Yb-Bi pulsed fiber lasers

A new type of pulsed fiber laser is suggested and developed - Yb-Bi lasers. In such lasers the Yb fiber laser is Q-switched by use of a saturable absorber, a Bi-doped fiber placed in its own resonator, and pulsed lasing is obtained in both fiber lasers. Continous-wave diode-clad pumping of the Yb-Bi lasers at a 975 nm wavelength with power up to 16.5 W results in pulsed laser action in a spectral diapason of 1050-1200 nm with a maximum pulse energy of up to 100 microJ, an average power up to 7.5 W, and a repetition rate up to 100 kHz.     

High-pressure pulsed CO2 lasers

This paper presents a large body of data allowing one to determine the energy, time, and spectral characteristics of high-pressure pulsed CO₂ lasers over wide ranges of parameters. Institute of High-Current Electronics, Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 19–28, April, 2000.     

Acousto-optic lens for pulsed lasers

Theoretical predictions of the acousto-optic interaction under Raman-Nath conditions of ultrasound and laser light with a beam width w comparable to or smaller than the ultrasonic wavelength lambda are experimentally investigated, and good agreement between experiment and prediction is found. The experimental setup consists of a pulsed laser, emitting pulses that are synchronized with the sound frequency by means of a controllable delay time. When w approximately lambda, strong focusing is obtained for most delay times. The lensing properties of this configuration are carefully investigated.     

A pulsed ion-ion recombination laser

A new mechanism of pulsed laser oscillation based on ion-ion recombination is proposed. The advantages of utilizing this mechanism in a pulsed mode are considered, and the expected characteristics of the proposed lasers are estimated.     

Helium-like recombination pumped soft x-ray lasers

Experimental studies on recombination pumped soft x-ray lasers with helium-like ions are presented. The four-beam multi-TW neodymium-doped phosphate glass laser system at the Institute for Solid State Physics of the University of Tokyo was used in this work. From simultaneous time- and space-resolved spectra of the resonance lines of helium-like aluminium ions, population inversions between the n=3 and 2 levels were observed. Details on the first observation of amplification in a recombination-pumped helium-like soft x-ray laser, exhibiting a time-resolved small-signal gain of 3.3±0.5 cm^-1 for the 3 ¹D-2 ¹P transition of helium-like nitrogen, are also given.     

The theory of recombination X-ray lasers

Theoretical models and main numerical results concerning the pumping of H- and He-like ions in an expanding plasma are presented. The following types of short-wavelength schemes are considered: recombination in a freely expanding plasma fiber; recombination connected with photoionization of the ionic ground state by external radiation; photo-pumping of ionic levels by a Planck spectrum with a cut-off long-wave wing; and some modifications of the above schemes.     

Spectral purity of pulsed dye lasers

High-spectral purity of pulsed dye lasers is required by many experiments. Unfortunately, the dye laser output is usually accompanied by a spectrally broadband background of spontaneous emission (ASE). We have carried out detailed studies of the ASE background using a dye laser operating with an oscillator, pre- and main amplifier.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Herbert Welling on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

High-power high-pressure pulsed CO2 lasers

The results of investigations and development of high-pressureCO ₂ lasers are considered. It is shown that the high-pressure active medium allows radiation pulses to be formed with smooth tuning of frequency and duration over wide ranges. Data on small-size wide-apertureCO ₂ lasers with an output pulse energy up to 5 kJ are presented. Institute of High-Current Electronics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 8, pp. 74–77, August, 1999.     

Strongly coupled intracavity frequency-doubled pulsed lasers

Simple expressions for the peak power, pulse energy, and pulse length of strongly coupled intracavity frequency-doubled lasers are presented. For nonlinear coupling values that correspond to many common systems, these expressions agree well with the results of numerical integration of the rate equations. In contrast with weak nonlinear or linear coupling, pulsed lasers with strong nonlinear coupling only deplete the population inversion down to the threshold level.     

Improved absorption spectroscopy with pulsed lasers

A simple formalism is given to allow for intensity correction and background suppression in absorption spectroscopy with pulsed lasers. By experimental examples the online application with a microcomputer is demonstrated, and the computer is also used for analyzing the correlation between signal and reference channels. The optimization of the correlation and the intensity correction yields a gain of a factor of about 30 in the signal-tonoise ratio of the recorded spectra compared to conventional absorption experiments. Spectral lines were observed, which would not be detectable by fluorescence technique.     

Transient behaviour of pulsed dye lasers

Some aspects of the transient behaviour of pulsed dye lasers are investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Relaxation oscillations induced in the output from a dye cell by an external reflector have been observed and explained, using a rate equation approximation to the physical situation in the dye cell. These oscillations are shown to play an important part in the generation of short laser pulses from long cavity dye lasers. Finally, it is proposed that 10 ps pulses can be obtained from conventional dye lasers pumped by 100 ps pulses from a high-pressure nitrogen laser.     

High density plasmas for recombination X-ray lasers

The scaling of recombination XUV lasers to shorter wavelengths requires laser plasmas produced at initial electron densities close to solid. With pump laser pulses longer than a few tens of picoseconds the hydrodynamic motion of the plasma during the interaction makes this difficult to achieve. In contrast, when picosecond laser pulses are used the laser energy is absorbed close to solid density since the plasma expansion is insignificant during the laser pulse. This results in hot near solid density plasmas which are needed for hydrogenic recombination X-ray lasers operating in the water window. Experimental observations have shown that a fully ionized aluminium plasma with a temperature of about 400 eV and a density well above 10²³ cm^–3 is produced when an aluminium target is irradiated with a single 3.5 ps high power KrF laser pulse.     

Threshold conditions for pulsed gamma ray lasers

We examine the threshold conditions for both lasing and superradiance in a pulsed γ-ray laser. We find that both threshold conditions are much more restrictive than the Schalow-Townes condition for lasing in a steady-state laser.     

Accurate spectroscopic wavelength determination of pulsed lasers

We present a simple, easy, and straightforward spectroscopic approach for the determination of the wavelength of pulsed laser systems with an accuracy of ≤0.006 cm^-1 (180 MHz). This is better than currently realised by the best commercially available wavemeters for pulsed laser systems. As an example, the temperature dependence of the emitted wavelength of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser has been studied in detail. Our measurements indicate that the passively Q-switched monolithic nonplanar ring-oscillator Nd:YAG laser with a free spectral range of the resonator of about 5.8 GHz can be tuned without mode hops over a range of 3.8 GHz. The concept is generally applicable to any other wavelength regions of interest. Received: 9 April 2001 / Revised version: 9 July 2001 / Published online: 19 September 2001     

非链式脉冲DF激光器的关键技术(英文)

基于化学反应的非链式脉冲DF激光器是产生3.5～4.1μm波段的有效相干辐射光源,具有存储能量水平高等优点。这些优点使得该激光器倍受中红外领域激光研究者的重视。为了更好地提高非链式脉冲DF激光器的输出性能,研制高能量水平的DF激光器,本文详细介绍了自引发大体积放电技术、混合气体配比技术、循环冷却技术等DF激光器关键技术,重点介绍了自引发大体积放电技术。这几种技术将为研制高性能DF激光器提供理论指导。     

非链式脉冲DF激光器的关键技术（英文）

基于化学反应的非链式脉冲DF激光器是产生3.5～4.1μm波段的有效相干辐射光源,具有存储能量水平高等优点。这些优点使得该激光器倍受中红外领域激光研究者的重视。为了更好地提高非链式脉冲DF激光器的输出性能,研制高能量水平的DF激光器,本文详细介绍了自引发大体积放电技术、混合气体配比技术、循环冷却技术等DF激光器关键技术,重点介绍了自引发大体积放电技术。这几种技术将为研制高性能DF激光器提供理论指导。