Spectrum shape compression and pedestal elimination employing a Sagnac loop

We report on the experimental demonstration of a spectrum shaping filter, which is formed by inserting a fiber polarization controller (PC) in to a Sagnac loop. Pedestal free and narrow spectrum with line width at 1.4-1.7 nm is obtained, which is advantageous for further power amplification and effective frequency doubling.     

Compact tunable mid-infrared laser source by difference frequency generation of two diode-lasers

Two continuous-wave single mode diode-lasers (Hitachi HL 7851G and Toshiba TOLD 9150) are applied as signal and pump sources for difference frequency generation (DFG) in an AgGaS2 crystal with a length of 30 mm. For 90° type I phase matching tunable mid-infrared laser radiation around 5 µm is obtained with an output power of up toP _DFG = 0.2 µW while the diode lasers are operated with powers of 30 and 50 mW at the center wavelengths 682 and 791 nm, respectively. The performance of the diode-laser-DFG system is shown as the absorption spectrum of CO for the P(28) rotational line around 2023 cm^–1 is probed in a 10cm long cell and in the exhaust of an engine.This research was supported by the Technologiestiftung Schleswig-Holstein under contract 94-35i.     

Waveguide CO2 lasers on sequence-band transitions

Two waveguide CO₂ lasers, a quartz waveguide and an alumina waveguide, have been studied on the 00°2–[10°l,02°1]_I,II sequence bands. The use of an intra-cavity hot CO₂ cell, which is a part of the waveguide, suppresses the regular-band transitions. The quartz waveguide laser has a total of 58 lines lasing on both the 9.4 µm and 10.4 µ,m sequence bands. The alumina waveguide laser has 36 lines lasing on the 10.4 µm sequence band and twice the output power of the quartz waveguide laser, whereas lasing on the 9.4 µm sequence band is difficult. The lasers can be operated on the selected single line without line jumping problem. The frequency tuning range of the strong lines is limited by the free spectral range of the cavity.     

Generation of 840 mW of red light by frequency doubling a diode-pumped 1342 nm Nd:YVO4 laser with periodically-poled LiTaO3

We report an efficient generation of red light in a periodically-poled LiTaO₃ (PPLT) crystal by extracavity single-pass frequency doubling of a diode-pumped, Q-switched Nd:YVO₄ laser at 1342 nm. The sample used in the experiment is 20 mm in length and 14.77 μm in period. An average power of 840 mW of the 671 nm red light is obtained with a 808 nm pump of 12.3 W, the overall optical-to-optical efficiency being 6.8%. The measured effective nonlinear coefficient of the sample is ∼3.8 pm/V. The high conversion efficiency and output power demonstrate that the periodically-poled crystal serving as a frequency conversion device may be used in practice to construct an all-solid-state red laser based on an extracavity single-pass quasi-continuous scheme. Received: 17 September 2001 / Revised version: 23 January 2002 / Published online: 8 May 2002     

Visible femtosecond pulses by second-harmonic generation of a cw mode-locked KTP optical parametric oscillator

Efficient generation of femtosecond pulses in the wavelength range from 520 to 675 nm by external frequency doubling the signal wave of a non-critically phase-matched picosecond KTP Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO) in a non-critically phase-matched temperature tuned LiB₃O₅(LBO) crystal is demonstrated. An average power of the second harmonic as high as 310 mW at 575 nm was generated. In the absence of group velocity mismatch of LBO for a wavelength of the OPO at about 1.3 µm the minimum second-harmonic pulse width was 400 fs at 645 nm.     

Frequency doubling of a fibre-amplified 1083 nm DBR laser

A good frequency standard is required at 1083 nm for measurements on the fine structure of helium and of the fine structure constant. Several milliwatts of CW frequency-doubled light offers the prospect of stabilisation to a Doppler-free hyperfine transition in molecular iodine. The 1083 nm emission of an extended-cavity DBR diode laser has been amplified using an ytterbium-doped fibre amplifier, and applied to a type-I phase matched Mg:LiNbO₃ crystal in a high-Q fundamental-resonant cavity for frequency doubling. The amplifier gain at 1083 nm under typical operating conditions was 13.8 dB, with a coherent output power up to 63 mW, limited by the maximum signal input power. The doubling cavity Q was , and about 70% of the incident power was coupled in. The maximum 2nd-harmonic conversion efficiency exceeded 20% and provided an output power of 3.7 mW for making continuous frequency scans of up to 600 MHz in the green. An optical spectrum analyser at 541.5 nm showed fringes of 4.6 MHz full width half maximum, close to the instrumental width. Received: 25 February 1998 / Revised and Accepted: 28 May 1998     

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.     

Spectroscopic properties of Cr4+-doped LiAlO2

The spectroscopic properties of the new potential laser material Cr⁴⁺:LiAlO₂ are presented. LiAlO₂ exhibits tetrahedrally coordinated lattice sites only. Doping the crystal with chromium only as well as additional codoping with magnesium yields the incorporation of Cr⁴⁺ on the Al site. The Cr⁴⁺ emission extends from 1.1 to 1.7µm. In the case of doping just with chromium, the lifetime is single exponential in the whole temperature range between 12 and 550 K with a room-temperature lifetime of 29µs and a low-temperature lifetime of 95µs, which are the longest lifetimes observed until now for Cr⁴⁺ systems. Codoping with magnesium yields an additional Cr⁴⁺ center, which is clearly observed both in the decay dynamics and in the low-temperature emission spectrum.     

Femtosecond fiber laser based methane optical clock

An optical clock based on an Er³⁺ fiber femtosecond laser and a two-mode He–Ne/CH₄ optical frequency standard (λ=3.39 μm) is realized. Difference-frequency generation is used to down convert the 1.5-μm frequency comb of the Er³⁺ femtosecond laser to the 3.4-μm range. The generated infrared comb overlaps with the He–Ne/CH₄ laser wavelength and does not depend on the carrier–envelope offset frequency of the 1.5-μm comb. In this way a direct phase-coherent connection between the optical frequency of the He–Ne/CH₄ standard and the radio frequency pulse repetition rate of the fiber laser is established. The stability of the optical clock is measured against a commercial hydrogen maser. The measured relative instability is 1×10⁻¹² at 1 s and for averaging times less than 50 s it is determined by the microwave standard, while for longer times a drift of the He–Ne/CH₄ optical standard is dominant.     

Frequency chain towards the Ca intercombination line based on laser diodes: First step

Stable, narrow linewidth operation of red and 1.3 µm free-running laser diodes with external gratings in non-Littrow geometry is demonstrated. The resonance of the saturated fluorescence of an atomic beam with a contrast of 25% and a linewidth of 400 ± 50 kHz of the Ca intercombination line 4¹ S ₀–4³ P ₁ ( = 657 nm) is shown. A high-power (110 mW) single-mode external cavity laser diode at 1.3 µm is used for second-harmonic generation in a KTP crystal. The beat signal (signal to noise ratio about 25 dB) of 10 nW second-harmonic radiation at 1.3 µm and the radiation of a laser diode in the visible spectrum, as a step to realize a frequency chain, is observed.     

Yellow light generation by frequency doubling of a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser

We demonstrate the generation of TEM₀₀ mode yellow light in critically type II phase-matched KTiOPO₄ (KTP) with intracavity frequency doubling of a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser at room temperature. After a 150 μm thick etalon have been inserted into the cavity, the stability and beam quality of the second harmonic generation (SHG) is enhanced. A continuous wave (CW) TEM₀₀ mode output power of 1.67 W at 556 nm is obtained at a pump level of 16 W. The total optical to optical conversion efficiency is about 10.44%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first Watt-level yellow light generation by frequency doubling of Nd:YAG laser.     

Mid-infrared pulse generation using a sub-picosecond OPO

We describe a synchronously pumped LBO parametric oscillator pumped by a cw mode-locked Ti:Sapphire laser. We demonstrate the synchronization between the pump pulses and the signal pulses by measuring a 100 fs cross correlation. We then generate pulses tunable from 2.6 to 5.3 µm by mixing the signal and idler pulses in an AgGaS₂ crystal and obtain as much as 400 µW of average power.     

Second harmonic generation by femtosecond Yb-doped fiber laser source based on PPKTP waveguide fabricated by femtosecond laser direct writing

The frequency doubling of femtosecond pulses from an Yb-doped fiber laser source was demonstrated in a PPKTP waveguide fabricated by femtosecond laser direct writing. The PPKTP waveguide contains a fixed period of 8.9 μm and the feomtosecond fundamental pulses have a central wavelength of 1044 nm. A maximum SHG power of 406 mW was produced, yielding a conversion efficiency of 5.6%. Numerical simulations were carried out to investigate the property of frequency doubling for femtosecond pulses. The results show that the SHG process proceeds even the quasi-phase-matching (QPM) condition is not well satisfied, which is significantly different from that of “long” pulses or CW light and is accorded with the experimental results.     

High power narrow linewidth laser at 556 nm for magneto-optical trapping of ytterbium

We present a high-power and narrow-linewidth laser for intercombination magneto-optical trapping of ytterbium (Yb) atoms using the 6s^{2 1}S₀–6s6p ³P₁ transition. The system generates 415 mW of continuous wave laser radiation at 556 nm with a linewidth of less than 100 kHz. It is based on a commercial 1 W fiber laser with a frequency doubling stage. Up to 58% frequency doubling efficiency is obtained at an input power of 0.5 W by using a lithium triborate crystal as a nonlinear medium. The system has been successfully used for laser cooling of Yb atoms. PACS  42.55.Wd; 42.60.By; 42.79.Nv     

Fluorescence and attenuation properties of Er3+ -doped phosphate-glass fibers and efficient infrared-to-visible up-conversion

Fluorescence spectra of phosphate glasses with different erbium doping have been measured. The flourescence intensity reaches its maximum at an Er³⁺-doping concentration of 0.75 mol%. When the Er³⁺ doping exceeds 0.75 mol%, the fluorescence intensity decreases due to concentration quenching. The attenuation at 1.53 µm of the fiber is 12.8 db/m. The fluorescence up-conversion of 1.064 µm Nd:YAG laser pulses into intense green 547 and 667 nm light in the fiber has been measured. The fluorescence output power of green (547 nm) and red (667 nm) light is 178 and 42 W, respectively with an excitation power of 1 W. The two signals are referred to as⁴ S _3/2 ⁴ I _{1 5/2} and⁴ F _9/2 ⁴ I _{1 5/2} transitions through two-photon absorption fluorescence.     

Soliton self-frequency shift of 6-fs pulses in photonic-crystal fibers

Raman soliton phenomena in photonic crystal fibers are shown to allow efficient tunable frequency shifting of sub-10-fs laser pulses. Soliton self-frequency shift in a photonic-crystal fiber with a core diameter less than 2 μm is used to transform the spectrum of a 6-fs 2-nJ Ti: sapphire-laser pulse, dominated by a 670-nm peak, into a spectrum featuring a well-resolved intense spectral component centered at 1064 nm, which is ideally suited as a seed for Nd: YAG- and ytterbium-based laser devices.     

Frequency doubling of a Raman fiber laser

655 nm laser radiation with power of >60 mW is generated by frequency doubling of a broadband randomly-polarized 1.31-μm phosphosilicate Raman fiber laser (RFL). The red power appears to grow linearly with increasing RFL power up to 7 W at efficiency comparable with that for single-frequency lasers. It has been shown that multiple sum-frequency mixing processes involving different RFL modes provide the main contribution to the output, which is enhanced by 2 times due to the modes stochasticity.     

Torsion sensing with a fiber ring laser incorporating a pair of rotary long-period fiber gratings

We experimentally demonstrate a fiber ring laser for high-resolution torsion measurement, where the laser cavity consists of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer formed with a pair of long-period fiber gratings written in a twisted single-mode fiber by a CO₂ laser. The emitting wavelength of the laser provides a measure of the rate of the torsion applied to the grating pair, while the direction of the wavelength shift indicates the sense of the applied torsion. The narrow linewidth and the large side-mode suppression ratio of the laser can provide a much more precise measurement of torsion, compared with passive fiber-optic torsion sensors. The torsion sensitivity achieved is 0.084 nm/(rad/m) in the torsion range ± 100 rad/m, which corresponds to a torsion resolution of 0.12 rad/m, assuming a wavelength resolution of 10 pm for a typical optical spectrum analyzer. The ultimate resolution of the sensor is limited by the linewidth of the laser and could be an order of magnitude higher.     

Fiber laser annealing of nanocrystalline PZT thick film prepared by aerosol deposition

Nanocrystalline PZT thick films (1 mm square and over 10 μm thick) directly deposited onto stainless-steel substrates (PZT/SUS) by aerosol deposition (AD) technique and then annealed using focused laser beam with a fiber laser to suppress thermal damage to the back sides of the PZT/SUS and substrate near the film edge and to retain the dielectric and/or ferroelectric properties of the PZT/SUS. Compared with CO₂ laser annealing, fiber laser annealing suppressed thermal damage to the substrate. Compared with PZT/SUS annealed at 600 °C using an electric furnace, PZT/SUS annealed at 600 °C using a fiber laser showed superior properties, namely, dielectric constant ? > 1200 at a frequency of 100 Hz, remanent polarization P_r > 30 μC/cm², and coercive field strength E_c < 50 kV/cm at a frequency of 10 Hz. Furthermore, the grain growth for the PZT/SUS formed by AD technique and annealed by fiber laser irradiation was occurred within the laser spot size.     

High-accuracy coherent optical frequency transfer over a doubled 642-km fiber link

To significantly improve the frequency references used in radio-astronomy and the precision measurements in atomic physics, we provide frequency dissemination through a 642-km coherent optical fiber link. On the frequency transfer, we obtained a frequency instability of \(3\times 10^{-19}\) at 1,000 s in terms of Allan deviation on a 5-mHz measurement bandwidth, and an accuracy of \(5\times 10^{-19}\) . The ultimate link performance has been evaluated by doubling the link to 1,284 km, demonstrating a new characterization technique based on the double round trip on a single fiber. This method is an alternative to previously demonstrated techniques for link characterization. In particular, the use of a single fiber may be beneficial to long hauls realizations in view of a continental fiber network for frequency and time metrology, as it avoids the doubling of the amplifiers, with a subsequent reduction in costs and maintenance. A detailed analysis of the results is presented, regarding the phase noise, the cycle-slips detection and removal and the instability evaluation. The observed noise power spectrum is seldom found in the literature; hence, the expression of the Allan deviation is theoretically derived and the results confirm the expectations.