Simultaneous phase-lock of five CO2 lasers to a primary Cs frequency standard

The output of a CO₂ laser, operating on theP _I(18) transition of¹³C¹⁶O₂ at 26941 GHz (11.128 m) was phase-locked to a 5 MHz signal from a primary Cs frequency standard by means of a frequency chain having only CO₂ lasers as infrared sources. Simultaneously, four other CO₂ lasers in the chain were phase-locked to the 26941 GHz output. This provided CO₂ laser frequencies at 26 450 305, 26 940 815, 28 694 625, 29 442 480, and 33 185 715 MHz having zero long-term-average frequency error relative to the Cs standard, and the ±10^–13 (3 Hz) long-term absolute uncertainty of the standard.     

Output power enhancement of the 632.8 nm monomode He-Ne/I2-laser

For the He-Ne/I₂-laser, a stable monomode operation has been realized when the tube pressure exceeds a certain level. An output power of more than 1 mW has been obtained at the 632.8 nm laser transition. Within the monomode tuning range of the laser, the d, e, f, g, and h, i, j iodine hyperfine components of the R(127) line of the 11–5 band of the B ³ II ⁺ _0u–X ¹⁺ _0g electronic transition have been observed. The mode selection method used makes it possible to increase the contrast of the iodine hyperfine components.     

Frequency and efficiency measurements on FIR laser lines close to the N+ 3 P 2−3 P 1 transition

FIR laser lines close to the N^{+ 3} P ₂–³ P ₁ transition at 122 m can be used as a local oscillator for heterodyne detectors. The frequencies of some candidate laser lines from CH₂F₂,¹³CH₃OH, CD₃OD, and CD₃OH have been measured and the output power of the most interesting lines has been optimized.     

Determination of the unsaturated losses and of the saturation intensity in the KrCl excimer laser

The unsaturated losses , and the saturation intensityI _s, were measured in an uv-preionized KrCl laser for optimized He and Ne based laser gas mixtures. The measurements were made as a function of the specific power loading and of the total pressure of the laser mixtures. Higher values for andI _s were found for the Ne-based laser mixture than for the He-based mixture. At 45 kV charging voltage and at 355 kPa of total pressure we measured =0.053 cm^–1 andI _s =9.4MW/cm² for the Ne based mixture, and =0.035 cm^–1 andI _s =5.1MW/cm² for the He based mixture.     

A photolyticallyQ-switched photolytic iodine laser

A novel, repetitively pulsed, photolyticQ-switching scheme has been demonstrated on a 1.315 m (² P _1/2² P _3/2) cw photolytic iodine laser using an intracavity cell containing either IBr or ICl. When the cell is irradiated with a KrF laser (=248 nm), I(² P _3/2) atoms are produced and lasing ceases due to the introduction of loss into the laser cavity. Lasing resumes, however, following recombination of the atoms into the parent molecule. Experimental evidence is presented which indicates that the laser's shut-off time is a function of excimer laser energy and the pressure of buffer gas in the cell.     

Picosecond phase-conjugation by degenerate four-wave mixing in sodium vapour

Phase-conjugated waves (PCW), via degenerate four-wave mixing (DFWM) with picosecond laser pulses having a FWHM of 80 ps have been obtained in sodium vapour on both sides of theD ₂(3² S _1/23² P _3/2) transition at 589 nm. The maximum reflectivity of the PCW signals was 60%. The reflectivity of the PCW has been measured as a function of the temperature, the detuning and the pump and probe intensities. Because of the very strong nonlinear behaviour of theD ₂ transition the appearance of the PCW is accompanied by strong self-focusing and defocusing of the beams, which give a rather complicated line-shape of the detuning curve of the PCW. By varying the delay between the beams, the lifetime of the transient volume grating has been, measured to be 7.4 ns. The results are in qualitative agreement with the theoretical model of Abrams and Lind.     

Anisotropic fiber with cylindrical polar axes

The newly proposed anisotropic fiber structures with cylindrical polar principal axes appear to be an interesting novel class of special lightguides. In this paper, some interesting results relating to such fibers are derived which, to the knowledge of this author, have not yet been reported in the literature. It is found that, ifn _c0 ( )^1/2>n _zc0( _r )^1/2, TE₀₁ will be the fundament mode with a range of single-mode operation given by 2.61n _zc0 (2 _r )^1/2 /a<2.61n _c0(2 )^1/2. On the other hand, ifn _zc0 ( _r )^1/2>n _c0( )^1/2, then TM₀₁ becomes the fundamental mode whose single-mode operation range is 2.61n _c0 (2 )^1/2 /a<2.61n _zc0(2 _r )^1/2.     

Experimental study of laser induced decomposition based processing of a brittle plastic,CR-39 (allyl diglycol carbonate)

A cw CO₂ laser, coupled with an astigmatism free beam focussing mirrors arrangement is used for processing a brittle plastic, CR-39 without producing cracks, vents or chips. The processing is based on the formation of volatile products of laser-induced decomposition in the plastic. Threshold fluence for the decomposition (found to be independent of the power density and beam residence time) in CR-39 at=10.6m is determined to be 25 J cm^–2 and the decomposition threshold power density for cw irradiation 2.1±0.5 W cm^–2. The depth and width of the tapered laser processed region are observed to increase with power density and beam residence time. The widths attain a steady state value of 1 mm at beam residence time above 65 ms, for a fixed power density (2.5×10⁴ W cm^–2) and sheet thickness (250 m). Taper angle of the edges decreases with increasing power density and/or beam residence time. The heat affected zone (measured in crossed polarisers) around the processed region is found to extend with increasing beam residence time but remains unaffected on changing power density. The results are discussed in terms of the optical and thermophysical properties of CR-39 and the parameters of the interacting laser beam.     

Experimental study of cw carbon monoxide flame chemical laser of the CS2/O2/CO2 type

The performance of a continuous-wave (cw) CO flame chemical laser (FCL) of the CS₂/O₂/CO₂ type is presented. The laser gives up to 0.7 W cw output power on a number ofP _v (J) lines corresponding to 1110, ..., 76 vibrational bands of CO molecule. The measured values of chemical efficiency based on the reaction O+CSCO^*(v)+S and the specific power are 0.1% and 0.7J/g, respectively. The spectral composition of the CO FCL of the CS₂/O₂/CO₂ type shows lasing in the region from 5.194 to 5.573 m. All experimental measurements are conducted with a nondispersive optical cavity.     

Dynamic absorption effects in KrF* amplifiers

The results of transient loss measurements performed in a self-sustained discharge KrF^* amplifier are reported. Analysis of these results gives a minimum value of 20 for the effective gain to loss ratiog ₀/_eff, indicating that efficient extraction of energy in subpicosecond KrF^* amplifiers in the 1 J range should be achievable.     

Standard and phase-matched grazing-incidence and distributed-feedback FIR gas lasers

In this paper we review theoretical and experimental studies on optically pumped 496 m CH₃F DFB lasers of different configurations, including grazing-incidence arrangement and phase matching by a gap in the periodic structure. These configurations combine the simple tuning mechanism of grazing-incidence systems with the high frequency selectivity of DFB. Our theoretical considerations based on coupled-wave theory are concerned with the dispersion relations and resonance conditions of standard and phase-matched DFB and grazing-incidence gas lasers. We have succeeded in calculating the relevant TM coupling coefficients for lasers with rectangular periodic waveguides. For laser cavities with various continuous gratings we have measured the resonant heights and tuning angles of the laser oscillations of first- and second-order DFB. We have found good agreement with theoretical resonance conditions. In order to improve the mode selectivity and to attain single longitudinal mode operation, which is a requirement for semiconductor lasers in many applications, we have introduced variable gaps in the center of the gratings. These provide phase matching and gap modes. We have compared the measured gap modes with our theory and found agreement in specific cases, where the phase-matched cavity implies single-mode laser operation. Our results on standard and phase-matched DFB cavities promise an improvement of the performance of phase-matched semiconductor lasers with respect to small bandwidth and optimized output power.     

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.     

Development of an optical time scale

A time standard based on the use of an optical oscillation period of a frequencystable He–Ne laser as a time scale is first described. We obtained highly frequency-stable oscillations in the SHF range that were locked to the oscillations of a He–Ne laser stabilized to an absorption resonance in methane at 3.39 m. A direct comparison of frequency stabilities of a rubidium standard and He–Ne/CH₄ laser has been made. The absolute measurement of the frequency of the He–Ne/CH₄ laser we performed gave a new value of frequency.This work was reported at the 3rd Frequency Standards and Metrology Symposium     

Scaling and performance of CO2 lasers at supra-atmospheric pressure

The performance of a compact uv photo-preionized TE laser is studied in the pressure range 1–5 bar. As the pressure is increased, the laser pulse shape is little altered, but both the peak power and the total output pulse energy increase significantly with pressure, even for constant input electrical energy. For various gas mixtures and excitation source capacitors the measurements suggest approximate output energy scaling with the product of the source charge per unit electrode area [C.m^–2] and the molecular partial pressure [CO₂+N₂+CO]. This is explained in terms of the pressure-dependent discharge impedance. An input-energy-related discharge instability limits the optimum laser pressure to 1.5–2.5 bar, and we show that, at constant input energy, the instability boundary depends on the molecular partial pressure alone. The pre-ionization photo-electron yield varies negligibly with pressure, but the discharge tolerance to added oxygen decreases asp ^–3 top ^–4, dependent on gas mixture. Nevertheless sealed operation for >10⁵ shots has been obtained with a 5% CO₂5% CO3% N₂2% H₂85% He gas mixture at a total pressure of 5 bar.     

Resonant generation of even-order harmonics in metal vapors

Generation of the second- and fourth-order harmonics of laser radiation is reported in Mg vapor at the forbidden 3s ²¹ S _o–4s ¹ S _o transition. The conversion efficiency for the second-order harmonics has been measured to be 10^–2% and for the fourth one 10^–8%.     

The absorption of pulsed CO2-laser radiation by ethylene at total pressures from 25 to 3000 Torr

The absorption of pulsed CO₂-laser radiation by ethylene has been measured at total pressures from 25 to 3000 Torr, using the P(12) and P(14) lines in the 10.6 m band, with incident fluences from 0.1 to 0.7 J/cm². Marked deviations from the Beer-Lambert absorption law were observed, with the effective absorption coefficient varying with pressure, fluence, absorption path-length and the addition of non-absorbing gas. Pressure broadening of the rotational lines of the ethylene absorption spectrum was shown to be the major cause of these deviations, together with lesser effects which can be attributed to the rise in temperature of the absorbing gas during the laser pulse.     

Computer controlled diode laser spectrometer with a helium evaporation cryostat and spectroscopy of thev 3 vibration of NCO

A computer-controlled diode laser spectrometer for the 1200 to 2500 cm^–1 spectral region is described. The spectrometer has been applied to high resolution spectroscopy of the NCO radical at 5.2 m. The lead-salt diode lasers are cooled to their operating temperature with a temperature adjustable helium evaporation cryostat. Computer-controlled tuning procedures for the frequency tuning of the diode lasers have been developed; they are independent of tables describing the tuning characteristics of the diode lasers. 41 lines of the antisymmetric stretching-vibrationv ₃ of the linear NCO radical have been observed. We were able to detect vibration-rotation transitions in both² _1/2 and² _3/2 fine structure sublevels. These measurements led to the precise determination of additional molecular constants.     

Space-time resolved reflectivity measurements of picosecond laser-pulse induced phase transitions in (111) silicon surface layers

The changes in reflectivity of a silicon surface, irradiated by a green picosecond pulse, are probed during and following that pulse with a spatial resolution of 10 m. The data indicate the development of a liquid phase, and a resolidification either into a single crystal or an amorphous phase. The latter has a characteristic ring-type pattern, and occurs only at locations where the incident picosecond laser fluence lies between 0.2 and 0.26 J/cm². The reflectivity data appear to be in good quantitative agreement with a simple heating model, in which the electrons and phonons maintain a local thermodynamic equilibrium on a picosecond time scale.On leave from Philips Research Laboratories, D-2000 Hamburg 54, F. R. Germany     

Investigation of enhanced HgBr(B 2Σ+−X 2Σ+) laser emission due to collisions of Xe ions and HgBr2

Electronic excitation of Hg and the HgBr radical has been observed during collisions of HgBr₂ with Xe⁺ ions at different laboratory kinetic energies. Emission cross-sections of the most intense band of the HgBr(B ²⁺, v=0–X ²⁺, v=22) transition at 502 nm have been measured at different energies of the projectile ions.     

Raman and parametric emission from excited states induced by collisions

A collisional energy transfer in the wings of Na 3p and between Na₂ A ¹ _u ⁺ and na 3p states has been used to excite a number of stimulated emissions in the near-ir region of 800–850 nm. The detailed study reveals Raman and parametric emission involving 3p, 3d, 4p, and 4d levels of Na. Two tunable dye lasers in the visible provide the pump waves.