1 W tunable near diffraction limited light from a broad area laser diode in an external cavity with a line width of 1.7 MHz

A novel unstable external cavity for a broad area laser diode is presented. The cavity is based on a V-shaped setup that improves the slow axis beam quality by coupling the internal modes of a gain guided laser diode. The novelty here is the compact unstable resonator design without lenses in direction of the slow axis. For frequency stabilisation and to narrow the line width of the laser diode emission a diffraction grating in a Littrow configuration is used. With this setup up to 1 W of near diffraction limited light with a beam quality of M² ? 1.3 and a line width of 1.7 MHz could be achieved. The external cavity laser was tunable over a range of 35 nm (FWHM) around the center wavelength of 976 nm.     

Tunable erbium-doped fiber ring laser for applications of infrared absorption spectroscopy

We fabricate a low noise erbium-doped fiber ring laser that can be continuously tuned over 102 nm by insertion of the fiber Fabry-Perot tunable filter (FFP-TF) in the ring cavity with a novel cavity structure and the optimal gain medium length. As an application of this fiber ring laser, we performed the absorption spectroscopy of acetylene (¹³C₂H₂) and hydrogen cyanide (H¹³C¹⁴N) and measure the absorption spectra of more than 50 transition lines of these gases with an excellent signal to noise ratio (SNR). The pressure broadening coefficients of four acetylene transition lines are obtained using this fiber ring laser and an external cavity laser diode.     

基于减反膜外腔反馈半导体激光器拉曼光的产生

通过直接对减反膜外腔反馈半导体激光器进行电流调制的方法,得到了两束位相锁定且频率差在6.0-9.3GHz范围内连续可调的激光,其中6.835和9.192GHz分别对应Rb⁸⁷和Cs¹³³原子基态超精细能级之间的频率差,激光功率分别可以达到6.87mW和5.09mW. 根据减反膜外腔反馈半导体激光器的特点,通过调整外腔腔长、激光器工作温度、电流以及所加射频调制信号的功率和频率,在调制频率小于等于4.0GHz时可以将载波完全压制. 调制频率大于4.0GHz时,虽不能将载波完全压制,但由于外腔与调制频率共振时对调制的增强也得到了调制深度很高的激光,并对其中的物理机理作了分析. 通过后续滤波等方法处理以后,该拉曼光源可以广泛应用到原子的量子操控中. 关键词： 受激拉曼光 高频调制 调制增强     

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.     

High-reflectivity measurement with a broadband diode laser based cavity ring-down technique

A simple cavity ring-down technique employing a cw broadband diode laser is described for the reflectivity measurements of highly reflective mirrors. Due to the broad line width of the diode laser, the laser beam can be continuously injected into the ring-down cavity without tuning the cavity length or the laser frequency. Both Fourier- and time-domain data-processing approaches are developed to determine the reflectivity. In the Fourier domain, the amplitudes and phase shifts of the first and third harmonics of a periodic ring-down signal are measured as a function of the modulation frequency covering an appropriate range. The cavity decay time and the reflectivity of the cavity mirror are determined by minimizing a mean square variance containing both the amplitude and phase-shift error terms. On the other hand, in the time domain, the cavity decay time and the instrumental response time are determined simultaneously by fitting the measured waveforms of the cavity ring-down signals to a rigorous time-domain model via a multi-parameter fitting procedure. The reflectivity measurements are repeated at four cavity lengths and all the results obtained with both data-processing approaches are in excellent agreement. The reflectivity of cavity mirrors near 830 nm is statistically determined to be 0.99797 with an uncertainty less than 3×10^-5. PACS 07.60.Hv; 42.60.Da; 42.55.Px     

Wavelength Tuning Characteristics of a Vertival Cavity Surface Emitting Laser Diode with an External Short Cavity

The characteristics of a wavelength tunable vertical cavity surface emitting laser diode (VCSEL) with an external short cavity are analyzed, in which the oscillation wavelength can be changed over several tens of nanometers with a nearly constant optical power by slightly altering the external cavity length. Analysis is based on rate equations for the optical power and carrier density, taking the effect of carrier-induced refractive index change into consideration, together with the study of behaviors of a complex resonator. The reflection coefficient r₂ of a laser facet facing the external mirror is shown to affect notably the characteristics of wavelength tuning, optical power and carrier density for a change of the external cavity length. It is also noticed that the wavelength change for this length becomes slower with relatively larger r₂ due to an increasing contribution of the effect of carrier-induced refractive index change, within the optical gain spectrum of the laser diode.     

A Laser Source with High Spectral Purity for Simple Tunable Laser Raman Instrument

The authors present an external cavity diode laser with high spectral purity for tunable laser Raman spectroscopy. To achieve high spectral purity required for Raman spectroscopy, a laser cavity utilizing a volume phase holographic grating, which has very low stray light, is developed and the first-order diffracted beam from the grating is taken as the output. Raman signals can be obtained from common samples with only a commercial laser rejection filter, greatly simplifying a tunable Raman instrument.     

An 8-W diode side pumped solid-state 593-nm laser

We report a double z-type folded plane-plane symmetrical cavity diode side pumped solid state yellow-orange laser at 593 nm by using intracavity sum-frequency mixing. By carefully designing the cavity and employing several techniques to increase sum-frequency efficiency, a Q-switched yellow-orange laser source, with an average output power of 8 W, a beam quality factor M ² = 4.86, and a repetition rate of 8 kHz is developed. In this paper, we first use 1338 and 1064 nm emissions of Nd:YAG crystal to generate 593 nm yellow-orange laser beam by intracavity sum-frequency mixing (SFM).     

40K-87Rb原子冷却的半导体激光系统

对⁴⁰K-⁸⁷Rb原子冷却的半导体激光系统提出了一种实验方案，并进行了初步实验.采用三台外腔光栅反馈半导体激光器(ECDL)、四台注入锁定从激光器和一台半导体激光放大器组成激光系统.三台ECDL通过声光调制器产生四束光，分别作为⁴⁰K和⁸⁷Rb原子的冷却光和再抽运光，四束不同频率成分的激光分别注入锁定四台从激光器，然后Rb 冷却光、K冷却光和K再抽运光再同时注入半导体激光放大器进行放大.该装置可同时产生冷却⁴⁰K和⁸⁷Rb原子的冷却光和再抽运光，结构紧凑、工作稳定. 关键词： 简并费米气体 激光器系统 外腔光栅反馈半导体激光器 半导体激光放大器     

Improvement of the beam quality of a broad-area diode laser using asymmetric feedback from an external cavity

In this work, the use of an asymmetric feedback technique for improving the beam quality of a broad-area diode laser is investigated using numerical simulations. A mirror stripe is placed in the external cavity to select lateral mode and provide asymmetric feedback. The width and the position of the mirror stripe are optimized to improve the beam quality. The simulation results show a good beam quality of 0.7° FWHM and M ² value of 2.69.     

基于飞秒光频梳的压电陶瓷闭环位移控制系统

利用飞秒光频梳、外腔可调谐半导体激光器和法布里-珀罗干涉仪建立了一套压电陶瓷亚纳米级闭环位移控制系统. 将可调谐半导体激光器锁定至光频梳, 通过精确调谐光频梳的重复频率, 实现了半导体激光器在其工作频率范围内的精密调谐. 利用Pound-Drever-Hall锁定技术将带有压电陶瓷的法布里-珀罗腔锁定至半导体激光器, 进而通过频率发生系统控制压电陶瓷产生亚纳米级分辨率的位移. 实验研究发现锁定至光频梳后可调谐半导体激光器1 s的Allan标准偏差为1.68×10^-12, 将其在30.9496 GHz范围内进行连续闭环调谐, 可获得压电陶瓷的位移行程约为4.8 μm; 以3.75 Hz的步长扫描光频梳的重复频率, 实现了压电陶瓷的450 pm闭环位移分辨率并测定了压电陶瓷的磁滞特性曲线. 该系统不存在非线性测量误差, 且激光频率及压电陶瓷位移均溯源至铷钟频率源. 关键词： 光频梳 压电陶瓷 法布里-珀罗腔 可调谐半导体激光器     

Grating-Stabilized External Cavity Diode Lasers for Raman Spectroscopy—A Review

Abstract: Conventional Raman techniques require a continuous-wave laser with stabilized wavelength, narrow line width, and sufficient output power. Due to their miniature size and low cost, diode lasers are good choice as light sources for Raman spectroscopy, especially when compact and portable instruments are needed. However, a solitary multimode diode laser has certain drawbacks that limit its use for Raman application. To circumvent these drawbacks, an external cavity can be coupled to the active gain medium of the diode to enhance the laser performance. A grating-based external cavity allows the laser to operate in a single longitudinal mode with greatly reduced line width and stabilized wavelength. This article examines the fundamentals of semiconductor lasers to show the necessity of operating diode lasers in an external cavity for Raman applications. Two feedback grating-based external cavity diode laser (ECDL) designs, viz. Littrow and Littman-Metcalf configurations, are explained. Historic and recent progress in the development of ECDL devices is reported. An updated summary of ECDL-equipped Raman systems applied to fields such as in vivo biomedical studies and in situ process/quality control is provided. Topics on mode-hop-free continuous scanning, wavelength stabilization, and dealing with ambient conditions are discussed.     

Performance Characteristics of Power Build-Up Cavity for Raman Spectroscopic Measurement

Performance characteristics of power build-up cavity (PBC) as the light source of a Raman spectroscopy based gas sensor were studied. The key parameter to optimize stable and high intra-cavity power operation was beam diameter of the back reflected beam from external cavity to diode laser. The optimum diameter determined by an appropriate distance between the cavity and diode laser was found to be comparable with the waveguide cross section of diode laser for the effective spatial filtering, where inevitable cavity coupling loss caused by slight spatial mode mismatching existed. A PBC with a finesse of ∼10300 achieved a stable TEM₀₀ mode in excess of intra-cavity power of 80 watts pumped by a 10 milliwatts diode laser. Simultaneously, the PBC wavelength is found to be passively locked effectively at 670 +/− 0.15 nm where the center of the gain region exists. A Raman spectrum of nitrogen measurement was demonstrated.     

Optical feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (OF-CEAS) in a ring cavity

Optical feedback cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy (OF-CEAS) has been demonstrated by coupling a distributed feedback diode laser to a ring cavity. Frequency-selected light decaying from the ring cavity is retro-reflected, inducing a counter-propagating intra-cavity beam, and providing optical feedback to the laser. At specific laser-to-cavity distances, all cavity mode frequencies return to the diode laser with the same phase, allowing spectra to be accumulated across the range of frequencies of the current-tuned laser. OF-CEAS has been used to measure very weak oxygen isotopologue (¹⁶O¹⁸O and ¹⁶O¹⁷O) absorptions in ambient air at wavelengths near 762 nm using the electric-dipole forbidden O₂ A-band. A bandwidth reduced minimum detectable absorption coefficient of 2.2×10⁻⁹ cm⁻¹ Hz^−1/2 is demonstrated.     

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.     

High repetition rate intracavity frequency doubled LD side-pumped ceramic Nd:YAG green laser based on BBO electro-optical Q-switch

a high repetition rate and high power 532 nm green laser generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a 808 nm laser diode side-pumped ceramic Nd:YAG laser based on BBO electro-optical Q-switch has been demonstrated. in the simple V-folded cavity, the maximum green laser average power 32.6 W was obtained with a pulse width of 58.5 ns at a repetition rate of 10 kHz by using a LBO crystal for frequency doubling, corresponding to a conversion efficiency of 10.9% from diode pumping power to green laser power. An instability of 1.9% was measured over a period of 30 minutes and the beam quality factors were measured to be M _x ² = 3.55, M _y ² = 3.89 at the maximum output power.     

Chirp reduction in three-cavity semiconductor laser diodes

The oscillation frequency shift ratio (OFSR) of a three-cavity coupled laser diode, which is caused by refractive index changes due to current modulation and temperature variation, has been investigated. It is found that the OFSR is significantly reduced by using a laser with an AR coated facet and a high external-mirror reflectivity, in addition to large external cavity lengths. Also, compared with an external cavity laser, the three-cavity laser has a smaller OFSR provided that the external cavities' reflectivities r₀ and r₃, are not identical (that is, r₃ > r₀). The analysis indicates that the structural parameters affect the OFSR of the three-cavity laser, which was shown to have a high longitudinal mode discrimination¹.     

Intra-cavity spectroscopy with diode lasers

A multi-mode diode laser with an external cavity is studied experimentally and theoretically for its application to intra-cavity spectroscopy. One facet of a typical Ga_0.89Al_0.11As laser diode was antireflection-coated by deposition of HfO₂ such that 10^–3 residual reflectivity was left over. This diode was placed in an external optical cavity. The emission spectrum of this diode laser is highly sensitive to any frequency-dependent loss in the cavity, and the detectivity of such a loss grows with the pump rate. Even close to threshold, the absorption at 780 nm of Rb atoms with a density of 5×10¹⁰ cm^–3 has been detected. An adequate model for diode lasers based on rate equations and including frequency-dependent gain saturation is developed and applied to the calculations of output spectra. The sensitivity of these spectra to intra-cavity absorption is determined by the overall cavity loss — which is rather high — and the fraction of spontaneous emission in the total emission, in contrast with dye lasers where it is limited by nonlinear mode coupling. Various criteria for the sensitivity are suggested. The smallest detectable absorption with a perfectly antireflection-coated laser is 10^–6 cm^–1. Improvement of the characteristics of the laser diode would increase the sensitivity.     

Single-frequency operation of a laser diode side-pumped Q-switched Tm:YAG laser using seeding injection technique

A laser diode (LD) side-pumped 2 μm single-frequency Q-switched Tm:YAG laser was demonstrated. The laser was injection seeded by a CW single frequency Tm:YAG laser with a twisted-mode cavity. The maximum single-frequency pulse energy was 16.3 mJ, with a pulse width of 570 ns and a pulse repetition rate of 10 Hz. The linewidth of the 2 μm single-frequency Q-switched laser was 0.68 MHz, measured by using the optical heterodyne technique. The M ² of the laser beam was measured to be 1.09 and 1.03 for x direction and y direction, respectively.     

窄线宽、高光束质量的外腔双反馈激光二极管阵列(英文)

设计了一种离轴双反馈外腔能够有效地改善激光二极管阵列的线宽和光束质量。闪耀光栅和高反镜之间形成了一个共振腔。通过调整光栅和高反镜之间的倾角可以选定一个空间模在共振腔中放大。将一个半波片插入外腔中的光栅反馈支路,来控制反馈光的数量,激光从光栅反馈支路输出。运用这项技术,在工作电流16 A,可以把激光二极管阵列的输出线宽压缩到0.15 nm,光束束宽积减小到283 mm.mrad。由于光栅的锁定作用,中心波长几乎不随温度的变化而改变。在工作电流17A时,输出激光的功率为2.44 W,斜率效率为0.5 W/A。