Tunable,sub-nanosecond KrF-Raman laser in the ultraviolet

A 0.5 cm^–1 bandwidth injection-locked KrF laser pumps a rare-gas Brillouin cell to produce a reflected pulse with a leading edge risetime of 1 ns, tunable from 248.1 to 248.7 nm. Consistent with Lamb theory of laser amplifiers, subsequent excimer amplification of this pulse produces an intense 500 ps spike on the pulse leading edge. Stimulated Raman scattering then separates the spike from the parent pulse, yielding a tunable short pulse at the first Stokes (S ₁) wavelength. Varying the Raman cell length results in a variable Raman threshold and an adjustable short pulse duration: 250 ps pulses at energies of 3–4 mJ at 268 nm with a 50 cm methane cell and 350 ps, 5 mJ pulses from a 100 cm cell are measured with a streak camera. First pass Raman conversion of the spike toS ₁ followed by second pass backward Raman amplification, where the parent 248 nm pulse serves as the pump beam for the reflectedS ₁ pulse, yields simultaneousS ₁ pulses of 20–25 mJ in the 800 ps range andS ₂ pulses of 550 ps at 5–6 mJ near 290 nm. This laser will avoid collision effects during laser excitation and enable quantitative, single pulse imaging of OH radicals in turbulent combustion because of its high pulse energy.     

Cascaded compression of the first and second Stokes pulses during forward transient stimulated Raman amplification

The results of numerical modelling of cascaded compression of the first and second Stokes pulses during regenerative regime of the forward transient stimulated Raman amplification are presented for the case when the walk-off length of the first Stokes pulse due to group velocity mismatch is shorter than the length of the nonlinear medium. The influence of the initial amplitudes of the seed first Stokes pulses, its durations and its time delay with respect to the pump pulse, the Kerr nonlinearity of the medium on the conversion efficiency, duration and propagation factor M² of the first and second Stokes pulse are studied. It is demonstrated that for the pump pulse duration of 1 ps the duration of the compressed second Stokes pulses in a KGW crystal near the beam axis may be approximately 14 times shorter than the pump pulse duration. It is shown that the propagation factor of the compressed pulses increases significantly because of complex spatial-temporal dynamics of compression and the influence of Kerr nonlinearity of Raman medium.     

High-peak power multi-wavelength picosecond pulses generated from a BaWO4 Raman-seeded optical parametric amplifier

We report the generation of high-peak power multi-wavelength picosecond laser pulses using optical parametric amplification (OPA) in BBO seeded with pulses generated in a 5-mm length BaWO₄ crystal by stimulated Raman scattering of 18-ps laser pulses at 532 nm. The maximum output energy of the amplified first-Stokes component at 559.7 nm was about 1.76 mJ. The corresponding maximum peak power, pulse duration and spectral line width were measured to be 117.3 MW, 15 ps and 18.0 cm⁻¹, respectively. The multi-wavelength picosecond laser pulses were in the visible and near infrared ranges. Using this Raman-seeded OPA technique, the beam quality of the stimulated Raman scattering pulses can be improved.     

Effect of crystal orientation on picosecond-laser bulk microstructuring and Raman lasing in diamond

In the paper we report on picosecond-laser bulk microstructuring and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in type IIa single-crystal diamond in the course of multipulse irradiation at λ=532 nm wavelength using an advanced ps-laser system equipped with additional setups for on-line video imaging and photoluminescence spectra measurements. The effect of crystal orientation (relative to the incident laser beam) on (i) optical breakdown thresholds, (ii) character of bulk modifications, and (iii) generation of stimulated Raman scattering in diamond during irradiation with picosecond pulses of different durations (τ ₁=10 ps and τ ₂=44 ps) is studied. It is shown that the processes of laser-induced breakdown in the bulk of diamond (at the backside of the crystals) and bulk microstructure growth are governed by the dielectric breakdown mechanism. It is found that generation of high-order stimulated Raman scattering in diamond crystals has a considerable effect on the threshold of laser-induced breakdown and bulk microstructuring. Conditions of the efficient SRS lasing are determined, depending on the pulse duration and the direction ([100] and [110]) of the laser beam incidence. A method of local temperature measurements in the bulk of diamond based on the Stokes-to-anti-Stokes intensity ratio in the recorded SRS spectra is proposed, its applicability to determine a “pre-breakdown” temperature of diamond during multipulse ps-laser irradiation is discussed.     

Micromagnetic investigation of the sub-nanosecond magnetic pulse driven domain wall motion in CoFeB nanowire

We report our micromagnetic simulations based on Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation for CoFeB nanowire which was exposed by sub-nanosecond magnetic pulse with varied pulse width between 100 and 1000 ps. It is found that the Walker Breakdown field (H_WB) shifted as the field pulse duration decreased and reached at the highest value in case of 100 ps pulse width, then decreased steeply with respect to the pulse width up to 400 ps. H_WB values are not significantly dependent for pulses longer than 500 ps. It is observed that, below the H_WB, the exchange energy is larger than the demagnetization energy in the wider nanowire. By energy density analysis, it is understood that the increase of H_WB values in the cases of narrower pulse width was to compensate the energy needed to move the DW.     

The optical limitation effect and features of luminescence kinetics in hybrid nanosystems with CdSe/ZnS quantum dots and organic agents

The optical limitation effect in three-component systems formed in colloidal solutions of semiconductor CdSe/ZnS quantum dots with participation of fullerene C₆₀ and perylene, has been experimentally investigated. The first and second harmonics of a YAG:Nd³⁺ laser operating in the single-shot mode with a pulse duration of 7 ns and laser pulses subjected to stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS)-stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) compression with a duration of about 20 ps near 560 nm have been used as radiation sources. It is shown that the optical limitation efficiency in the systems studied is determined by electron transfer. This is confirmed by the analysis of luminescence quenching.     

Modeling and experimental investigation of short pulse Raman microchip laser

The results of experimental and theoretical investigations of passive Q-switch Raman microchip lasers based on Nd³⁺:LSB active medium and Ba(NO₃)₂ Raman crystal are presented. It has been demonstrated that intracavity Raman conversion in the microchip lasers is a simple and efficient method, capable of delivering high power pulses with sub-100 ps duration. Intracavity generation of the 1st Stokes pulses with duration from 180 down to 48 ps and a peak power of 48 kW has been performed and studied. High peak power and short duration of the 1st Stokes pulses in microchip laser with Ba(NO₃)₂ Raman crystal allows to easily perform extracavity harmonic generation and frequency sum mixing in LBO, BBO, and KTP crystals with discrete-tunable wavelength from ∼1200 down to ∼240 nm. We have developed a generalized model of Q-switched Raman microchip lasers, that takes into account spatial inhomogeneity of pump, laser, and Stokes beams, thermalization within the upper and lower multiplets of activator ions in laser medium, and saturable absorber bleaching and recovery. For the microchip lasers with different saturable absorbers, the model achieves very good agreement with the presented experimental results in a wide range of pump powers.     

Filamentation on laser irradiated spherical targets

Filamentary structures have been observed in the corona plasma of spherical targets irradiated uniformly at intensities of 10¹²-10¹⁴ W cm^-2 by a 1.5 ns Nd glass laser pulse and probed by a 50 ps (FWHM) Raman shifted second harmonic probe pulse.     

Megagauss magnetic fields on laser irradiated spherical targets

Strong thermo-electric magnetic fields have been obserbed on non-uniformly illuminated microballoon targets at irradiances of 10¹³ to 10¹⁴ W cm^-2 using a 1.2 ns Nd glass laser heating pulse and a 50 ps Raman shifted second harmonic probe pulse. For uniformly irradiated spherical targets no large scale magnetic fields above 100 kG were observed.     

Generation and detection of tunable ultrashort infrared and far-infrared radiation pulses of high intensity

We report on generation and detection of intense pulsed radiation with frequency tunability in the infrared and far-infrared spectral regions. Infrared radiation is generated with a transversally electrically excited high pressure CO₂ laser. A laser pulse of a total duration of about 300 ns consisted, due to self mode locking, of a series of single pulses, some with pulse durations of less than 450 ps and peak powers larger than 20 MW. Using these pulses for optical pumping of a Raman D₂O laser, trains of short far-infrared pulses with durations less than 400 ps were obtained. For detection a new ultrafast superconducting detector was used.     

Generation of picosecond UV pulses by stimulated anti-Stokes Raman scattering

Picosecond stimulated anti-Stokes Raman scattering of hydrogen gas in the ultraviolet region has been studied, using the second harmonic of a modelocked Nd³⁺: YAG laser as an incident pulse (25 ps, 532 nm, 10 mJ). Good conversion efficiency for higher-order anti-Stokes lines has been realized, yielding 2 μJ (200 kW, 10 ps) output for the 8th one at 192 nm. Some features of transient stimulated Raman scattering have been examined and discussed.     

Generation of fast ions in femto-and picosecond laser plasmas at low intensities of the heating radiation

X-ray spectra from Teflon targets irradiated by laser pulses with a duration of 60 fs to 1 ps have been investigated experimentally. It is shown that, when the contrast of the laser pulse is sufficiently low, the effect of self-focusing of the main laser pulse in the plasma produced by the prepulse can significantly enhance the generation efficiency of fast particles. In this case, ions with energies as high as ～1 MeV are observed at relatively low laser intensities, q _las ≈ (4–6) × 10¹⁶ W/cm².     

Transient Raman gain stimulated by a noise pump

We predict a strong transient Raman gain stimulated by a Gaussian noise field in dispersive media. Our theory is based on the method of successive approximations, the first of which is the Markovian approximation. It is shown that the transient behavior will take place near critical pump intensity both for “short” (τ_p > T₂) and “ultrashort” (τ_p < T₂) laser pulses (τ_p is the pump pulse duration, T₂ is the relaxation time of optical phonons). Solutions for average intensities of the Stokes wave and optical phonons are obtained for arbitrary form of the given pump pulse. We show that transient Raman gain allows to form a very steep leading edge of the Stokes pulse.The steady-state increments of the second approximation describe the effects of a strong noise field. We show that after the intensity of the pump has exceeded a value beyond which the framework of validity of the Markovian approximation does not hold anymore, the steady-state Raman gain is saturated.We give a review of experimental results and make estimations for conditions of observing transient scattering in the field of a noise pump. Methods of obtaining the powerful femtosecond pulses based on stimulated Raman scattering of broad-band excimer lasers and supercontinuum emission are suggested.     

Temporal characteristics of picosecond stimulated Raman scattering in oxide crystals

The temporal characteristics of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) under 22-ps laser excitation were studied in eight oxide crystals with a T ₂ optical-phonon dephasing time variable by up to two orders of magnitude. The measured SRS pulse width was shortened from 13.8 ps for Ba(NO₃)₂ (T ₂ = 26.5 ps) to 4 ps for the LiNbO₃ (T ₂ = 0.38 ps) crystal. The dependence of SRS pulse width on the dephasing time was analyzed in the framework of the known SRS theory.     

Parametric generation of shortened,narrow-band picosecond pulses using a Yag-pump laser

Using a single path parametric system pumped by a YAG laser, shortened pulses are produced at various frequencies. Starting with a duration of the pump pulse of 21 ps at 9400 cm^?1 we achieve a duration of 4 ps between 2700 cm^?1 and 6700 cm^?1, of 8 ps between 13 500 cm^?1 and 16 100 cm^?1, and of 8 ps between 27 000 cm^?1 and 32 000 cm^?1. Typical bandwidths are 10 cm^?1 in the infrared, 4 cm^?1 in the visible, and 5 cm^?1 in the ultraviolet.     

Direct time-domain observation of ultrafast dephasing in adsorbate-substrate vibration under the influence of a hot electron bath: Cs adatoms on Pt(111)

The stretching vibration of Cs adsorbed on Pt(111) is excited coherently by resonant stimulated Raman excitation and its time evolution is probed by fs time-resolved second harmonic generation as a function of pump laser fluence I. As I increases, a fast dephasing component with the lifetime of tau=0.7 ps grows, being superimposed on a slow one with tau=1.9 ps. The fast component is a manifestation of pure dephasing caused by elastic and inelastic scattering of hot electrons at adsorbate.     

100 ps far-infrared laser pulses from optically pumped D2O

In this paper we report the generation of ultrashort far-infrared laser pulses with durations less than 100 ps, powers exceeding 200 kW and intensities of more than 1.5 MW/cm². Far-infrared radiation was produced via stimulated resonance Raman scattering using a high-pressure CO₂-laser as pump source and the heavy water isotopes D₂¹⁶O and D₂¹⁸O as far-infrared laser media. Pulses achieved from this laser system were detected by a novel type of detector, sensitive over a broad spectral range from the far-infrared to the visible, basing on quasiparticle heating in a strip-line structured YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ thin film.     

Coherence time measurement of picosecond pulses by a light-induced grating method

The temporal coherence function |Γ(τ)| of picosecond pulses from a Nd: YAG laser has been measured by diffraction at a transient grating. The coherence timet _c =7 ps is small compared to the pulse widtht _p =22 ps but is in correspondence with the spectral bandwidth Δv=12·10¹⁰ Hz. The new method for measuring the coherence function |Γ(τ)| is discussed and compared with a previous experiment.     

Efficient generation of tunable subpicosecond pulses in the infrared

A novel parametric generator-amplifier system is discussed which for the first time allows the generation of tunable pulses in the infrared with substantial pulse shortening and with high energy conversion of up to 20%. Starting with an intense laser pulse of a mode-locked Nd: glass laser system of ≈ 8 ps, a signal pulse at ≈ 6500 cm^-1 is produced by a single path parametric generator. This signal pulse is subsequently amplified generating an intense idler pulse in the IR. Varying the time delay between the signal and pump pulse in the amplifier stage, the pulse duration of signal and idler is readily adjusted. The shortest pulses are nearly bandwidth limited of duration 0.5 ps with energy conversion exceeding 5% in the frequency range around 6500 cm^-1.     

低引导磁场下相对论亚纳秒电子束毫米波返波振荡器的粒子模拟

提出了一种Ka波段的相对论亚纳秒电子束毫米波慢波结构,在较低引导磁场情况下,运用粒子模拟(PIC)方法成功地模拟出器件中波束互作用的非线性物理演化过程,得到了一种超辐射状态下的微波辐射,它的产生与波相对于电子束滑移引起的电子束内电子间相互作用有关,辐射微波的峰值功率与电子束总电荷的平方成正比.粒子模拟有利于对超辐射这种束波互作用非线性物理现象的理解,并且对器件的设计有一定的参考价值.