Stable 10 ns, kilowatt peak-power pulse generation from a gain-switched Tm-doped fiber laser

We report what we believe to be the first demonstration of stable short pulse (10 ns) generation from a gain-switched Tm-doped fiber laser in the 2 microm spectral region. A modulated 1.55 microm pump laser was used for fast gain switching to regulate the conventionally chaotic spiking in the gain-switched fiber laser. From a 6.3 microm core all-fiber oscillator, over a kilowatt of peak power was obtained at the slope efficiency of 50% and freely varying repetition rate up to 500 kHz.     

Long pulse generation technology of solid-state laser adopting a new real time multi-discharge method

In this study, a solid-state laser system adopting a new real time multi-discharge method in which three flashlamps are turned on consecutively was designed and fabricated to examine the pulse width and the pulse shape of the laser beams depending upon the changes in the lamp turn-on time. That is, this study shows a technology that makes it possible to make various pulse shapes by turning on three flashlamps consecutively on a real-time basis with the aid of a program integrated circuit one-chip microprocessor. With this technique, the lamp turn-on delay time can be varied more diversely from 0 to 10 ms and the real-time control is possible with an external keyboard, enabling various pulse shapes. In addition, longer pulses can be more widely used for industrial processing and many medical purposes.     

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     

A simple current pulsed low-pressure CO2 laser with passive Q-switching

We report on a simple and stable pulse tunable CO₂ laser suitable for many investigations in the region around 10m. The pulsed discharge when combined with the passiveQ-switching technique provides pulses of 100 ns duration with a peak power of few kilowatts.Due to the interest in pulsed low-pressure CO₂ lasers as useful irradiation sources, extensive investigations have been carried out. In particular, various Q-switching techniques have been developed to generate short CO₂ laser pulses [1–4].     

A CO2 laser rangefinder using heterodyne detection and chirp pulse compression

The sensitivities of heterodyne and direct-detection systems at CO₂ laser wavelengths are compared to illuminate the design principles involved. It is shown that destruction of the temporal coherence of scattered radiation is a significant effect when heterodyne systems are used on targets with internal motion. The complete system and the results obtained are then described. The compact optics head contains a waveguide laser, an acousto-optic modulator and SAW chirp devices; it has 45 mm diameter transmit and receive apertures. Whem many returns are integrated, ranges of several kilometres are obtained off natural targets with an accuracy of 10 m. From the Doppler shift off a moving target, radial velocity can be determined simultaneously with the range when an up-chirp/down-chirp technique is used; an accuracy of better than 1 m s^–1 is demonstrated.     

损耗调制CO2激光脉冲的噪声特性

由于自发辐射噪声的涨落,CO2激光器的脉冲峰值强度与时间延迟密切相关。理论和实验研究发现,对于典型的B类CO2激光器,在损耗调制情况下,当脉冲峰值出现在最低腔损耗t0之前时,初始自发辐射噪声越大,相对于阈值点的第一个渡跃时间tFP越小,对应的峰值强度越小;当脉冲峰值出现在最低腔损耗t0之后时,初始自发辐射噪声越大,相对于阈值点的第一个渡跃时间tFP越小,对应的峰值强度则越大。     

Approximative evaluation of CO2 laser gain switch pulse characteristics

Gain switch laser light pulse profile has usually the multipeak structure. Peak intensities, lengths and delays of pulses are significant characteristics of laser output. An approximative evaluation of the characteristics based on the rate equation analysis is presented. The validity of the approximation is testified via numerical integration of starting equations for several physical parameters.     

短脉冲激光辐照下SiO2损伤微观机理简化模型

 从电子密度速率方程出发，建立短脉冲激光辐照下SiO₂材料中导带电子增长简化模型，计算了SiO₂中光致电离速率和电子雪崩速率，得到SiO₂激光损伤阈值与脉冲宽度的关系，计算分析了光致电离和碰撞电离两种电离机制在导带电子累积过程中的不同作用。结果表明：脉冲较长，碰撞电离几乎能提供全部的导带电子，激光损伤阈值与脉宽的0.5次方成正比；脉冲较短时，导带电子主要由碰撞电离产生，光致电离提供碰撞电离的初始电子，激光损伤阈值随着脉宽的减小，先增加后减小。     

Entropy generation rate during laser pulse heating: Effect of laser pulse parameters on entropy generation rate

Laser pulse heating of solid surface and entropy generation during the heating process are considered. Time exponentially decaying pulse is accommodated in the analysis and the laser pulse parameter (β₁/β₂) resulting in minimum entropy generation rate is computed. Analytical solutions for temperature rise are presented and volumetric entropy generation rate is formulated. Two laser pulses resulting in low volumetric entropy generation rate are examined in detail and volumetric entropy generation rate is associated with the laser pulse parameter (β₁/β₂). It is found that volumetric entropy generation rate attains high values in the early heating period due to large (1/T²). Moreover, the laser pulse with high-peak intensity results in lower volumetric entropy generation rate than that corresponding to the low-intensity laser pulse with the same energy content.     

High-power third-harmonic flat pulse laser generation

The generation of a high-power laser pulse at 266 nm that is longitudinally shaped according to a prefixed intensity profile is reported. The main features of the pulse shape modifications due to second- and third-harmonic conversions are measured, and the results are in good agreement with the theory. The UV temporal shape depends on the chirp of the fundamental pulse and on the crystal phase-matching angle. Exploiting the large stretching imposed on the third-harmonic signal, we show that the pulse intensity profile can be obtained by spectral single-shot measurements.     

A study of the self-injected laser for subnanosecond pulse generation

We present a detailed analysis of the self-injected Nd:YAG laser which is capable of generating subnanosecond duration pulses with peak powers as high as 200 MW. The model predicts that pulses with durations much shorter than the electrical rise time of the electrooptical switch driver can be obtained. Application of this technique to a conventionally Q-switched Nd:YAG laser allowed us to obtain 550 ps pulses with 120 mJ in a very stable and reliable way.     

A method of tunable high repetition-rate picosecond optical pulse generation using injection locking of laser diodes

A method of tunable, high repetition-rate optical pulse generation by using optical injection locking of semiconductor lasers has been described in this paper. This method utilizes the superposition of five coherent optical carriers obtained from the spectrum of optical phase modulation, which results in a sharp optical pulse. Theoretical calculations indicate that a pulse width of 1 ps and a repetition rate of 200 GHz can be achieved for a modulator drive frequency of 40 GHz. PACS 42.79.Sz; 42.79.Hp; 42.79.-e; 42.62.-b; 85.60.-q     

A new method to measure the ultrashort pulse laser time jitter using autocorrelator

The power spectrum method to characterize mode-locked laser time jitter less than tens of femtosecond faces challenges from both the noise of the reference oscillator and the photodetector conversion rate. A method using autocorrelator to measure the time jitter probability density function is suggested. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation indicate that the time jitter less than 30 fs can be measured correctly by high accurate autocorrelator.     

Third harmonic generation of CO2 laser radiation in AgGaSe2 crystal

Generation of third harmonic of CO₂ laser radiation has been obtained in a type-II, ϑ=57° cut 9 mm thick AgGaSe₂ crystal for the first time by sum-frequency-mixing of the fundamental with its second harmonic, the latter being obtained using another type-I, ϑ=55° cut 11 mm thick AgGaSe₂ crystal. The energy conversion efficiencies obtained for second harmonic and third harmonic generations are 6.3% and 2.4% respectively with the input fundamental pump power density of 5.9 MW/cm² only. The wavelength of the fundamental CO₂ laser radiation used for the generation of harmonics is 10.6 μm, P(20) line. A compact TEA CO₂ laser source has been built in the laboratory.     

A simple laser pulse tailoring/synchronization system for laser plasma interaction experiments

A system is described for accurately synchronizing pulses from single longitudinal mode Q-switched Nd: YAG oscillator (QSO) with those from a passively mode-locked Nd: YAG oscillator (MLO). Single mode operation is achieved by applying external negative feedback stabilization to the QSO to bring it into quasi-CW operation before Q-switching is triggered by the pulse from the MLO. The relative jitter between the peaks of the two pulses did not exceed 1 ns.     

预电离脉冲群开关技术高功率脉冲CO2激光器

采用独特的电极结构和预电离脉冲群开关放电技术,实现了5kW量级平均功率横流CO2激光器脉冲激光输出.     

650 kV/2 ns高压脉冲发生器研制

研制了一套峰值650 kV、脉宽2 ns的窄脉冲发生器,具有结构紧凑、体积小巧、便于移动和产生优质的纳秒高压脉冲等优点。该发生器基于三谐振脉冲变压器原理和脉冲形成压缩实现窄脉冲输出,采用紧凑双锥形绕组铁芯变压器、LC调谐回路和27 pF,30 脉冲形成线组成三谐振回路,油介质自击穿开关导通后在负载上获得高压脉冲。实验结果表明,该窄脉冲发生器可在80 电阻负载上输出脉冲峰值约650 kV,脉宽约2 ns,与理论分析的结果相吻合。     

Short laser pulse generation: Part one

The status of short laser pulse generation is reviewed. Achievements, limitations and potential of techniques producing pulses shorter than 50 ns, from the ultra-violet to the infra-red, are examined.In this half of the paper the physical principles underlying the generation of ultra-short pulses are introduced and the methods of Q-switching, gain switching, cavity dumping and mode-locking are considered.