Design of optical coupling systems between two-dimensional quasi-stadium laser diodes and single-mode optical fibers

Optical coupling systems between a two-dimensional quasi-stadium laser diode and single-mode optical fibers using gradient-index rod lenses are designed for both stable and unstable laser resonators for the first time. A novel numerical approach using a combination of the extended Fox-Li calculation method and Gaussian beam transformations is proposed. In the case of a stable laser resonator, two kinds of beam propagation modes appear, namely the axis mode, in which an optical beam propagates along the cavity axis, and the ring mode, in which optical beams propagate along the diamond-shaped trajectory. The coupling efficiencies are found to be 54% for the axis mode and 52% for the ring mode. In contrast, an unstable laser resonator exhibits complicated modes, in which several highly directional beams are emitted from the end mirrors. The total coupling efficiency for these output beams is calculated to be 9.6%. The 3-dB tolerances for the lens pitch and alignment angles of the gradient-index rod lenses are also discussed.     

High-quality lowest-loss-mode lasing in GaAs quasi-stadium laser diodes having unstable resonators

We obtained high-quality lowest-loss-mode lasing in quasi-stadium laser diodes having unstable resonators that consisted of two curved end mirrors and two straight sidewall mirrors. The laser diodes were fabricated by applying a reactive ion etching technique to a metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition-grown graded-index separate-confinement heterostructure single-quantum-well GaAs/AlGaAs structure. The electrode contact area of the laser diodes was formed along unstable periodic orbits, along which the optical beams are localized. Highly directional fan-out beams corresponding to the numerically obtained lowest loss mode were emitted from the end mirrors under CW operation at room temperature.     

激光辐照下非稳腔镜变形对激光模式的影响

 分析了正支虚共焦非稳腔中腔镜变形对激光模式的影响，采用时间离散化、快速傅里叶变换（FFT）和有限元分析(FEA)方法解决腔镜变形和激光模式两者之间的耦合问题。计算结果表明，随着激光器工作时间的增加，腔镜温升和变形相应增大，谐振腔模式变差，输出光场相位均匀性变差，呈现散焦现象，输出光束质量下降。实验验证了激光器输出光束质量随出光时间的延长而逐渐变坏。     

Analysis of resonator modes in two-dimensional laser cavities containing a left-handed material

Resonator modes in two-dimensional laser cavities with curved end mirrors filled with a left-handed material were investigated numerically using the extended Fox-Li mode calculation method. The results reveal that the phase profile on the curved end mirrors of a left-handed cavity is inverted relative to that of a cavity filled with a right-handed material. Furthermore, we show that the phase on the end mirrors takes discrete values of zero and ±π under stable resonator conditions, while it varies continuously under unstable resonator conditions. The differences between stable and unstable resonators significantly alter the far-field patterns of the lowest-loss modes.     

高功率TEA CO_2激光器非稳腔实验研究

为了提高光束质量、压缩光束发散角,利用现有高功率稳定腔TEA CO2激光器进行了非稳谐振腔的技术改造及激光输出试验,非稳谐振腔采用正分支虚共焦型非稳腔方案。为充分研究谐振腔结构参数及激光振荡模体积对输出能量和光束发散角的影响,共设计加工了包含4种放大率、5种模体积的20组非稳腔腔镜组合。在其它参数都相同的试验条件下,进行了非稳腔镜的单脉冲输出对比试验,得到的最大输出能量为14 J,是原平凹稳定腔的70%,而光束发散角只是原平凹稳定腔的1/4。     

强激光腔镜温升对腔几何参数和远场光强的影响

 利用交替方向隐式有限差分法分析了高能激光器虚共焦非稳腔反射镜的温度场及热变形的数值计算方法。以单晶硅为例，计算了反射镜由于吸收激光能量而形成的温度场分布以及由此引起的热变形对谐振腔几何结构参数的影响，并在此基础上数值模拟了热畸变情况下正支虚共焦非稳腔的远场光强分布。计算结果表明:在激光束辐照的开始阶段，温升场主要集中在激光束辐照的中心区域内，在整个镜面上远未拉平，由此引起的厚度方向温升分布也是如此，很不均匀。     

球面角锥棱镜非稳腔钕玻璃激光器

为了将虚共焦非稳腔输出光束质量高和角锥棱镜谐振腔具有免调试的优点结合到一起,提出了用球面角锥棱镜构成虚共焦非稳腔的方案。利用已有虚共焦非稳腔钕玻璃激光器,设计加工了一球面角锥棱镜非稳腔钕玻璃激光器。模拟计算了两谐振腔输出光束的模式分布,然后对两钕玻璃激光器进行了实验对比研究。结果表明:实验得到的模式分布与模拟计算结果相吻合,球面角锥棱镜非稳腔钕玻璃激光器与虚共焦非稳腔钕玻璃激光器分别获得了最大2176.9J和2340.6J的能量输出,二者的电光效率与束散基本相同,分别为4.3%,0.30mrad和4.6%,0.26mrad。     

Ring and axis mode lasing in quasi-stadium laser diodes with concentric end mirrors

We fabricated quasi-stadium laser diodes whose resonators consist of two concentric curved end mirrors and two straight sidewall mirrors. We observed two lasing modes that correspond to different beam propagations along the cavity axis and along a ring trajectory, and different far-field patterns with wide angular separation. The modes can be selected by control of an electrode pattern. We also show that the far-field patterns numerically obtained by the extended Fox-Li mode calculation method are in good agreement with the experimental results.     

交叉柱面镜腔的研究

使用矩阵理论,对两个交叉成任意角度的柱面镜构成的谐振腔作了深入的理论研究.分析了这类光腔的稳定性、模式分布和腔内光束传输特性,并以数值计算例说明.对我们使用交叉柱面镜腔的钕玻璃板条激光器有关的实验结果作了报道和讨论.     

Self-modulation lasing regimes in a fast-flow CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> laser

Numerical simulation of self-modulation lasing regimes has been carried out for a CO₂ laser with transverse flow of the active medium through an unstable resonator with inhomogeneous internal pumping. Two types of steady-state self-modulation oscillation differing in the feedback mechanism were observed. The type of lasing regime and the conditions of its realization depend both upon the pumping profile and upon the composition and pressure of the working mixture, which makes it generally possible to control temporal characteristics of lasing.     

High energy and high stability Cr:YAG passively Q-switched laser with convex-ARR unstable resonator

A convex-ARR (Anti-resonant Ring) unstable resonator was introduced in a Cr⁴⁺:YAG passively Q-switched Nd:YAG pulsed laser. There are two novel features in this cavity, one is the unstable resonator increasing output energy and improving laser mode; the other is the ARR structure efficiently enhancing the laser stability. A high energy and high stability Q-switched pulse with a single pulse energy of 85.6 mJ, a pulse width of 38 ns and an energy stability of 99.6% was obtained. The experimental results were analyzed well by using the mechanism of transient grating and the properties of the unstable resonator.     

Lasing emission of dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal microdroplet wrapped by polyglycerol in hollow glass microsphere

In this Letter,a dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal(DDCLC)-filled hollow glass microsphere is demonstrated to be a resonator with good temperature response.A diglycerol layer is used to wrap the DDCLCs microdroplet to keep it steady and control its orientation.The whispering gallery mode(WGM)lasing and photonic band gap(PBG)lasing caused by two different mechanisms were obtained under the pump of a pulsed laser,and the temperature response of these two kinds of lasing was studied.For the liquid crystal and chiral material used in this Letter,both the WGM lasing and the PBG lasing have a blue shift in wavelength with increasing temperature.     

A single axial mode YAG: Nd laser with electronic linewidth narrowing

Single axial mode operation of a YAG: Nd laser based on an unstable resonator with an additional branch and electronic control of the Q-switching has been realized and investigated. The use of the additional branch with a selecting etalon makes it possible to save the output characteristics of the laser with the unstable resonator when going to single axial mode operation.     

A single axial mode YAG: Nd laser with electronic linewidth narrowing

Single axial mode operation of a YAG: Nd laser based on an unstable resonator with an additional branch and electronic control of the Q-switching has been realized and investigated. The use of the additional branch with a selecting etalon makes it possible to save the output characteristics of the laser with the unstable resonator when going to single axial mode operation.     

三环无源谐振腔在光纤激光器中的选频特性

利用琼斯矩阵对一种三环嵌套的无源谐振腔的选频特性进行了分析,并根据无源谐振腔选频的原理,设计了一种基于三环嵌套无源谐振腔的掺铒光纤激光器.实验结果表明:三环嵌套的无源谐振腔具有良好的选频特性,当泵浦功率为159 mW时,得到了稳定的单纵模激光信号输出;输出功率的最大波动为0.04 dB,输出中心波长最大漂移为0.016...     

Folded diffractive laser resonators with user-defined fundamental mode

The adjustment effort required for the alignment of laser resonators with arbitrarily shaped end mirrors can be significantly reduced by folding the resonator path half-way between the two end mirrors and by slightly tilting the resonator axis. Thus the resulting resonator consists only of one diffractive mirror and a plane mirror, and the separate alignment of both diffractive end mirrors with respect to each other can be avoided. This principle is demonstrated by a Nd:YAG laser with super-Gaussian output beam. Furthermore, it is shown theoretically that the influence of phase quantization effects on the beam quality can be strongly reduced as a consequence of the tilted resonator axis.     

Photocount statistics of chaotic lasers

We derive the photocount statistics of the radiation emitted from a chaotic laser resonator in the regime of single-mode lasing. Random spatial variations of the resonator eigenfunctions lead to strong mode-to-mode fluctuations of the laser emission. The distribution of the mean photocount over an ensemble of modes changes qualitatively at the lasing transition, and displays up to three peaks above the lasing threshold.     

Pulsed first-overtone CO laser: effective source of IR radiation in spectral range of 2.5–4.0 μm

Spectral properties of radiation of a pulsed electron-beam controlled discharge laser operating on the first-overtone transitions (Δv=2) of CO molecules have been studied both experimentally and theoretically. Various sets of dielectric mirrors with high reflectivity in the wide range of overtone spectrum have been used for the laser resonator. Multiwavelength lasing has been obtained in the wide spectral range of 2.5–4.0 μm. Efficiency of the laser operating on few vibrational transitions within a relatively narrow spectral range comes up to 5% at entirely suppressed fundamental band (Δv=1) lasing. Spectral characteristics of the overtone laser operating on a selected set of vibrational transitions have been analyzed theoretically. A comparison of the experimental and theoretical data has been made.     

Stability of optical laser resonators with mirrors of gaussian reflectivity profiles,which contain an active medium

The stability of laser resonators which contain a medium with a gain profile is investigated. Such resonators are unstable when the resonator mirrors are large (infinite aperture approximation), and the gain is lowest on the optical axis and increases with radial distance. It is shown that such resonators have well-defined regions of stability if the mirrors have gaussian reflectivity tapers.     

Switchable lasing in multimode microcavities

We propose the new concept of a switchable multimode microlaser. As a generic, realistic model of a multimode microresonator a system of two coupled defects in a two-dimensional photonic crystal is considered. We demonstrate theoretically that lasing of the cavity into one selected resonator mode can be caused by injecting an appropriate optical pulse at the onset of laser action (injection seeding). Temporal mode-to-mode switching by reseeding the cavity after a short cooldown period is demonstrated by direct numerical solution. A qualitative analytical explanation of the mode switching in terms of the laser bistability is presented.