High brightness harmonic generation at 13 nm using self-guided and chirped femtosecond laser pulses

We have optimized the brightness of high-order harmonics from a long neon gas jet using self-guided and chirped laser pulses. The self-guided and chirped laser pulses effectively reduced the ionization effects in space and time, producing bright high-order harmonics with narrow bandwidth. The brightness of the 61st harmonic was about 10¹⁵ W/cm²/srad with a bandwidth of 0.7 Å. PACS 42.65.Ky; 42.65.Wi; 32.80.-t; 52.38.-r     

Fe:ZnSe laser pumped by a 2.93-μm Cr,Er:YAG laser

We demonstrated an Fe:ZnSe laser pumped by a 2.93-μm Cr, Er:YAG laser at liquid nitrogen and room temperature in single-shot free-running operation for the first time. The xenon flash lamp pumped Cr, Er:YAG laser had a maximum single pulse energy of 1.414 J, and the threshold and slope efficiency were 141.70 J and 0.70% which were respectively reduced by 29.3% and increased by 52.2% compared with the Er:YAG laser. At liquid nitrogen temperature of 77 K, the maximum single pulse energy of the Fe:ZnSe laser was 197.6 m J, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 13.4%. The central wavelength and full width at half maximum(FWHM) linewidth were 4037.4 nm and 122.0 nm, respectively. At room temperature, the laser generated a maximum single pulse energy of 3.5 mJ at the central wavelength of 4509.6 nm with an FWHM linewidth of 171.5 nm.     

Low-cost low-threshold diode end-pumped Tm:YAG laser at 2.016?μm

We report a low-threshold continuous-wave Tm:YAG laser that can be excited near 785?nm with low-cost, single-mode AlGaAs laser diodes. Low-threshold operation was achieved using a tightly focused, astigmatically compensated x-cavity containing a 2-mm-thick Tm:YAG crystal with 5?% Tm³⁺ concentration. Two linearly polarized single-mode diodes operating at 785.8?nm were polarization coupled to end pump the resonator. With a 6?% output coupler, as high as 32?mW of output power could be obtained at 2016?nm with 184?mW of incident pump power. The output could be further tuned in the 1935?C2035?nm range. Slope efficiency measurements indicated that cross-relaxation was very effective at this doping level. With a 2?% output coupler, lasing could be obtained with as low as 32.3?mW of pump power. In the limit of vanishing output coupling, the incident threshold pump power could be reduced to as low as 25?mW. To our knowledge, this is among the lowest lasing thresholds reported to date for continuous-wave, room-temperature thulium lasers.     

Blue light generation in photonic crystal fibers with 1-μm femtosecond laser pulses

Using 300-fs 1039-nm Yb-doped fiber laser, we experimentally demonstrate blue light generation in a high-△ and high nonlinear photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The zero dispersion wavelength of PCF is 793 nm, detuning 245.8 nm from the pump wavelength. PCF allows a frequency conversion exceeding the octave of pump wavelength. The visible component of the measured output spectrum occurs in the fundamental mode and spans from 391.3 to 492.3 nm. The peak wavelength of 441.8 nm has a frequency detuning of 390 THz from the pump wavelength of 1039 nm.     

Circularly polarized sub-1.5 cycle laser pulses at 1.8 μm

The generation of intense carrier-envelope-phase-stabilized sub-1.5 cycle circularly polarized pulses at 1.8 μm is reported. After changing the polarization of the pulses produced by an optical parameter amplifier to circular, selected nonlinear medium parameters are found to be able to expand the spectrum to supercontinuum (1,300–2,100 nm) with a extremely high transmittance (>65 %). Using such laser pulses, polarization control of terahertz emission is demonstrated.     

Raman continuum generation at 1.0–1.3 μm in passively mode-locked fiber laser based on nonlinear polarization rotation

We experimentally demonstrate cascaded Raman scattering continuum generation at 1.0–1.3 μm with pulse energy of 47 nJ by utilizing a commercially available all-normal-dispersion single-mode fiber (SMF) with a low threshold pump power. We achieve passively mode-locked all-fiber lasing by nonlinear polarization rotation technique. Continuous Raman gain is obtained by the same SMF in every roundtrip because of the ring-cavity configuration, which makes it possible to achieve high-order Raman Stokes waves by a short fiber length. Limited by the pump power, the maximum output average power and peak power are 87.4 and 339 mW, but it has great potential to be improved. These make it an ideal continuum source for many applications, such as optical coherence tomography.     

Light scattering and 2-μm laser performance of Tm:YAG ceramic

The scattering effect of Tm:YAG ceramic has been investigated and the scattering coefficient at 1064 nm wavelength is measured to be 0.014 cm⁻¹. Furthermore, a high power Tm:YAG ceramic laser with a slope efficiency of 10.7% has been built, which is end-pumped at a central wavelength of 805 nm. The 2-μm maximum output power is 7.1 W with an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 7.2%.     

Line strength and collisional broadening studies of hydrogen sulphide in the 1.58 μm region using diode laser spectroscopy

High resolution diode laser spectroscopy has been applied to the detection of hydrogen sulphide at ppm levels utilizing different transitions within the region of the ν ₁+ν ₂+ν ₃ and 2ν ₁+ν ₂ combination bands around 1.58 μm. Suitable lines in this spectral region have been identified, and absolute absorption cross sections have been determined through single-pass absorption spectroscopy and confirmed in the Doppler linewidth regime using cavity enhanced absorption spectroscopy (CEAS). The desire for a sensitive system potentially applicable to H₂S sensing at atmospheric pressure has led to an investigation on suitable transitions using wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS). The set-up sensitivity has been calculated as 1.73×10⁻⁸ cm⁻¹ s^1/2, and probing the strongest line at 1576.29 nm a minimum detectable concentration of 700 ppb under atmospheric conditions has been achieved. Furthermore, pressure broadening coefficients for a variety of buffer gasses have been measured and correlated to the intermolecular potentials governing the collision process; the H₂S–H₂S dimer well depth is estimated to be 7.06±0.09 kJ mol⁻¹.     

Passively Q-Switched Nd,Cr:YAG Laser Simultaneous Dual-Wavelength Operation at 946 nm and 1.3μm

A diode-end-pumped Q-switched high-efficiency Nd,Cr:YAG laser with simultaneous dual-wavelength emission at 946 nm and 1.3μm is demonstrated.The maximum output power of 1.93 W with simultaneous dual-wavelength operation is achieved at an absorbed pump power of 13.32 W and an absorbed slope efficiency of 15.15%.The maximum optical-optical efficiency is 14.49% with pulse widths of 16.38 ns at 946 nm and 26.65 ns at 1.3 μm.A maximum total repetition rate of 43.25 kHz is obtained.     

Supercontinuum generation at 1.55μm using highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber for telecommunication and medical applications

In this paper, we present a theoretical calculation of a highly nonlinear germanium (Ge) doped photonic crystal fiber with all-normal group velocity dispersion to design a supercontinuum (SC) light source at 1.55 μm. By doping 3% higher refractive index Ge inside the host silica, the nonlinear coefficient is increased to a value as large as 60.5 W^?1 km^?1 at 1.55 μm. A 10 dB bandwidth of a 120 nm SC spectrum for a 2.5 ps input optical pulse and a 10 dB bandwidth of a 190 nm SC spectrum for a 1.0 ps input optical pulse have been found using the same fiber length of 200m and input optical power of 18 W. The coherent lengths of the generated SC light sources are found to be 8.8 μm for a 2.5 ps input optical pulse and 5.6 μm for a 1.0 ps input optical pulse. Therefore, the highest longitudinal resolution at 1.55 μm is found to be about 4.0 μm for biological tissues.     

High-power 1.5 and 3.4 μm intracavity KTA OPO driven by a diode-pumped Q-switched Nd:YAG laser

With a non-critically phase-matched KTA crystal, a high-power intracavity optical parametric oscillator (IOPO) driven by a diode-side-pumped acousto-optically Q-switched Nd:YAG laser has been realized. The maximum average output power of 13.6 W at the signal wavelength of 1534 nm and 3 W at the idler wavelength of 3472.7 nm were obtained with the repetition rate of 18 kHz, giving the optical-optical conversion efficiency of about 5.7% from diode-power at 808 nm to OPO signal output, which was the highest conversion efficiency for intracavity KTA OPO with diode-side-pumping configurations to our best knowledge. At the highest output power of 13.6 W, the signal pulse duration of 5.46 ns was obtained, corresponding to the single pulse energy of 756 μJ and peak power of 138 kW, respectively.     

Mid-IR femtosecond pulse generation on the microjoule level up to 5 μm at high repetition rates

We show efficient generation of mid-IR pulses tunable between 1 and 5?μm from 100?kHz class femtosecond systems. The concept can be applied to various sources, particularly based on Ti:sapphire and the newly evolving Yb+ lasers. The mid-IR pulses are generated as the idler of a collinear optical parametric amplifier pumped by the laser fundamental. The seed for this amplifier is the idler of a previous amplification stage pumped with the second harmonic and seeded with a visible continuum. This enhances the energy and allows us to influence the bandwidth of the final output. Pulses with microjoule energy and Fourier limits of 50?fs are achieved.     

Mid-infrared femtosecond optical parametric generator pumped by a Cr:forsterite regenerative amplifier at 1.25 μm

We demonstrate a novel traveling-wave type optical parametric generator based on 1.25 μm pumping of AgGaS₂ that produces tunable, high-power and almost transform-limited 200-fs pulses in the mid-infrared up to 8 μm. Received: 24 January 2000 / Revised version: 1 March 2000 / Published online: 5 April 2000     

Compact and efficient diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO_4 laser at 1.06μm

Diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO4/Cr4+:YAG lasers with a simple flat-flat cavity were demonstrated. The maximum average output power at 1.06 μm was 1.25 W. The highest peak power and pulse energy were 7.56 kW and 75μJ, respectively, with the pulse repetition rate of 11.1 kHz and pulse width of 10 ns at the incident pump power of 8 W.     

Tunable CW Tm,Ho:YLF laser at 2μm

A tunable continuous wave (CW) low temperature operating Tm (6 at.-%),Ho (0.6 at.-%):YLF laser pumped by fiber-coupled diode laser is reported. The maximum output power is 4.16 W at 2073 nm by use of 30% output coupling, the slope efficiency is 33%. A tuning range from 2049 to 2081 nm is achieved with a birefringent filter (BF). The factors that contribute to the output power and tuning range are discussed.     

Passively Q-switched 1.32-μm Nd:YAG laser with a V:YAG saturable absorber

By using a new saturable absorber V³⁺:YAG, a flash-lamp-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 1.32 μm has been realized. The single-pulse energy and the pulse width of the output laser versus the pump energy are measured. With a cavity length of 440 mm and a pump energy of 43.4 J, the obtained single-pulse output energy and pulse width are 10 mJ and 86.9 ns, respectively, corresponding to a peak power of 115 kW.     

A trace methane gas sensor using mid-infrared quantum cascaded laser at 7.5 μm

Presented is a compact instrument developed for in situ high-stable and sensitive continuous measurement of trace gases in air, with results shown for ambient methane (CH₄) concentration. This instrument takes advantage of recent technology in thermoelectrically cooled pulsed Fabry–Perot (FP) quantum cascaded (QC) laser driving in a pulse mode operating at 7.5 μm to monitor a well-isolated spectral line near the ν4 fundamental band of CH₄. A high-quality liquid nitrogen cooled mercury cadmium telluride mid-infrared detector with time discriminating electronics is used along with a total reflection coated gold ellipsoid mirror offering 20 cm single pass optical absorption in an open-path cell to achieve stability of 5.2 × 10^?3 under experimental condition of 200 ppm measured ambient CH₄. The instrument operates continuously, and integrated software for laser control using direct absorption provides quantitative trace gas measurements without calibration. One may substitute a QC laser operating at a different wavelength to measure other gases. The instrument can be applied to field measurements of gases of environmental concern.     

Passively mode locked femtosecond Tm:Sc2O3 laser at 2.1 μm

We report on the passive mode locking of a Tm3+:Sc2O3 laser at 2.1 μm using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror based on InGaAsSb quantum wells. Transform-limited 218 fs pulses are generated with an average power of 210 mW. A maximum output power of 325 mW is produced during mode locking with the corresponding pulse duration of 246 fs at a pulse repetition frequency of 124.3 MHz. A Ti:sapphire laser is used as the pump source operating at 796 nm.     

An all-solid-state laser system for generation of 100 μJ femtosecond pulses near 625 nm at 1 kHz

Frequency doubling the output of a high-power femtosecond Cr:forsterite regenerative amplifier with >50% conversion efficiency in a temperature-tuned noncritically phase-matched LBO crystal produces femtosecond pulses of >100 μJ energy in the visible range near 625 nm at a pulse duration of about 200 fs or >65 μJ at <170 fs. Received: 29 March 1999 / Revised version: 27 April 1999 / Published online: 24 June 1999     

Formaldehyde around 3.5 and 5.7-μm: Measurement and calculation of broadening coefficients

Self- and N₂-broadening coefficients of H₂CO have been retrieved in both the 3.5 and 5.7-μm spectral regions. These coefficients have been measured in FT spectra for transitions with various J (from 0 to 25) and K values (from 0 to 10), showing a clear dependence with both rotational quantum numbers J and K. First, an empirical model is presented to reproduce the rotational dependence of the measured self- and N₂-broadening coefficients. Then, calculations of N₂-broadening of H₂CO were made for some for 3296 ν₂ transitions using the semi-classical Robert-Bonamy formalism. These calculations have been done for various temperatures in order to obtain the temperature dependence of the line widths. Finally, self- and N₂-broadening coefficients, as well as temperature dependence of the N₂-widths has been generated to complete the whole HITRAN 2008 version of formaldehyde (available as supplementary materials).