Nonlinear responses and optical limiting behavior of Basic Violet 16 dye under CW laser illumination

Nonlinear optical properties of Basic Violet 16 dye solution in water are studied employing different optical techniques. Experiments are performed using the second harmonic of a continuous Nd-Yag laser beam at 532 nm wavelength and 100 mW power. The effect of nonlinearity of Basic Violet 16 dye in broadening the laser beam is observed. The optical limiting behavior is investigated by measuring the transmission of the samples. The third-order nonlinearity, χ³ of Basic Violet 16 dye, is measured using Z-scan data. The nonlinear absorption coefficient is calculated using the open aperture Z-scan data, while its nonlinear refractive index is measured using the closed aperture Z-scan data. All experiments are done for different concentrations and thicknesses of Basic Violet 16 dye solution. The effect of intensity of input laser beam on the nonlinear susceptibility is studied experimentally. Results indicate that Basic Violet 16 dye is a potential candidate for low-power optical limiting applications.     

A precise data processing method for extracting χ from Z-scan technique

We present a precise data processing method, in the Z-scan experiments using a Gaussian beam and trimmed Airy beam, for directly extracting nonlinear refraction from the closed aperture Z-scan trace with the aid of the open aperture Z-scan trace when the materials exhibit nonlinear refraction and nonlinear absorption simultaneously. This method is still applicable when the nonlinear absorption is dominant and the closed aperture Z-scan curve degenerates into a single valley configuration, which is a salient advantage over other methods. In addition, we give gracefully empirical formulas with very high precision, which have good practicability for characterizing the optical nonlinearities of materials by use of the Gaussian beam and trimmed Airy beam Z-scan technique, respectively.     

Propagation of flat-topped beams

The propagation of flat-topped beams passing through paraxial ABCD optical system is investigated based on the propagation formulas of Gaussian beam. The focal shift of focused coherent flat-topped beam is also studied in detail. Analytical expressions of the M² factor and the far-field intensity distribution for flat-topped beams are derived on the basis of second-order moments.     

Z-扫描技术的灵敏度分析

单光束激光Z-扫描技术是利用光束的横向特性来研究材料的光学非线性的,其灵敏度的提高有助于测量微弱折射率变化。从入射光束、调制方式、光束检测等方面论述了Z-扫描技术的灵敏度。顶环光束入射相对于标准Z-扫描技术的高斯光束入射其灵敏度可提高2.5倍,但要求光源的输出能量达到一定值,仅适用于测定较小的非线性相移;在光路中插入调制元件后放大因子可达到780,但调节光路难以调节焦移效应。利用CCD作为探测器的TPDZ-扫描技术能够测量小于λ/15000的非线性相位畸变,CCD能够充分获得光束的横向信息,有望成为另一种测量光学非线性的常用方法。     

Theoretical study of saturable Kerr nonlinearity using top-hat beam Z-scan technique

Saturable Kerr nonlinearity is theoretically investigated by use of the top-hat beam Z-scan technique. The saturation intensity changes the nonlinear refractive profile and decreases the sensitivity of the Z-scan measurements, which were quantitatively analyzed. An empirical formula for the saturable Kerr nonlinearity, which gave the relationship between the light intensity and the peak-valley transmittance difference, was accomplished. A high-accuracy method to determine the nonlinear refractive index and the characteristic saturation intensity was proposed.     

Nonlinear optical absorption properties of porphyrins confined in Nafion membrane

The nonlinear absorption (NLA) properties of five different types of porphyrins were studied using the Z-scan technique. The porphyrins under investigation were confined into Nafion column matrix membrane in order to protect them from possible degradation. The results of the experiments have indicated that all the porphyrins tested exhibited interesting NLA properties. The nonlinear absorption coefficients (β’s) were determined at different porphyrin concentrations by comparing the Z-scan data with the theoretical functions.     

部分相干平顶光束通过湍流大气传输的等效曲率半径

推导出了部分相干平顶光束在湍流大气中传输的等效曲率半径的解析表达式,详细地研究了湍流对其等效曲率半径的影响.研究表明,湍流使得等效曲率半径R减小,但是只有当湍流足够强时等效曲率半径极小值出现的位置z_min才会改变.在弱湍流中,R随着光束相干长度β的增大而增大;但是在强湍流中,R随着β的增大而减小.R随着光束阶数M(N)的增大而缓慢减小.若β越大、 关键词： 等效曲率半径 湍流 部分相干平顶光束     

使用离焦望远镜系统合成轴上平顶光束的一种新方法

提出了用平顶多高斯光束作为理想光束和使用离焦望远镜系统合成轴上平顶光束的一种新方法.在近轴近似下,基于柯林斯衍射积分公式推导出轴上光场和入射光场的解析表达式,并做了物理分析.光束阶数N,平顶长度参数L,平顶中心位置z_c和纵向中心空间频率S_c对轴上光强分布的影响用数值计算例做了说明.比较表明,该方法优于文献中使用矩形函数模拟理想光束合成轴上平顶光束的方法. 关键词： 轴上平顶光束 平顶多高斯光束 离焦望远镜系统 傅里叶变换     

Irradiance-moments characterization of off-axis Gaussian beam combinations by means of the Wigner distribution function

The irradiance-moments characterization of off-axis Gaussian beam combinations is presented in use of the Wigner distribution function (WDF). Analytical expressions for the propagation through an optical paraxial ABCD system, beam propagation factor (M² factor), beam width, far field divergence angle and kurtosis parameter of the resultant beam are derived and illustrated with specific numerical examples. It is reexamined that a flat-topped irradiance profile of the resultant beam can be achieved at a certain plane by appropriately choosing beamlet parameters. As compared with previous work, our results show the advantage of using the WDF and irradiance-moments methods.     

Focus shaping of cylindrically polarized vortex beams by a high numerical-aperture lens

The focus-shaping technique of a cylindrically polarized vortex beam by a high numerical-aperture lens is reported. Such a polarized vortex beam is decomposed into radial and azimuthal polarization. It is shown that the total intensity distribution in the focal region is dependent not only on the numerical-aperture maximal angle and the polarization rotation angle but also on the topological charge. By choosing the proper combination of parameters, the adjustably confined flat-topped focus and focal hole can be obtained. The focus-shaping technique may find wide applications, such as optical tweezers, laser printing and material processing.     

A novel approach for analyzing open Z-scan experiments

In this work, a novel method for analyzing open Z-scan experiments is presented. It is based on the calculation of the nonlinear absorption parameter q directly from the transmittance measurements. Specifically, we have found an analytic formula describing the dependence of the parameter q on the normalized transmittance. The influence of noise has been studied and the method was proved robust even under conditions of relatively high noise. Extension to the general case of an elliptic Gaussian incident beam has also been realized. The technique has been experimentally tested by analyzing transmittance measurements obtained from a recently synthesized pyrylium salt, illuminated by a femtosecond laser system. The results are in very good agreement with those obtained by the standard Z-scan analysis, especially regarding the nonlinear absorption coefficient β.     

Z-scan analytical theories for characterizing multiphoton absorbers

The open-aperture Gaussian-beam Z-scan measurements for characterizing an optically thin multiphoton-absorbing material were systematically investigated. Two widely used temporal profiles of the laser pulses on Z-scan traces were considered as well. The analytical polynomial expressions of Z-scan traces were presented for a thin sample with only one nonlinear process at a time [two-, three-, four-, or five-photon absorption (2PA, 3PA, 4PA, or 5PA)] and concurrence of two different processes (e.g., 2PA and 3PA, 3PA and 4PA, or 4PA and 5PA), respectively. A simple yet highly efficient approach was presented for identifying and evaluating the simultaneous n- and (n+1)-photon absorption coefficients.     

Analytical formulas for a circular or non-circular flat-topped beam propagating through an apertured paraxial optical system

Propagation of a flat-topped beam of circular or non-circular (rectangular or elliptical) symmetry through an apertured optical system is investigated. By expanding the hard aperture function as a finite sum of complex Gaussian functions, some approximate analytical propagation formulas are derived for a flat-topped beam of circular or non-circular (rectangular or elliptical) symmetry propagating through an apertured paraxial general astigmatic (GA) optical system or an apertured paraxial misaligned stigmatic (ST) optical system. The derived formulas are very fast to compute. The results obtained by using the approximate analytical expressions are in a good agreement with those obtained by direct numerical integration. The present analytical formulas provide a convenient and effective way for studying the propagation and transformation of a circular or non-circular flat-topped beam through an apertured general optical system.     

经光阑衍射的平顶涡旋光束位相奇点的演化特性

推导出了平顶涡旋光束通过有光阑ABCD光学系统的传输解析式,并以光阑透镜和矩形光阑系统为例,与平顶光束比较研究了截断参量、相对离轴距离和光束阶数对衍射场中位相奇点演化特性的影响.数值计算表明,平顶涡旋光束通过上述光学系统均存在位相奇点,即使源处涡旋被光阑阻拦时,衍射场中也会出现位相奇点;而平顶光束通过光阑透镜系统存在刃型位错,随着截断参量增大,会发生刃型位错的演化和湮灭现象,且平顶光束通过矩形光阑系统没有发现位相奇点.     

经光阑衍射的平顶涡旋光束位相奇点的演化特性

推导出了平顶涡旋光束通过有光阑ABCD光学系统的传输解析式,并以光阑透镜和矩形光阑系统为例,与平顶光束比较研究了截断参量、相对离轴距离和光束阶数对衍射场中位相奇点演化特性的影响.数值计算表明,平顶涡旋光束通过上述光学系统均存在位相奇点,即使源处涡旋被光阑阻拦时,衍射场中也会出现位相奇点;而平顶光束通过光阑透镜系统存在刃型位错,随着截断参量增大,会发生刃型位错的演化和湮灭现象,且平顶光束通过矩形光阑系统没有发现位相奇点.     

Flat-topped beam output from a double-clad rectangular dielectric waveguide laser with a high-index inner cladding

A novel method to produce a flat-topped laser beam by using a double-clad rectangular waveguide laser with high-index inner cladding is presented. The waveguide dispersion equation for cosine mode was deduced, the condition for the flattened mode was given out, relative gains for guided modes were calculated numerically and analyzed. Results indicate that a gain advantage for the flattened mode is clear, a flat-topped laser beam can be achieved when the optical confinement factor, the gain intensity and the output coupler are chosen suitably.     

Coherence vortex properties of partially coherent flat-topped vortex beams

The analytical propagation expression of partially coherent flat-topped vortex beams through a paraxial optical ABCD system is derived, and it then is used to investigate the coherence vortex properties of partially coherent flat-topped vortex beams in the Fourier transform and fractional Fourier transform systems. It is shown that in the Fourier transform system the coherence vortex depends on the flat-topped beam order N, spatial coherence parameter α and position (x ₁,y ₁) of the reference point, whereas in the fractional Fourier transform system the flat-topped beam order N does not affect the spectral degree of coherence. Furthermore, in both transform systems, depending on the choice of the reference point, the zero value point of the spectral degree of coherence may be present or absent. In particular, if x ₁=y ₁=0 is selected, the phase at the zero value point of the spectral degree of coherence may be determinate; thus the coherence vortex does not exist.     

Off-axis flat-topped multi-Gaussian beam and its propagation through paraxial optical system

Off-axis flat-topped multi-Gaussian beam is proposed as an extension of flat-topped multi-Gaussian beam. The electric field of off-axis flat-topped multi-Gaussian beam is expressed as a superposition of a series of off-axis Gaussian beams. Propagation formulae for off-axis flat-topped multi-Gaussian beam through aligned and misaligned optical system are derived. As a numerical example, propagation properties of off-axis flat-topped multi-Gaussian beam in free space and through a misaligned thin lens are discussed.     

非傍轴截断平顶光束的质量因子

 使用功率密度的二阶矩方法和Li提出的平顶光束模型,推导出了非傍轴截断平顶光束的束腰宽度、远场发散角和光束质量因子的解析表达式。计算结果表明：非傍轴截断平顶光束的质量因子不仅与截断参数、光束阶数有关,而且与初始束腰宽度和波长之比有关;当截断参数趋近于0时,远场发散角趋于渐近值63.435°;对于光束阶数为1和截断参数趋于无穷大的特例,计算结果分别退化为非傍轴截断高斯光束和非傍轴无截断平顶光束的结果;功率密度的二阶矩方法可用于截断光束,并克服了光束质量因子的发散困难。     

M 2-factors of a non-circular partially coherent flat-topped beam

Based on the extended Huygens-Fresnel integral and the second-order moments of the Wigner distribution function, analytical formulae for the propagation factors (known as M ²-factors) of a non-circular (i.e., rectangular or elliptical) partially coherent flat-topped beam in turbulent atmosphere are derived. The properties of the M ²-factors of a non-circular partially coherent flat-topped beam in turbulent atmosphere and in free space are studied numerically and comparatively. It is found that the evolution properties of the M ²-factors are mainly determined by the parameters of the beam and the turbulent atmosphere. The relative M ²-factors of a non-circular partially coherent flat-topped beam can be smaller than a circular partially coherent flat-topped beam and a Gaussian Schell-model beam, particularly at long propagation ranges in turbulent atmosphere. Our results will be useful in long-distance free-space optical communications.