Tunable cw infrared radiation by noncollinear difference-frequency mixing

Tunable cw infrared radiation has been generated by non-collinear difference-frequency mixing in LiJO₃, using the intracavity radiation of a Nd:YAG laser and the output of a Rhodamine 6G dye laser. Infrared powers of ∽35 μW tunable from 1.28 μm to 1.62 μm have been obtained.     

Compact gas sensor using a pulsed difference-frequency laser spectrometer

We present a novel compact pulsed laser spectrometer based on difference-frequency mixing of a cw tunable external-cavity diode laser (795-825 nm) and a pulsed Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm) in bulk LiNbO(3) . The pulsed mid-IR source is continuously tunable from 3.16 to 3.67microm and exhibits a linewidth of only 154 MHz, a peak power of approximately 50microW , and a pulse duration of 6 ns at a 6.5-kHz repetition rate. Spectra of methane in room air and formaldehyde have been recorded at room-temperature operation in a multipass cell with deduced detection limits of 10 and 40 parts in 10(9) , respectively.     

Phase explosion induced by high-repetition rate pulsed laser

The characteristics and mechanisms of the damage to absorbing glass with high-repetition laser pulses (several kHz) are discussed. The results show that: (1) in the range of comparatively low-repetition rate, the damage is characterized by material melting and a small crater on the surface of substrate; (2) with the increase in repetition rate, a bigger and deeper crater is surrounded by re-deposition and crystalline granules originating from the cooling of vapor; and (3) the crater, surrounded by evaporation and an large number of solid particulates which is obviously the characters of phase explosion, becomes even bigger and deeper when the repetition rate is further increased. We modeled the temperature distribution in different repetition rate regime and found that heat accumulation plays a significant role in damage process. Because of the temperature dependence of damage mechanism, the temperature of the area irradiated by laser beam will ramp up with increasing the repetition rate, which triggers the melting and evaporation of dielectrics and phase explosion successively. Our results may benefit the understanding of laser-induced damage in optical materials.     

Tunable dye laser configurations

Various configurations for the successful operation of a continuous, tunable dye laser are described. Output powers as high as 100 milliwatts have been obtained using a 1.5 watt argon ion laser at 5145 Å as the optical pump for the dye laser, with a tuning range of from 5640 Å to 6150 Å.     

Tunable picosecond pulse generation from the passively mode-locked coumarin 6 dye laser

Using the saturable absorber 2-(p-Dimethylaminostyryl)-benzothiazolylethyl iodide, coumarin 6 has been passively mode-locked for the first time to give fully modulated trains of pulses of 4 ps duration and with peak powers of 3 MW tunable over the spectral range 526–547 nm.     

Noncollinear folded mixing geometries for difference-frequency far infrared generation

Noncollinear folded geometries for far infrared generation by difference-frequency mixing of CO₂ lasers are analyzed, and are shown theoretically to provide orders of magnitude increase in the far infrared output compared with the simple noncollinear geometry used previously. The basic principle of the folded geometry has been verified experimentally.     

Ambient formaldehyde detection with a laser spectrometer based on difference-frequency generation in PPLN

A laser spectrometer based on difference-frequency generation in periodically poled LiNbO₃ (PPLN) has been used to quantify atmospheric formaldehyde with a detection limit of 0.32 parts per billion in a given volume (ppbV) using specifically developed data-processing techniques. With state-of-the-art fiber-coupled diode-laser pump sources at 1083 nm and 1561 nm, difference-frequency radiation has been generated in the 3.53-μm (2832-cm^-1) spectral region. Formaldehyde in ambient air in the 1- to 10-ppb V range has been detected continuously for nine and five days at two separate field sites in the Greater Houston area operated by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) and the Houston Regional Monitoring Corporation (HRM). The acquired spectroscopic data are compared with results obtained by a well-established wet-chemical o-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl) hydroxylamine (PFBHA) technique. Received: 8 November 2000 / Revised version: 30 January 2001 / Published online: 21 March 2001     

Tunable, visible phase conjugator with a saturable-amplifier polymer laser dye

We present the first report to the best of our knowledge of highly efficient phase conjugation in a laser-pumped polymer-dye saturable amplifier. Phase-conjugate reflectivity of as much as 210% at 560 nm has been obtained. Moreover, efficient reflectivity has been obtained in the broad wavelength region from 556 to 567 nm.     

Tunable source of terahertz radiation based on the difference-frequency generation in a GaP crystal

A tunable source of terahertz (1–4 THz) radiation with a line width of 12 GHz is created on the basis of difference- frequency generation in a GaP crystal. Radiation of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of 1064 nm and a tunable optical parametric oscillator is used as the pump. The radiation is generated in 10-ns-duration pulses with a pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz. The pulsed radiation power is about 15 mW.     

16-microm infrared generation by difference-frequency mixing in diffusion-bonded-stacked GaAs

Tunable 90-ps 15.6-17.6-mum coherent radiation was generated by means of difference-frequency mixing in diffusion-bonded-stacked GaAs. The sample consisted of 24 alternately rotated layers with a total length of 6 mm and with low optical loss to achieve third-order quasi-phase matching. The wavelength-tuning curve was close to the theoretical prediction, demonstrating that the bonding process maintained nonlinear optical phase matching over the entire interaction length. Maximum conversion efficiency of 0.7%, or 5% internal quantum efficiency, was measured at 16.6mum, consistent with the theoretical predictions.     

Tunable UV and IR picosecond pulse generation by nonlinear mixing using a synchronous mode-locked dye laser

The short-pulse output from a synchronous mode-locked tunable dye laser was sum and difference mixed in nonlinear crystals of KDP, ADP and LiIO₃ with the 1.064-μm and 532-nm pulse trains from its mode-locked Nd: YAG pump. This method allowed efficient generation of narrow-bandwidth tunable short pulses in the uv from 270 to 432 nm and in the IR from 1.13 to 5.6 μm.     

The time-resolved spectrum of a pulsed dye laser

The spectral evolution in a xenon ion-pumped open dye stream laser was measured and analysed in terms of a theoretical spectro-temporal relation previously derived. Sweep occurs in a 200 ns time scale and simultaneous oscillations of several wavelengths can be achieved by varying laser cavity parameters. Experiments were completely reproduced by assuming that the phenomena can be ascribed to the homogeneous broadening of the laser fluorescent band.     

Tunable phase-stabilized infrared parametric laser source

This paper reports that the tunable self-phase-stabilized infrared laser pulses have been generated from a two-stage optical parametric amplifier. With an 800 nm pump source, the output idler pulses are tunable from 1.3 μm to 2.3 μm, and the maximum output energy of the idler pulses is higher than 1 mJ at 1.6 μm by using 6 mJ pump laser. A carrier-envelope phase fluctuation of ～ 0.15 rad (rms) for the idler pulses is measured for longer than one hour by using a home build f-to-2f interferometer.     

溴化亚铜激光泵浦的可调谐微微秒染料激光

本文首次报道了利用脉宽为25ns重复率为10kHz的溴化亚铜激光泵浦混有饱和吸收体DODCI的超短腔染料激光,产生出30ps光脉冲.在理论上对混入DODCI的超短腔染料激光脉冲压缩效应作了分析计算,计算结果与实验基本一致.在实验上又通过一个放大-色散系统实现对此染料激光脉冲的同步放大和调谐,并达到傅里叶变换极限.     

Tunable infrared generation in KTA and applications

Noncollinear difference frequency mixing of dye laser and Nd:YAG second harmonic (fundamental) radiation from a commercial laser system is employed for the generation of 2.7–5.3 μm (1.6–1.7 μm) radiations in a flux-grown KTiOAsO₁ crystal. The generated radiation is used to scan the methane absorption in the fundamental (v ₃) and its first overtone (2v ₃) band at pressure 90 torr in a laboratory made single pass gas cell of length 33 cm.     

Tunable laser generation with erbium-doped microfiber knot resonator

A tunable laser is demonstrated using a microfiber knot resonator structure made by erbiumdoped fiber (EDF). The laser is made of a 2 m long EDF where 30 mm of its end section is tapered to construct a microfiber knot resonator (MKR). The combination of the EDF and MKR generates a stable single wavelength laser at 1555 nm wavelength with a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 33.7 dB using a 63 mW of 980 nm pump power. The peak wavelength of the laser can be tuned by 340 pm as the MKR diameter reduces from 5.0 to 0.5 mm with an acceptable penalty in output power.     

Tunable far infrared generation in hydrogen fluoride

The use of resonantly enhanced stimulated Raman scattering for Q(J) transitions in hydrogen flouride permits a broad coverage of the far infrared spectrum. The tunability was about 5 cm^-1 around several transitions (J = 0 to 5). The output power was measured up to 300 kW corresponding to a photon efficiency of 18%.