Direct generation of sub-nanosecond pulses in a high-pressure miniature excimer laser

Direct generation of subnanosecond pulses in a 9.0 cm discharge-length high-pressure XeCl laser is reported. The shortest pulse obtained was 670 ps (FWHM) with an energy of 1.2 mJ corresponding to 1.8 MW peak power.     

Fluorescence measurements in a Low-pressure Kr/F2 medium

The time-resolved measurement of the sidelight fluorescence of KrF* formed by a short electron-beam pumping pulse (20 ns FWHM, 19 kA, 860 kV) was performed as a function of both the total pressure ranging from 100 Torr to 400 Torr and the partial F₂ concentration (0.1–1.0%). We have estimated the fluorescence yields (FY) for various laser-gas conditions experimentally and the results were compared with numerical predictions. This study indicates a superior amplification performance for a single ultrashort pulse in a low-pressure medium because of the higher FY for KrF*.     

Efficient low-voltage operation of a reverse-biased autoprepulse XeCl laser

An improved version of the auto-prepulse excitation scheme for long-pulse operation of the XeCl excimer laser is reported. A pulsed reverse bias on the small peaking capacitance allows efficient (1.7%) operation at 100 mJ output level with a charge voltage limited to 5–7 kV. Analogies and differences with other long-pulse operation schemes are also discussed.     

Auto-prepulse operation of a long-pulse XeCl laser

A standard corona preionized XeCl laser prototype has been excited by a very simple L-C circuit consisting of a large storage capacitance charged at relatively low voltage (12 kV) and discharged via a switch on the electrodes, tightly coupled with the peaking capacitors. The resulting overvoltage following the switch closure behaves as an effective and automatic prepulse, providing a homogeneous discharge lasting up to 400 ns. Energy output levels of the order of 150 mJ at 1.4% overall efficiency have been achieved.     

Two-wavelength operation of a tunable KrF excimer laser — A promising technique for combustion diagnostics

A KrF excimer laser was operated on two independently tunable lines. This was achieved by a double-resonator configuration with two gratings. Tuning range and gain competition were investigated. The narrow line width (<1 cm^–1) and the independent tunability make this laser ideal for simultaneous spectroscopic detection of two species and temperature measurements in combustion processes.     

Kinetic study of a short-pulse electron-beam pumped Kr/F2 laser amplifier medium at very low pressure operation

A numerical investigation has been performed for very low pressure (200 Torr) buffer-free KrF laser-amplifier medium pumped by a short pulse (10 ns FWHM) electron beam with low excitation rate operation (200 kW/cm³). The small-signal-gain coefficient (g ₀) and absorption coefficient () have been estimated for this new operational mode. The formation and quenching processes are also discussed kinetically.     

Flat-top profile of an excimer-laser beam generated using beam-splitter gratings

We present a simple solution to the beam-shaping problem in which a wide, typically rectangular spatial distribution of an excimer-laser beam should be transformed into a flat-top distribution, a few millimeters wide in both directions. The set-up can be made practically lossless and it allows the energy density of the pulse to be increased by a factor of 50. The method finds use, e.g., in pulsed laser deposition, UV lithography and micro machining.     

Ablation of poly(methyl methacrylate) and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) by 308, 222 and 193 nm excimer-laser radiation

Data on the ablation of Poly(Methyl MetAcylate) (PMMA) and Poly(2-Hydroxyethyl MetAcylate) (PHEMA) with 0%, 1% and 20% of Ethylene Glycol DiMethAcrylate (EGDMA) as crosslinking monomer by 193, 222 and 308 nm laser radiation are presented. Direct photoetching of PMMA at 308 nm is demonstrated for laser fluences ranging from 2 to 18 J/cm². The ablation rate of PHEMA is lower than the corresponding to PMMA and decreases when the amount of EGDMA increases. The determination of the absorbed energy density required to initiate significant ablation suggests that the photoetching mechanism is similar for all the polymers studied and is a function of the irradiation wavelength. The Beer-Lambert law, the Srinivasan, Smrtic and Babu (SSB) theory and the kinetic model of the moving interface are used to analyze the experimental results. It is shown that only the moving interface theory fits well the etch rate for all the selected polymers at the three radiation wavelengths.     

Amplification of kW peak power femtosecond pulses in single quantum well InGaAs tapered amplifiers

The amplification of ps and fs pulses with peak powers of up to 4.5 kW has been investigated in a single quantum well InGaAs tapered amplifier. The pulses with durations of 100 fs or 2 ps were generated by a modelocked titanium-sapphire laser. The amplified pulses indicate strong gain saturation and carrier generation due to photon absorption in the laser active region which causes a temporal broadening of the amplified pulses as well as modifications of the optical spectrum. The gain recovery time was measured by a pump-probe experiment. The experimental results are analyzed with respect to the sub-ps gain dynamics which is described by a relaxation time approximation.     

Tunable sub-100 femtosecond dye-laser pulses generated with a nanosecond pulsed pumping

Subpicosecond pulses at a fixed wavelength produced with a low-Q cavity dye laser pumped by a single, nanosecond laser (Q-switched Nd:YAG) are converted into tunable high-power sub-100 femtosecond pulses by generation, spectral selection, amplification and compression of a supercontinuum. The tunable, chirped, high-energy pulses obtained are compressed with a prism pair. Energies up to 50 J in sub-100 fs pulses were obtained in the 540 to 650 nm range using 40 mJ of the Nd: YAG-laser pumping pulses at 532 nm. The whole sub-100 fs system including the low-Q dye laser uses only one Nd:YAG laser as a pump source.     

Production of intensities of ∼ 1019 W/cm2 by a table-top KrF laser

We report on the generation of intensities of 10¹⁹ W/cm^–2 by focusing the output beam of a table-top hybrid dye-excimer laser system operating at 248 nm. The laser system uses a pulsed dye laser and a single, commercially available excimer gain module. Considerations and optical arrangements for the optimization of the phase-front and the beam homogeneity of ultraviolet excimer amplifiers are presented.Prof. F.P. Schäfer on the occasion of his 65th birthday.     

Generation mechanism and thermal stability of high carrier concentrations by KrF-excimer-laser doping of Si into GaAs

The generation mechanism and thermal stability of high carrier concentrations in GaAs formed by KrF-excimer-laser doping with Si using SiH₄ gas are investigated. The channeling Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) analysis reveals that a high substitutional fraction of over 90% and preferential replacement of Si atoms on Ga sites result in the generation of carrier concentrations as high as 5×10¹⁹ cm^–3. In addition, the thermal stability of the doped regions is studied. The high carrier concentrations in a nonthermal equilibrium state return to a thermal equilibrium state by postannealing.Presented at LASERION'93, Munich, June 21–23, 1993     

Generation of 320 fs pulses with a distributed feedback dye laser

A new achromatic distributed feedback dye laser (DFDL) arrangement is described. The experimental conditions for subpicosecond pulse generation with the new device were investigated. For the first time, stable generation of subpicosecond pulses (350 fs) at 616 nm was achieved with a DFDL. The simultaneous spectral and autocorrelation measurements showed that the amplified DFDL pulses are nearly transform limited, having a pulse form close to the sech² shape.     

A Mid-IR 14.1W ZnGeP2 Optical Parametric Oscillator Pumped by a Tm,Ho:GdVO4 Laser

We report a high power and high efficiency double resonant ZnGeP2 （ZGP） optical parametric oscillator （OPO） pumped by a Tm,Ho：GdVO4 laser. We employ a Tm,Ho：GdVO4 laser as the pump source operated at 2.049 μm with M^2 = 1.1. The ZGP OPO can generate a total combined output power of 14.1 W at 3.80μm signal and 4.45 μm idler under pumping power of 28. 7 W. The slope efficiency reaches 61.8%, and M^2 = 3.6 for OPO output is obtained.     

Combined self-phase modulation and amplification of femtosecond light pulses

The influence of depletable amplification, group velocity dispersion and self-phase modulation due to Kerr-type nonlinearity on pulse shaping in femtosecond pulse amplification has been calculated. With gain depletion which is typical for the last stage of multi-stage amplifiers, spectral broadening occurs which, under certain conditions, can be utilized for pulse compression. This spectral broadening as well as a predicted spectral shift is compared with experimental results.     

Tungsten silicide formation by XeCl excimer-laser irradiation of W/Si samples

We report a study of the formation of tungsten silicide at the W-Si interface, induced by multipulse (up to 300 shots) XeCl excimer-laser irradiation of W(150 nm)/Si and W(500 nm)/Si samples. Laser fluences ranging from 0.6 to 1.8 J/cm² were used. After laser treatment the samples were examined by different diagnostic techniques: Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, X-ray scattering, resistometry, and surface profilometry. Numerical computations of the evolution and depth profiles of the temperature in the samples as a consequence of a single 30 ns laser pulse were performed as well. The results indicate that it is possible to obtain a tungsten silicide layer at the W-Si interface at quite low fluences. The layer thickness increases with the number of laser pulses. Complete reaction of the 150 nm thick W film with silicon was obtained at the fluence of 1.2 J/cm² between 30 and 100 laser pulses and at 1.5 J/cm² after 30 laser pulses. The sheet resistance of these silicides was 5–10 . At the used fluences for the 500 nm thick W film only the onset of silicide synthesis at the W-Si interface was observed.     

Two-dimensional coherent detection imaging in multiple scattering media based on the directional resolution capability of the optical heterodyne method

This paper describes a new application of optical heterodyne detection using a laser beam for two-dimensional imaging of the internal structure of strongly scattering media in which the structure is completely obstructed from normal visual observation. The directional resolution capability for image formation due to the excellent antenna properties of the heterodyne technique is verified experimentally using a ground glass to cause strong scattering of the signal beam. Successful image detection of a test target placed in a highly scattering absorptive medium, with spatial resolution better than 400 m in the case of our experiments, demonstrates that this Coherent Detection Imaging (CDI) method can overcome the diffuse nature of images in media such as those of biomedical interest and others to achieve scanning and tomographic imaging.     

Efficient generation of 200 mJ nanosecond pulses at 100 Hz repetition rate from a cryogenic cooled Yb:YAG MOPA system

A diode-pumped Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (MOPA) laser system based on cryogenic cooled Yb:YAG has been designed, developed and its output performance characterised. The laser system consists of a fibre oscillator, an active mirror regenerative amplifier and a four pass main amplifier. 2.4 mJ, 10 ns, 100 Hz seed pulses from the fibre oscillator/regenerative amplifier arrangement were amplified up to pulse energies of over 200 mJ by using the four pass main amplifier arrangement. As a further study we have obtained an increased slope efficiency of 40% and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 30% using a pinhole vacuum spatial filter/image relay for laser mode control. With 1.8 mJ input seed pulses, output pulse energies of around 150 mJ were achieved.     

Cr4+:YAG as passive Q-switch for a Nd:YALO oscillator with an average repetition rate of 2.7 kHz,TEM00 mode and 13 W output

A conventional pulsed Nd:YALO oscillator was passively Q-switched with a Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal. During each of the flashes, with a repetition rate of 100 Hz, a burst of 27 Q-switch pulses with a half width (FWHM) of 140 ns was generated. The minimal pulse-to-pulse time interval within the burst was about 5 µs. The average repetition rate of these Q-switch pulses was 27 × 100 Hz. Nd: YALO as active material does not show any thermally induced birefringence and therefore a good TEM₀₀ mode was realized despite the high thermal load of the crystal. The 4 × 79 mm laser rod produced 13 W average output power at 1080 nm with an efficiency of 0.5%. In contrast to earlier used LiF:F ₂ ^– absorbers as passive Q-switch the Cr⁴⁺:YAG-crystals did not bleach and therefore the system operated very stable and reliable.     

Temporal synchronization of independently tunable single longitudinal mode hybrid CO2 lasers

We report a quantitative study of temporal synchronization of two independently tunable, single longitudinal mode, hybrid CO₂ lasers, sharing a common high pressure section. The theoretical estimates for the dependence of the laser pulse build up time on the cw section pressure are in satisfactory agreement with the experimental results. Further, we show that temporal synchronization over a larger frequency range with no significant degradation of peak power or longitudinal mode selection is possible, by utilising the cw section gain length and cavity Q as additional control parameters.