Efficient generation of tunable subpicosecond pulses in the infrared

A novel parametric generator-amplifier system is discussed which for the first time allows the generation of tunable pulses in the infrared with substantial pulse shortening and with high energy conversion of up to 20%. Starting with an intense laser pulse of a mode-locked Nd: glass laser system of ≈ 8 ps, a signal pulse at ≈ 6500 cm^-1 is produced by a single path parametric generator. This signal pulse is subsequently amplified generating an intense idler pulse in the IR. Varying the time delay between the signal and pump pulse in the amplifier stage, the pulse duration of signal and idler is readily adjusted. The shortest pulses are nearly bandwidth limited of duration 0.5 ps with energy conversion exceeding 5% in the frequency range around 6500 cm^-1.     

Spatial distribution of dynamic mechanical stresses in ionic crystals under the action of a pulsed electron beam

We report on the results of experimental and theoretical investigation of the shape of an acoustic pulse generated in alkali-halide crystals by a pulsed electron beam with a maximal electron energy of 0.28 MeV and an energy density of 0.10–0.65 J/cm². It is found that the shape of the acoustic pulse for the given beam parameters substantially differs from the absorbed energy density profile. The formation of the fine structure of the acoustic pulse is associated with local release of energy due to the evolution of multichannel electrical breakdown.     

Narrow pulse width and high power passively Q-switched Nd3+:Gd3Ga5O12 laser with Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber

A compact, diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd³⁺:Gd₃Ga₅O₁₂ (Nd:GGG) laser with Cr⁴⁺:YAG saturable absorber has been successfully demonstrated. Stable Q-switched pulses with pulse energy of 100 ??J and high peak power of 14 kW have been obtained. The pulse width was as short as 7 ns with low repetition rate of 10 kHz. The dependence of pulse width, pulse repetition rate, pulse energy and pulse peak power on pump power have been measured respectively. Experimental results reveal that the Nd:GGG crystal with Cr⁴⁺:YAG saturable absorber is suitable for narrow pulse width and high power passively Q-switched lasers.     

High energy and high stability Cr:YAG passively Q-switched laser with convex-ARR unstable resonator

A convex-ARR (Anti-resonant Ring) unstable resonator was introduced in a Cr⁴⁺:YAG passively Q-switched Nd:YAG pulsed laser. There are two novel features in this cavity, one is the unstable resonator increasing output energy and improving laser mode; the other is the ARR structure efficiently enhancing the laser stability. A high energy and high stability Q-switched pulse with a single pulse energy of 85.6 mJ, a pulse width of 38 ns and an energy stability of 99.6% was obtained. The experimental results were analyzed well by using the mechanism of transient grating and the properties of the unstable resonator.     

Modeling of fast phase transitions dynamics in metal target irradiated by pico- and femtosecond pulsed laser

We investigate laser pulse influence on aluminum target in irradiance range 10⁹ to 10¹⁶ W/cm², pulse duration between 10⁻⁸ and 10⁻¹⁵ s, Gaussian time profile with wavelength of 0.8 μm. For all computations energy density was 10 J/cm². Plasma in the evaporated material is generated at the energy density above 10 J/cm²as the modeling showed.Long and short laser pulses distinguish by the mechanisms of energy transformation. For short laser pulses there is volumetric energy absorption, together with rapid phase transitions it lead to overheating in solid and liquid states, overheated solid temperature rises up to (6-8)T_m. Under influence of the energy saved in overheated solid, duration of the phase transitions becomes nanosecond, which is several orders of magnitude longer than laser pulse.     

Generation regimes of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser with transverse LED pumping and multiloop self-pumped phase-conjugate cavity

The generation regimes in a pulsed Nd:YAG laser with transverse LED pumping and multiloop self-pumped phase-conjugate cavity on the gain gratings are studied. The differential efficiency of laser is 27% in the free-running regime at a pulse energy of up to 1 J and quality parameter M ² of no greater than 1.5. The pulse energy under passive Q-switching is no less than 60% of the pulse energy in the free-running regime at the same beam quality. The generation of the narrow-band radiation is demonstrated. A generation band of no greater than 1.2 GHz corresponds to the primary single-frequency high-power laser pulse in the free-running mode under conditions for self-Q-switching on the gain gratings. When additional elements (F ₂ ^? :LiF and Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystals) are introduced in the optical scheme of the phase-conjugate cavity, similar narrowband single-mode generation is observed in the passive Q-switching regime as a pulse train or monopulse. The laser pulse power is up to 2 MW at a pulse duration of 20 ns.     

High-beam-quality, 5.1 J, 108 Hz diode-pumped Nd:YAG rod oscillator-amplifier laser system

A high efficiency, high beam quality diode-pumped Nd:YAG master oscillator power-amplifier (MOPA) laser with six amplifier stages is demonstrated. The oscillator with two-rod birefringence compensation was designed as a thermally determined near hemispherical resonator, which presents a pulse energy of 223 mJ with a beam quality value of M² = 1.29 at a repetition rate of 108 Hz. The MOPA system delivers a pulse energy of 5.1 J with a pulse width of 230 μs, a M² factor of 3.6 and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 38.5%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest pulse energy for a diode-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser operation with a high beam quality and a pulse width of hundreds of microseconds at a repetition rate of over 100 Hz.     

脉冲γ射线对光纤的辐射效应

介绍了光纤的损耗机制和γ射线对光纤的辐射效应,设计了针对脉冲γ射线作用于光纤而产生辐射感生损耗的实验测量系统。利用平均光子能量为0.3 MeV、脉冲宽度25 ns、剂量率2.03×107Gy.s-1,和平均光子能量为1.0 MeV、脉冲宽度25 ns、剂量率5.32×109Gy.s-1的2种脉冲γ射线分别作用于多模和单模光纤,分别采用波长为405,660,850,1 310和1 550 nm的激光光纤传输系统对辐射感生损耗进行了测量。获得了光纤辐射感生损耗和辐射剂量的关系,并对实验结果进行分析。从实验结果可以看出:在近红外到可见光范围内,脉冲γ射线对光纤作用产生的辐射感生损耗随探测波长减小而增大;在0.1~3.5 Gy剂量范围内,多模光纤辐射感生损耗和辐射剂量呈线性关系。分析辐射对光纤的作用机制和实验结果后得出:光纤基质原子的电子能级对传输光子的共振吸收而造成吸收损耗增加;光纤折射率分布的改变从而导致波导损耗增加。     

Acceleration of heavy multicharged ions up to 1 MeV from a cleaned solid target irradiated by a femtosecond laser pulse with an intensity of 10<Superscript>16</Superscript> W/cm<Superscript>2</Superscript>

A noticeable increase in the charge and energy of ions accelerated from a solid tungsten target irradiated by a femtosecond laser pulse with an intensity higher than 10¹⁶W/cm² has been found when the target surface is precleaned by a nanosecond laser pulse with an energy density of 3 J/cm². Tungsten ions with charges up to +29 and energies up to 1 MeV were detected in this case, while the charge and energy of tungsten ions from a target with an uncleaned surface do not exceed +3 and 12 keV, respectively.     

>100-kW linearly polarized pulse fiber amplifier seeded by a compact efficient passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 Laser

We thoroughly develop compact high-peak-power Nd:YVO₄/Cr⁴⁺:YAG passively Q-switched lasers (PQS) as the seed source of the fiber amplifier. We exploit a nearly hemispherical cavity to reach the second threshold criterion and systematically consider the thermal lensing effect and the mode-size matching in the overall optimization. Employing a Cr⁴⁺:YAG absorber with 70% initial transmission, we obtain a 50-kHz seed pulse train with the pulse duration of 4.8 ns and the pulse energy of 22 ??J at a pump power of 5.4 W. Injecting this seed laser into a polarization maintained Yb-doped fiber, the pulse energy and peak power at a pump power of 16 W are enhanced up to 178 ??J and 37 kW, respectively. We also use an absorber with 40% initial transmission to generate a 25 kHz pulse train with the pulse duration of 1.6 ns and the pulse energy of 36 ??J at a pump power of 5.4 W. With this seed laser, we find that the surface damage of the fiber limits the maximum pulse energy and peak power to be 192 ??J and 120 kW, respectively.     

Picosecond gain dynamics of KrF

We describe the generation of excimer-laser pulses of <10 ps pulse width and up to 40 mJ pulse energy at 248.5 nm and their use in the measurement of ps gain dynamics in a KrF amplifier. Small-signal gain of >2×10⁴, saturation energy density of 2.0 mJ/cm², and gain recovery time of 4 ns were measured. In contrast to XeCl^* no short-gain rcovery time was found in KrF^* and the stored inversion could be fully depleted bya single ps pulse.     

Thermomagnetic writing on deep submicron-patterned TbFe films by nanosecond current pulse

This work studies the heating process for deep submicron-patterned TbFe films to be used in a thermally assisted perpendicular magnetic random access memory's writing scheme. The dependence of the heating power density with the current pulse width required for the successful writing was measured in the investigated range of 5-100 ns. In the case of long current pulse, the heat diffuses dominantly into substrate, which resulted in large variation of the required power/energy density with the patterned size. The power/energy densities required for writing increased as the junction area is reduced. While for the short current pulse width, the power/energy densities became rather independent on the size. The required power density for writing 0.38×0.28 μm² patterned films using the pulse width of 5 ns is experimentally estimated to be around P=4.7 mW/μm², corresponding to the energy density of E=23 pJ/μm², under an external field of 100 Oe.     

掺Yb3+双包层大模场面积光纤锁模激光器

报道了一种结构简单、运转稳定并可以输出高脉冲能量的被动锁模光纤激光器.激光器的增益介质为掺Yb³⁺双包层大模场面积光纤,具有非常低的非线性系数.利用非线性偏振旋转效应和半导体可饱和吸收镜结合实现自启动锁模,获得了平均功率为160mW、重复频率为55.9MHz(对应于3nJ的单脉冲能量)、脉冲宽度为10.6ps的激光脉冲输出. 关键词： 大模场面积光纤 光纤激光器 锁模     

水中受激布里渊散射微弱Stokes信号光的高增益放大

采用脉冲宽度为7.2 ns的种子光注入式倍频Nd:YAG脉冲激光器,以CS₂为放大介质,实验并理论研究了水中受激布里渊散射微弱Stokes光的信号增益随延迟时间、放大器池长、抽运光能量的变化规律. 结果表明,当抽运光脉冲相对信号光脉冲延迟进入放大器,且延迟时间为脉冲宽度的一半,抽运光能量略低于介质受激布里渊散射阈值,选择合适的放大器池长可获得最佳的信号增益. 适当选择抽运光能量,亦可实现微弱信号光的线性放大. 实验中采用独立双池放大系统,当水中Stokes信号光的能量为1 pJ时,信 关键词： 布里渊放大器 信号增益 延迟时间 抽运光能量     

Compact passively Q-switched green laser with periodically poled MgO:LiNbO<Subscript>3</Subscript>

Passively Q-switched green output with Cr⁴⁺:YAG as saturable absorber and PPMgLN as the frequency doubling crystal was realized in a compact diode end-pumped Nd:YVO₄ laser. The green light output power, pulse width, pulse repetition rate, pulse energy and peak power with three Cr⁴⁺:YAG of different initial transmissions were investigated. The maximum average output power was 1.2 W at the pump power of 4.0 W and the maximum conversion efficiency was 30% with the Cr⁴⁺:YAG of 90% initial transmission. The maximum pulse energy and minimum pulse width were 10.9 μJ and 12 ns with the Cr⁴⁺:YAG of 75% initial transmission.     

调Q脉冲保偏光纤激光器的研究

以808nm半导体激光器为抽运源,掺钕双包层保偏光纤为增益介质,对调Q脉冲保偏光纤激光器进行了理论分析和实验研究.利用TDS5104型示波器探测输出脉冲激光的波形,并用光谱分析仪得到输出脉冲激光的光谱图.利用F-P腔型,在1060nm处获得平均功率为2.55W的脉冲激光输出,重复频率为1kHz时,输出单脉冲能量为2.3mJ,峰值功率为4.7kW.改变腔型,把二色镜倾斜放置兼作输出镜,最终获得了平均功率为3.5W的偏振脉冲激光输出,重复频率为1kHz时,输出单脉冲能量为3.3mJ,脉冲宽度为184ns,其峰 关键词： 激光技术 光纤激光器 掺钕保偏光纤 调Q     

Diode-pumped long-pulse-width Tm:YAG laser at room temperature

We report the pulsed-diode-pumped and acoustics-optically Q-switched operation of a long-pulse-width Tm:YAG laser at room temperature. Output energy for single pulse of 48 mJ is obtained under the incident pump energy of 217.3 mJ, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 30.2% and an optical conversion efficiency of 22.1%. For the Q-switched regime, maximum pulse energy of 3.25 mJ and the pulse width of 232.8 ns at the repetition rate of 30 Hz are achieved. The wavelength of the Q-switched laser is 2.013 μm. A beam quality factor of M ² < 1.4 is measured using the traveling 90/10 knife-edge method.     

高能电子与超强激光束作用产生的阿秒脉冲列

利用非线性汤姆孙散射的理论，从理论和数值模拟上研究了单电子在横向穿越高斯激光束束 腰时所辐射的x射线阿秒脉冲列的性质. 主要分析了电子以初始能量γ₀=1M eV—100M eV横向穿越激光振幅参数为a₀=1—10的高斯光束束腰获得的阿秒辐射脉冲的 时间 和空间性质. 计算表明，辐射呈现脉冲列的形式. 脉冲列的包络宽度取决于激光强度、束腰 的宽度以及入射电子能量. 电子的初始能量比激光强度对电子辐射脉冲的影响更大. 辐射脉 宽、脉冲间隔和脉冲包络宽度都正比于1/γ²₀，辐射功率正比于 γ⁶₀，辐射能 量正比于γ⁴₀. 当改变激光振幅a₀时，辐射功率正比 于a²₀、辐射包络中单 个脉冲脉宽正比于1/a₀、脉冲之间的间隔正比于a₀. 当保持激光强 度不变，而改变光束 束腰半径w₀时，辐射的脉冲数量、包络和辐射能量正比于w₀. 当 激光功率保 持不变时而改变激光强度和束腰半径时，脉冲包络宽度和最大辐射能量都基本不变. 当激光 振幅参数a₀=1，电子初始能量为10MeV时，激光束腰为两个激光波长时，电子 辐 射脉冲包络宽度只有14×10^-3τ₀（τ₀为入 射激光周期），达到几个阿秒的量级. 关键词： 阿秒脉冲 非线性汤姆孙散射 高斯激光光束     

A compact, quasi-monochromatic laser-plasma EUV source based on a double-stream gas-puff target at 13.8 nm wavelength

A compact, high-repetition table-top EUV source, based on a gas-puff target, is presented. This source was developed in our group and is capable of emitting quasi-monochromatic radiation at 13.8 nm wavelength with the inverse relative bandwidth of 140 and pulse energies up to ～1.3 μJ/pulse at 10-Hz repetition rate. The source is debris-free, operates near the lithographic wavelengths and offers the energy density of ～0.4 mJ/cm² in each EUV pulse. These three features make the source attractive for lithographic experiments. The timing optimization of the source, its energy per pulse, spectral and spatial distributions are pointed out in detail as well as the enhancement in energy density achievable with a multi-layer collector mirror compared to a planar mirror of equal reflectivity.     

Large aperture tapered fiber phase conjugate mirror in MOPA laser systems with high repetition rate and high pulse energy

A large aperture tapered fused silica fiber phase conjugate mirror with a maximum 50.7% stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) reflectivity is presented, which is operated with 400 Hz pulse repetition rate and 36.5 mJ input pulse energy. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that over 50% SBS reflectivity is achieved by using solid-state phase conjugate mirror under such high pulse repetition rate and high pulse energy. With much higher pulse repetition rate of 500 and 1000 Hz, the maximum SBS reflectivity is 41.2% and 33.3%, respectively. A single-longitudinal-mode Nd:YAG laser is experimentally studied with master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) scheme using such a tapered fiber as a phase conjugate mirror. A 101 mJ pulse energy is achieved at 400 Hz repetition rate, with a pulse width of 6 ns and a M² factor of less than 2. The corresponding peak power reaches 16.8 MW.