Bistable behaviour in squeezed vacua: II. Stability analysis and chaos

Linear stability analysis and (numerical) investigation of the periodic and chaotic self-pulsing behaviour are presented for the Maxwell-Bloch equations of a bistable model in contact with a squeezed vacuum field. Effect of the squeeze phase parameter on the period doubling bifurcation that preceeds chaos is examined for the adiabatic and non-adiabatic regimes.     

Modulation instability induced by periodic power variation in soliton fiber ring lasers

Modulation instability with subsideband generation induced by periodic power variation in soliton fiber ring lasers is reported. We found that different wavelength shifts of subsideband generation are related to different periodic power variation. The period of power variation and wavelength shifts of subsideband can be changed by altering the linear cavity phase delay. It is also found that the periodic power variation is caused by the interaction between the nonuniform polarization state of the circulating light and the polarizer in the laser cavity.     

Pattern dynamics in an annular laser

Competition among modes in an annular CO₂ laser has been experimentally and numerically analyzed. During the coexistence of different patterns, each of them resulting from the interaction of two transverse modes with opposite angular momentum, chaos has been experimentally detected. A numerical model, derived from the Maxwell-Bloch equations and including symmetry breaking terms, enables the interpretation of the main experimental features. Received 10 March 2000     

Pattern selection and stabilization in an annular CO laser

The formation and stabilization of spatio-temporal patterns in an annular CO₂ laser is studied. We give experimental and numerical evidence of the role of a small spatial perturbation (consisting of a thin metallic wire inserted in the optical cavity) in the selection and stabilization of patterns. Received 15 December 1999     

The pulse shape of a passively Q-switched microchip laser

The shape of the intensity pulse of a passively Q-switched microchip laser is investigated numerically and analytically. Our analysis is motivated by independent microchip laser experiments exhibiting nearly symmetric pulses in the case of a semiconductor saturable absorber and asymmetric pulses in the case of a solid state saturable absorber. Asymptotic methods are used to determine limiting behaviors of the pulse shape for both symmetric and asymmetric pulses. In the first case, we determine a sech² solution parametrized by one parameter which can be determined by solving two coupled nonlinear algebraic equations. In the second case, the pulse solution is decomposed into two distinct approximations exhibiting different amplitude and time scales properties. We review earlier approximations of the repetition rate and the pulse width. Received 2 August 1999     

Stochastic and coherence resonance in lasers: homoclinic chaos and polarization bistability

We report Stochastic Resonance and Coherence Resonance phenomena in experiments using CO₂ lasers. First, we consider a polarized laser with feedback; for suitable feedback parameters, the laser intensity undergoes homoclinic chaos consisting in the return to a saddle focus, where noise controls the permanence time around the saddle. Second, we discuss a quasi-isotropic laser where noise induces switching between two intensity components with mutually orthogonal polarization.     

Comparison of different switching techniques in a cavity soliton laser

We compare three different switching techniques for the control of cavity solitons in a VCSEL-based cavity soliton laser, one incoherent and the other two semicoherent with different injection frequencies. We show that the switching dynamics and energies can be very different depending on the type of injection.     

Combination of two basic types of synchronization in a coupled semiconductor laser system

Combination of two basic types of synchronization, anticipatory synchronization and lagged synchronization, is investigated numerically between two coupled semiconductor lasers. It is found that lagged synchronization produced by a backward coupling with a suitable delay can combine with the originally hidden anticipatory synchronization and produce a type of synchronization overcoming the original lagged synchronization produced by a forward coupling. We study the combination synchronization phenomenon when the delay of the backward coupling is different from that of the original anticipatory synchronization. Our results suggest that the synchronization combination phenomenon might allow an interpretation of an experimental observation by Sivaprakasam et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 154101 (2001)] that the anticipating time is irrespective of the external-cavity round trip time, which to date remains to be understood.     

A KTiOAsO4 Raman laser

Efficient nanosecond stimulated Raman scattering is observed in KTiOAsO₄ within an intracavity Raman laser configuration. A diode-end-pumped acousto-optically Q-switched Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1064.2 nm is employed as the pumping source. And efficient generation of the first-Stokes line at 1091.5 nm is observed. With an incident diode power of 8.11 W, a first-Stokes power of 1.38 W is obtained at a pulse repetition rate of 25 kHz, corresponding to a diode-to-Stokes conversion efficiency of 17%. The pulse width is 6.5 ns and the peak power is 8.5 kW. The performance characteristics of the device demonstrate that KTiOAsO₄ is competent and reliable for nanosecond Raman lasers.     

An analytical study of a periodically driven laser with a saturable absorber

We consider the rate equations for a laser with an intracavity saturable absorber and subject to a periodically modulated pump. By deriving simplified equations for a map valid for strongly pulsating regimes, analytical conditions are determined that specify the properties of both frequency-locked and unlocked behaviors. As the strength of the modulation is increased, quasiperiodic and period-doubling bifurcations are predicted. However, only the transition from locking to non-locking through a quasiperiodic bifurcation is possible for realistic values of the parameters. Our results are consistent with previous numerical and experimental studies of modulated lasers with a saturable absorber. Received 10 March 2001     

Phase locking and chaotic synchronization in an array of three lasers

A linear array of three lasers that are coupled mutually in space is investigated. It is shown that the phase of the laser fields is locked with intermediate coupling while the laser intensities are totally chaotic and chaotically synchronized. When the intensities of lasers reenter the regime of chaotic synchronization at smaller coupling constant, the laser fields show low degree of phase locking. The phase differences in the fields between three lasers show rich patterns when the coupling is changed. Received 3 August 2001 and Received in final form 27 September 2001     

Modulation enhancement of a laser diode in an external cavity

The influence of Zn-atom additive on ‘pure’ copper vapor laser output characteristics is studied. The laser pulse width, energy and power are found to increase under the diffusion of zinc atoms from a zinc-containing reservoir into the discharge of the copper-vapor laser at temperatures above 500°C. Additional absorption experiments and calculations are consistent with the conclusion that not only optical resonant pumping by the 213.9-nm Zn I line, but also other processes, should be taken into account to explain the effects of additive influence.     

400 mW and 16.5% wavelength conversion efficiency at 488 nm using a diode laser and a PPLN crystal in single pass configuration

Continuous wave power of more than 400 mW at 488 nm has been generated by frequency doubling of 2.45 W at 976 nm obtained from a distributed Bragg reflector tapered diode laser. This results in a wavelength conversion efficiency of 16.5% and an electrical-to-optical efficiency of more than 4.5%. We used a 50 mm long periodically poled MgO:LiNbO₃ bulk crystal in single-pass configuration for the second harmonic generation. This is to the author’s knowledge the highest output power and the highest wavelength conversion efficiency at 488 nm generated by a monolithic semiconductor laser device in single pass configuration with a bulk crystal. A deviation from the quadratic dependency of the frequency doubling is explained by the decrease of the beam quality of the fundamental wave.     

Electron impact single and double ionization of argon

Stable two-mode, and three-mode oscillations due to the spatial hole burning effect were observed experimentally with the increase of the pump power ratio in a laser-diode pumped sub-nanosecond microchip Cr,Yb:YAG self-Q-switched multimode laser. The stability of the output pulse trains was attributed to the mode coupling through antiphase dynamics between different modes. Modified multimode rate equations including the spatial hole-burning effect in the active medium and the non-linear absorption of the saturable absorber were proposed. Numerical simulations of the antiphase dynamics of such a laser were in good agreement with the experimental data, and the antiphase dynamics were explained by the evolution of the inversion population and the bleaching and recovery of the inversion population of the saturable absorber.     

980 nm Yb-doped single-mode fiber laser and its frequency-doubling with BIBO

A quasi-three-level Yb-doped single-mode fiber laser at 980 nm by adopting two 0° fiber ends as cavity mirrors generated a total output power of 1.32 W with the slope efficiency of 75.3%. The fiber length was 36.5 cm close to the optimal theoretical fiber length. The corresponding optical conversion efficiency was 66% from the incident pump power at 946 nm to the laser power at 980 nm. Through frequency-doubling with BIBO crystal, a total output power of 15 mW at 490.8 nm was obtained.     

Microdrilling of metals with an inexpensive and compact ultra-short-pulse fiber amplified microchip laser

We have investigated the ultra-fast microdrilling of metals using a compact and cheap fiber amplified passively Q-switched microchip laser. This laser system delivers 100-ps pulses with repetition rates higher than 100 kHz and pulse energies up to 80 μJ. The ablation process has been studied on metals with quite different thermal properties (copper, carbon steel and stainless steel). The dependence of the ablation depth per pulse on the pulse energy follows the same logarithmic scaling laws governing laser ablation with sub-picosecond pulses. Structures ablated with 100-ps laser pulses are accompanied only by a thin layer of melted material. Despite this, results with a high level of precision are obtained when using the laser trepanning technique. This simple and affordable laser system could be a valid alternative to nanosecond laser sources for micromachining applications.     

Optical gain on the 476.5 nm Argon-ion laser line in a gas-target excited by a heavy ion beam

Optical gain on the 476.5 nm Ar II 4p–4s ion laser transition has been observed in argon-gas excited by 2.5 ns pulses of 90 MeV³²S ions with a repetition rate of 4883 Hz. The energy per pulse was 23 J. The projectiles were stopped in the target at pressures between 5 and 20 kPa. Gain was determined from a measured transient increase of the intensity of a 476.5 nm probe laser beam sent along the ion beam axis and back reflected by an aluminum foil. The maximum gain observed was (0.4±0.1)×10^–3 at a target-gas pressure of 5 kPa. Control experiments using krypton as target-gas were performed and yielded a null result. The optical gain observed in argon is consistent with the result from an analysis of spectroscopic studies of rare-gas targets excited by heavy ion beams.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. P. Kienle on the occasion of his 60th birthday. This work has been funded by the German Federal Ministry for Research and Technology (BMFT) under contract No. 06 TM 310 I, Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung (GSI), Darmstadt, and the Tandem accelerator laboratory, Munich     

KrF pulsed laser ablation of polyimide

In the present paper, polyimide surfaces were processed with pulsed KrF laser radiation at fluences near the ablation threshold. The morphology of the processed surfaces was studied by scanning electron microscopy and chemical analyses performed by electron dispersive spectroscopy. The formation of conical structures was observed for radiation fluences lower than 0.5 J/cm². The areal density of cones increases with the number of pulses and decreases with the radiation fluence. At low fluences (<150 J/cm²), cones are formed due to shadowing by calcium phosphate impurities while for higher fluences the main mechanism of cones formation is believed to be radiation hardening.