, where k is the wave number and δ is the optical path difference (OPD) variation introduced into the pass.