Intrapulse thermally induced wavelength shift in a distributed feedback dye laser

It is shown that when a distributed feedback dye laser is used to generate a train of picosecond pulses, the narrow lines observed in the spectrum are not longitudinal modes, but are due to the intrapulse refractive index changes caused by the heating effect of the pumping pulse.     

Elimination of cracking during UV laser ablation of SrTiO3 single crystals by employing a femtosecond laser

We have performed a comparative study of UV laser ablation of SrTiO₃ with nanosecond- and sub-picosecond sources, respectively. The experiments were performed with lasers at a wavelength of 248 nm and pulse durations of 34 ns and 500 fs. Femtosecond ablation turns out to be more efficient by one order of magnitude and eliminated the known problem of cracking of SrTiO₃ during laser machining with longer pulses. In addition, the cavities ablated with femtosecond pulses display a smoother surface with no indication of melting and well-defined, sharp edges. These effects can be explained by the reduced thermal shock effect on the material by using ultrashort pulses.     

Powerful laser systems with phase conjugation by SMBS mirror

The method of Stimulated Mandelshtam-Brillouin Scattering (SMBS) is utilized in a powerful laser to obtain better transverse beam quality by phase conjugation. The principle is explained, and the conclusions are substantiated by experimental results.     

Bistability and passive Q-switching of a CO2 laser with saturable absorber

The coexistence of bistability and repetitive passive Q-switching of a CO₂ laser with a gaseous saturable absorber has been investigated experimentally. With CH₃F as the saturable absorber bistability has been observed simultaneously with passive Q-switching, whereas with CH₃OH either one of these phenomena can only exist, as demonstrated for the first time. The measured features of both systems can be explained qualitatively by rate-equation theory.     

Undamped undulation superposed on the passive Q-switching pulse of a CO2 laser

An undamped undulation superposed on the pulse tail of the passive Q-switching is observed using HCOOH gas as a saturable absorber. The pulse shapes with the undulation are nicely reproduced through the rate-equation analysis in which the laser gain medium is described as a three-level system. Good agreements between the observation and the calculation are also obtained in the dependence of the period and the width of passive Q-switching pulse on laser parameters. The mechanism of the undulation is interpreted as the relaxation oscillation attributed to the relaxation from the lower laser level. The collisional rate constant of HCOOH molecule is also obtained.     

High-efficiency multicolour Q-switched Nd3+:KGd(WO4)2 laser

Energy output of 400 mJ, an order of magnitude higher than reported previously is obtained in aQ-switched flashlamp-pumped Nd³⁺:KGd(WO₄)₂ laser. No pronounced saturation of the output energy with respect to the pump energy is observed. Multiwavelength operation due to efficient Stokes conversion in the laser crystal is demonstrated.     

Nonlinear behaviour of atomic fluorescence in mercury vapours following double-resonance laser excitation

When mercury atoms, present with a buffer gas (N₂ or Ar) in a quartz cell or in a graphite furnace are excited into the 7³ S ₁ level by means of two pulsed dye lasers tuned at 253.652 nm (6¹ S _o 6³ P ₁) and 435.835 nm (6³ P ₁ 7³ S ₁), a laser-like, collimated emission is observed along the axis of the cell at the green mercury line (7³ S ₁ 6³ P ₂), 546.074 nm). This radiation exhibits a pronounced non-linear dependence upon the number density of the mercury atoms in the cell. This behaviour is interpreted as being due to amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), which occurs as a result of the transient population inversion between the 7s ³ S ₁ and 6p ³ P ₂ ^o levels. The parameters governing the population inversion can be deduced by applying a rate equation analysis to the atomic system. A time-resolved observation of both ASE and spontaneous fluorescence signals confirms the totally different characteristics of the two emission processes.     

A broadly tunable IR waveguide Raman laser pumped by a dye laser

Design and performance characteristics of a tunable ir waveguide Raman laser pumped by a high power dye laser are described. Using SRS up to third Stokes order in compressed H₂, the wavelength range from 0.7 to 7 μm has been covered without gaps. Taking advantage of a waveguide structure in the scattering chamber, energy conversion efficiencies better than 1% with power levels in excess of 80 kW for the third Stokes component have been achieved. The experimental results support the theoretical predictions that a 4-wave parametric process is responsible for the production of the third Stokes component.     

Tunable frequency-controlled laser source in the near ultraviolet based on doubling of a semiconductor diode laser

Continuously tunable ultraviolet laser radiation at 397 nm was generated by doubling the output of a semiconductor diode laser. The fundamental radiation was provided by a 150 mW AlGaAs laser diode injected by a low-power AlGaAs laser diode which was frequency stabilized by optical feedback using a new scheme of a miniature external cavity. Second-harmonic generation was produced in a lithium-triborate crystal placed in a compact enhancement cavity. The fundamental radiation was used for sub-Doppler spectroscopy of the Ar I 4s ³ P ⁰ ₀–4p ¹ P ₁ transition at 795 nm; the second-harmonic radiation was used for spectroscopy of the Ca II 4² S _1/2–4² P _1/2 transition at 397 nm.     

Ultrafast all-solid-state laser technology

Passively mode-locked diode-pumped solid-state lasers can provide practical high-power laser sources with pico- and femtosecond pulse durations. We use semiconductors not only to optically pump but also to cw mode-lock or Q-switch a solid-state laser. A novel saturable absorber design, the Antiresonant Fabry-Perot Saturable Absorber (A-FPSA), allows of using semiconductor saturable-absorber materials even though they are generally not well-matched to the characteristics required for diode-pumped solid-state lasers, i.e., the semiconductors tend to have too much optical loss, a too low saturation intensity, and a too low damage threshold. This paper gives an overview of passively mode-locked ion-doped crystalline solid-state lasers. In particular, we present a quantitative discussion of A-FPSA mode locking, and compare A-FPSA mode locking with other passive mode locking techniques such as KLM (Kerr Lens Mode locking).     

N2 laser frequency conversion by stimulated Raman scattering in H2

High-efficiency frequency conversion in H₂ of a nitrogen laser oscillator-amplifier system is described. The laser system provides about 1 MW output power with a very low intrinsic divergence. Up to 3 Stokes lines at 392, 468, and 581 nm and 3 Anti-Stokes at 296, 263, and 237 nm, respectively, have been observed at the output of the 60 cm long H₂ Raman cell. Peak power values of 500, 300, and 70 kW have been measured for the first 3 Stokes, respectively, corresponding to a 56% pump energy conversion efficiency.A comparison between free and guided propagation (in a hollow dielectric waveguide) is also reported, for various values of the pump intrinsic divergence.     

Temporal analysis of a mode-locked Nd-glass laser by four-wave mixing

The duration, shape, and background intensity level of pulses of a passively modelocked Nd-glass laser are determined by noncollinear phase-matched four-photon frequency mixing of time-separated fundamental and second-harmonic pulses in a KI crystal. The pulse shape is found to be slightly asymmetric with slower trailing than rising parts. The background intensity level before and behind the main pulse is about 5¢10^–6 the peak pulse intensity.     

Raman-shifted laser sources suitable for differential–absorption lidar measurements of ozone in the troposphere

Received: 21 January 1997/Revised version: 20 May 1997     

New far-infrared laser lines from CH3Cl and CH3Br optically pumped with a continuously tunable high pressure CO2 laser

In this paper we report on the detection of new far-infrared laser lines from CH₃Cl and CH₃Br optically pumped with a continuously tunable high pressure CO₂ laser. We found 80 new lines for CH₃Cl and 9 new lines for CH₃Br in the frequency region between 16 cm^–1 and 41 cm^–1, all due to stimulated Raman scattering. For the Raman gain regions bandwidths up to about 700 MHz were found. We also observed high intensity short far-infrared laser pulses of durations in the nanosecond regime.Permanent address: Physics Department, State Pedagogical University, SU-119435 Moscow, USSR     

Spontaneous transverse pattern formation in a microchip laser excited by a doughnut pump profile

A transition from a pure Laguerre–Gaussian (LG) mode to a pattern of optical vortex lattices in a large-Fresnel-number microchip laser is experimentally demonstrated by controlling the cavity Q-factor. The cooperative frequency locking of nearly degenerate modes is found to be a primary process for the generation of the optical vortex lattices in a class-B laser. When the cavity Q-factor is high enough, a LG-like mode and a structure of optical vortex lattices are found to coexist. Competition between coexisting transverse patterns of different symmetry gives rise to chaotic fluctuations. Received: 20 March 2002 / Revised version: 20 May 2002 / Published online: 25 October 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +886-35/729134, E-mail: yfchen@cc.nctu.edu.tw     

Simplified technique for subnanosecond pulse generation and injection mode-locking of a XeCl laser

A line narrowed XeCl oscillator/amplifier has been used to generate pulses of 100 ps duration by a combination of stimulated Brillouin scattering and optical breakdown. In addition, a Brillouin mirror has been used to control the amplified spontaneous emission in an injection mode-locked XeCl oscillator.     

Characteristics of a hybridly mode-locked cw dye laser

We present experimental and theoretical results on the characteristics and random variations of subpicosecond pulses generated by a synchronously pumped cw dye laser with saturable absorber. The analysis of the power spectra indicates rapid fluctuations of the pulse duration of 40–50%, energy fluctuations of 3%, and a jitter of the repetition time of 0.1% corresponding to an absolute jitter of 12 ps. The latter is caused mainly by the temporal jitter of the pump laser. A mismatch of the lengths of the dye and the pump-laser cavity can result in a nonstationary mode-locking regime with a periodic change of the pulse parameters. The interpretation of the experimental results are supported by computer simulations of the pulse evolution process.     

Low threshold, actively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 self-Raman laser and frequency doubled 588 nm yellow laser

We reported an actively Q-switched, intracavity Nd³⁺:YVO₄ self-Raman laser at 1176 nm with low threshold and high efficiency. From the extracavity frequency doubling by use of LBO nonlinear crystal, over 3.5 mW, 588 nm yellow laser is achieved. The maximum Raman laser output at is 182 mW with 1.8 W incident pump power. The threshold is only 370 mW at a pulse repetition frequency of 5 kHz. The optical conversion efficiency from incident to the Raman laser is 10%, and 1.9% from Raman laser to the yellow.     

Competitive processes in T1 anti-stokes raman laser system

The limiting processes in the anti-Stokes Raman Laser (ASRL) are investigated in a Tl ASRL system. The detailed mechanisms and dynamics of ASRL action, photoionization, stimulated collision-induced fluorescence, collisional quenching and other radiative processes are determined, showing the competition among these processes for different experimental parameters.     

A simple and reliable short-pulse dye laser

A simple technique is described that allows the generation of a short pulses (1 ns) from dye lasers pumped by a much longer (7 ns) N₂-laser pulse. Dye-laser pulses, either with a narrow bandwidth or a short duration, can thus be obtained with the same N₂-laser pump.