Theory and experiment of CW dye laser injection locking and its application to second harmonic generation

High-power single-mode operation of a cw ring dye laser has been obtained by injection of cw single-mode radiation. The intracavity power of this system was used to generate tunable single-mode uv radiation by frequency doubling in a temperature phase-matched ADA crystal: up to 45 W intracavity fundamental power and up to 70 mW extracted uv power have been observed. A theoretical treatment of the injection locked cw ring dye laser system is given for the stationary state. Expressions for the intracavity intensities as a function of the small-signal gain and the saturation intensity are derived.     

Sensitivity of Narrow-Band Intracavity Laser Spectroscopy in Generation of the Second Harmonic

We carried out an analysis of the sensitivity of the method of intracavity laser spectroscopy with intracavity generation of the second harmonic to small frequency-independent losses evaluated by measuring the energies of laser-radiation pulses. We consider laser behavior with a constant and modulated quality factor of the cavity resonator. It is shown that the sensitivity of the method may be improved by an order of magnitude or higher by transforming the frequency of radiation and selecting the optimal parameters of the active medium pumping, nonlinear crystal, Q-factor of the cavity, and the means of its modulation. Measurement of the radiation power at the frequency of the second harmonic expands the range of laser-operation time regimes in which an increase in the sensitivity of the method is ensured.     

Direct Fabrication Methods of Surface Relief Electro-Optic Gratings in Azo-Polymer Films

Two fabrication methods of surface relief electro-optic (EO) gratings in azo-polymer films are described: surface deformation by a continuous wave laser and laser ablation by a pulse laser. In the fabrication process, the periodic intensity modulation of laser beams is formed by an interference fringe or a phase mask. The surface relief EO grating is fabricated by poling the surface relief grating (SRG) after the SRG fabrication process. The linear dependence of an applied voltage in the modulation efficiency of the first-order diffraction beam is observed. The proposed methods are effective for highly-efficient surface relief EO grating fabrication.     

Enhancement of passive laser loss response induced by saturable absorption

A HeNe laser with an intracavity saturable Ne absorber has been subjected to a periodic modulation of the passive cavity loss near the regime of single-mode hysteresis. A considerable response enhancement is observed, and qualitative theoretical discussion is presented.     

基于光学参量振荡器的可调谐红外激光的强度噪声特性

红外激光光源在微量气体、高分辨率光谱分析和量子光学研究等领域具有重要的应用.本文利用锁定单共振光学参量振荡器内腔标准具的方案获得了无跳模连续调谐的红外激光输出,理论和实验研究了红外激光的强度噪声特性,分析了影响强度噪声的因素.通过控制非线性晶体的温度和标准具调制信号实现了对红外激光强度噪声的抑制.当控制非线性晶体工作温度为60℃,内腔标准具调制信号为8 kHz时,单共振光学参量振荡器输出信号光和闲置光的强度噪声分别降低了11和8 dB.     

Pulse stretching of Q-switched laser emission by intracavity nonlinear ellipse rotation

Stretching of Q-switched laser pulses has been investigated using an intracavity nonlinear loss element based on the ellipse rotation effect in liquid crystals EBBA and MBBA. The roles of Q-switching speed, liquid crystal response time, and ellipse rotation coefficient were studied. Experimental results with a ruby laser and theoretical calculations based on modified Statz-deMars rate equations are presented.     

Extreme nonlinear optics in a femtosecond enhancement cavity

Intrinsic to the process of high-order harmonic generation is the creation of plasma and the resulting spatiotemporal distortions of the driving laser pulse. Inside a high-finesse cavity where the driver pulse and gas medium are reused, this can lead to optical bistability of the cavity-plasma system, accumulated self-phase modulation of the intracavity pulse, and coupling to higher-order cavity modes. We present an experimental and theoretical study of these effects and discuss their implications for power scaling of intracavity high-order harmonic generation and extreme ultraviolet frequency combs.     

Polarization modulation in an optically-pumped far-infrared laser

Measurements performed on intracavity polarization modulation in an optically-pumped far-infrared laser are presented. The experimental work is a preparatory first step towards the development of a polarimeter diagnostic system for plasma physics applications. The present system utilizes a CO₂ laser whose output polarization state is modulated using a CdTe crystal placed within a sinusoidal magnetic field. The corresponding polarization modulated amplitude of the far-infrared output is determined, and the results obtained are in good agreement with the Verdet coefficient of CdTe previously reported.     

Laser frequency stabilization by means of optical self-heterodyne beat-frequency control

We propose and demonstrate a novel frequency-stabilization scheme that provides linewidth narrowing and at the same time is compatible with high-speed frequency agility. The method relies on sensing and control of a heterodyne beat signal derived from a fiber interferometer and functions in the absence of a fixed reference frequency. Our demonstration utilizes a short-external-cavity diode laser equipped with an intracavity electro-optic crystal for frequency correction. The stabilization method is shown to suppress impressed laser frequency modulation by nearly 2 orders of magnitude. Without further modification of our scheme we also demonstrate laser frequency tuning control.     

Wave-coupling theory of linear electro-optic effect for ultrashort laser pulses

A wave-coupling theory of linear electro-optic (EO) effect for ultrashort laser pulses has been developed. As one of its applications, the linear EO effect of ultrashort Gaussian pulses propagating in LiNbO₃ crystal is demonstrated, with the intensity lower than the damage threshold. It is found that the EO effect is sensitive to both the azimuth angle and the polar angle of wave vector of light. And the larger the applied electric field, the shorter the crystal used for optimization of EO coupling is. The numerical results show that, with the duration of input pulse changing from 150 fs to 5 fs, the durations of output pulses are broadened due to the group-velocity dispersion, as well as the first- and second-order refractive dispersion. In addition, when input pulse duration is larger than 20 fs, in contrast with zero chirp, the output durations can be slightly compressed if a positive chirp input pulse is used. The validities of slowly varying amplitude approximation and continuous wave approximation are also discussed. The influence of self-phase modulation and cross-phase modulation on the EO effect is also discussed briefly.     

Theoretical and experimental studies on the self-Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>/KTP green laser

A diode-pumped self-Q-switched and mode-locked intracavity frequency doubled Nd:GdVO₄/KTP green laser is presented. The self mode-locking is self-starting and stable. About 100% modulation depth for the self-mode-locked green pulses has been achieved. We propose a developed rate equation model for self-Q-switched and mode-locked lasers, using the hyperbolic secant function methods and the theory of Kerr-lens mode-locking. This will consider the cascading of second-order nonlinearities of KTP crystal, the third-order nonlinearity of the laser medium, influences of the continuous pump rate, and the stimulated radiation lifetime of the active medium. With the model developed, theoretical calculations are shown to be in good agreement with experimental results. The width of the mode-locked green pulse is estimated to be about 120 ps. PACS 42.60.Fc; 42.60.Gd; 42.65.Hw     

用倍频晶体KTP实现Nd：YAG激光锁模的研究

报道用倍频晶体KTP实现Nd:YAG激光锁模的系统研究,给出了该锁模激光器输出脉宽的表达式,并和实验测量值相比较,计算值跟实验结果符合较好.文中还分析了各种参数对该锁模激光输出性能的影响.     

LD泵浦Nd:YVO4双波长运转腔内和频491 nm激光器

分析了Nd:YVO4激光器实现双波长运转及腔内和频的条件,利用一种LD泵浦Nd:YVO4晶体产生1 064 nm和914 nm双波长激光束,采用一个线性平凹腔结构,利用腔内Ⅰ类临界相位匹配LBO和频,获得了连续波输出的全固态激光器。实验采用端面结构,在5.0 W的808 nm泵浦功率下,获得了最高功率为2.5 mW连续波TEM00的激光输出,光-光转换效率为0.05%。     

Intracavity self-phase modulation and pulse compression in mode-locked lasers

We show that in the presence of a bandwidth-limiting component intracavity selfphase modulation in high power mode-locked and Q-switched lasers is accompanied by interesting pulse-shaping phenomena. If the phase modulation is properly controlled the pulse duration can approach the limit given by the frequency bandwidth of the laser. For example, for a Nd: YAG laser our calculations predict an intracavity pulse compression by approximately a factor of ten over the typical pulse duration of conventional mode-locking.     

Absorber-induced features in the ac response of a He-Ne laser

The theoretically predicted pronounced ac-response of the laser intensity to the excitation current modulation of an intracavity saturable absorber has been experimentally verified in a He-Ne laser with a Ne-absorber. Good qualitative agreement with the theory is obtained.     

A Theoretical and Experimental Research on Terahertz Electro-Optic Sampling at Near-Zero Optical Transmission Point

We report an improved theoretical model to characterize terahertz electro-optic （F,O） sampling detection operating at near crossed-polarizer design by considering the nonzero minimal transmission of polarizers and the polarization purity of laser beam. The proof-of-concept experiments show that the model can give quiet reasonable explanations on many experimental phenomena in THz EO detection, e.g. the modulation depth vs the different optical biases, the noise level from the balance detector vs the input probe beam power, the main origin of the background light and the incomplete cancellation of noise from the laser intensity fluctuation in balanced detection. The terahertz signals and the noises are also measured based on two different EO sampling schemes for comparison. The measured results support our model very well.     

Picosecond and subpicosecon pulse generation in synchronously pumped mode-locked cw dye lasers

Generation of tunable near-infrared picosecond and subpicosecond pulses in a synchronously pumped cw mode-locked Oxazine-1-perchlorate dye laser has been investigated for different values of the important system parameters. The experimental results confirm the predictions of a simple theoretical model which describes the steady-state pulse duration in terms of gain modulation strength, pump power, intracavity bandwidth, pump pulse length and cavity detuning. For a pump-pulse length of 100 ps and a bandwidth of more than 500 Å for the intracavity tuning element dye-laser pulses as short as 0.35 ps have been obtained. Under these conditions up to 100 mW of average output power were provided. In addition, mode-locking of an Oxazine 750 dye laser by synchronous pumping with the cw train of pulses obtained from the Oxazine-1-Perchlorate laser is reported.     

Polarization switching in a quasi-isotropic microchip Nd:YAG laser induced by optical feedback

This paper demonstrates the influence of external optical feedback on the polarization state of longitudinal modes in quasi-isotropic microchip Nd:YAG lasers. Under optical feedback, the polarization state of longitudinal modes in quasi-isotropic lasers relies strongly on the intracavity anisotropy loss and mode competition. When the intracavity anisotropy loss is small, external optical feedback can cause polarization switching and strong mode competition between two orthogonal linearly polarized eigenstates of one laser longitudinal mode, which leads to the distortion of laser intensity modulation waveform. The polarization switching is independent of the initial external cavity length. By increasing the intracavity anisotropy loss, one polarization eigenstate can be suppressed and the laser works in single-polarization state. A theoretical analysis based on the compound cavity model is presented, which is in good agreement with the experimental results. The results offer guidance to the development of laser feedback interferometers.     

LDA抽运Nd:YAG/KTP腔内和频589 nm连续波激光器

报道了一种激光二极管阵列（LDA）抽运Nd:YAG双波长和频黄光激光器黄激光是由Nd:YAG晶体的1064 nm和1319 nm谱线腔内和频产生以KTP为和频晶体,采用Ⅱ类临界相位匹配,在12 W的808 nm抽运功率下,获得了最高功率为430 mW连续波基横模的589 nm黄激光输出,光光转换效率为3.6%,光束质量因子M2<1.2实验结果表明采用激光二极管阵列抽运Nd:YAG/KTP腔内和频技术是获得黄激光的高效方法,并可以应用到其它激光增益介质的两条谱线进行腔内和频,获得更多不同颜色的单谱线激光输出     

连续波激光器腔内倍频晶体半解析分析方法的研究

连续波激光器系统腔内倍频非线性光学晶体吸收基频光辐射产生谐波的同时,也会在晶体内部产生非均匀温升,引起折射率变化,破坏位相匹配条件,影响激光器谐波转换效率.解决问题的关键是准确得出晶体内部温度场.由于激光器中激光模式和边界条件的复杂性,无法得到温度场的解析解.利用半解析热分析方法得出了晶体工作在TEM00模式下产生的温度场计算公式,分析了对温度场分布的各种影响.所得结果对连续波腔内倍频激光系统设计将起到指导作用.