Tunable single and multiwavelength continuous-wave c-cut Nd:YVO4 laser

We report a discretely tunable, single and multiwavelength continuous-wave diode-end-pumped laser with a c-cut Nd:YVO₄ crystal lasing on the ⁴F_3/2?C⁴I_11/2 intermanifold transitions and an intracavity sub-THz free-spectral-range etalon. Experimental results show that it is tunable in the discrete regions of 1066.5?C1066.8, 1083.1?C1084.6, and 1087.2?C1088.2?nm and operates simultaneously at dual-wavelengths of (1084.6, 1087.4), (1066.5, 1088.0), (1066.8, 1083.3) nm by changing the angle of an intracavity etalon with 0.67 THz free-spectral range. With a proper etalon angle, the laser can also simultaneously oscillate at four wavelengths of 1066.9, 1082.9, 1085.7, and 1088.3?nm with a total output power of 1.2?W at an incident diode pump power of 15?W. Similar performance of the laser at different wavelengths was also achieved by using a 0.88?THz free-spectral-range etalon in the same laser cavity.     

Single longitudinal mode pulse from a TEA CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> laser by using a three-mirror resonator with a Fabry–Pérot etalon

We present a single longitudinal mode (SLM) TEA CO₂ laser oscillation by using a three-mirror resonator with a Fabry–Pérot etalon. The etalon was inserted in the optical path taken out from the main resonator of the CO₂ laser for protecting the etalon from damage on the surface. A modified numerical model of the three- mirror resonator was investigated for design the laser. SLM pulse from the TEA CO₂ laser was achieved, and the experimentally measure values were found to have good agreement with the numerical model. The maximum pulse energy of reliable SLM emission is obtained in excess of 200 mJ at 9.57 μm. The reliability of producing SLM pulses was higher than 90%, and there was no damage on the etalon PACS  42.55.Lt; 42.60.Fc     

Single mode oscillation of TEA CO2 laser with an interference resonator

An effective single-longitudinal mode (SLM) pulse TEA CO₂ laser operation was demonstrated using a Michelson’s type resonator with a tilting Fabry-Perot etalon. A modified numerical model of the interference resonator was investigated for designing the laser. The experimentally measured values were found to have good agreement with the numerical model. A pulse width of about 90 ns and the maximum pulse energy of about 300 mJ were achieved at 10.59 μm in SLM and TEM₀₀ mode. The reliability of producing SLM pulses was 100% and there was no damage on the etalon. By turning the interference resonator, the SLM output was tuned 44 lines of the CO₂ spectrum.     

Effect of an internal Fabry-Pérot etalon on the modes of a resonator

The effect of an internal Fabry-Pérot etalon on the modes of a resonator has been calculated. It is found that the modes are pulled towards the peak of the etalon transmission and are no longer equidistant. This has been verified by observing the modes of a N₂ laser pumped dye laser.     

A 7.5?W quasi-continuous-wave sodium D2 laser generated from?single-pass sum-frequency generation in LBO crystal

We report a high-power, narrow linewidth and tunable quasi-continuous-wave (QCW) yellow laser system at 589.159?nm. The system is of a design employing single-pass sum-frequency generation (SFG) in a LBO crystal by mixing the 1064?nm with 1319?nm lines from a two diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG master oscillator-power amplifier (MOPA) laser system. With the pump power of 35?W at 1064?nm and 25?W at 1319?nm, a 7.5?W QCW output of the SFG yellow laser at 589.159?nm, which is the vacuum wavelength of a general sodium D₂ line, is obtained with a linewidth less than 0.7?GHz and a beam-quality factor M ²=1.2. The wavelength of the laser can be precisely step-tuned from 589.148 to 589.167?nm with an increment of 0.13?pm by means of a temperature-controlled etalon.     

提升啁啾脉冲激光信噪比的扫描滤波方法

基于扫描滤波原理, 提出了一种新的用以提升啁啾脉冲激光信噪比(signal-to-noise, SNR)的光学扫描滤波方法. 针对内置电光晶体的Fabry-Perot标准具的扫描滤波方案, 定量分析了其扫描滤波谱特性, 详细讨论了Fabry-Perot标准具平行平板的镜面反射率和内置电光晶体类型对输出脉冲信噪比的影响, 并进一步探讨了控制电压变化对信噪比提升效果的影响. 结果表明, 扫描滤波器的透射窗口带宽越窄, 信噪比的提升效果越好; 为了保证输出效果, Fabry-Perot标准具平行平板反射率应大于0.9; 对于内置二次电光晶体钽铌酸钾晶体的Fabry-Perot标准具扫描滤波方案, 其外加电压较内置普通线性电光晶体的方案更低, 且更易于控制; 钽铌酸钾晶体构成组分的不同对滤波器效果的影响并不大, 而控制电压和信号光啁啾率的变化则会对滤波效果产生较大影响.     

LD泵浦环形单频Nd:YVO4激光器的频率调谐特性研究

利用激光谐振腔内标准具的选模调谐特性和激光晶体自身的标准具作用,通过调节插入标准具和激光晶体的倾斜度及微调谐振腔长度,在LD泵浦Nd:YVO₄单频激光器上实现了精确调谐,最大可调谐范围约100GHz.     

Multi-line pulsed CO2 oscillator

For use in laser-induced fusion investigations, a CO₂ laser oscillator was developed whose output spectrum contains three simultaneously appearing lines of equal intensity. An etalon filter provided the required wavelength dependent loss.     

Near-field photoluminescence of Si-doped GaAs

We have measured surface photoluminescence properties of Si-doped bulk GaAs using a near-field scanning optical microscope. An apertured fiber probe tip is used as an emitter of excitation laser as well as a collector of luminescence from GaAs. Due to the Fabry-Perot etalon effect, the excitation laser is reflected or transmitted with an oscillation period of λ._He-Ne/2 as the gap between the tip and the GaAs surface varies. The luminescence from GaAs also varies with an oscillation period of λ_GaAs/2 due to the same etalon effect. Therefore, the intensity of luminescence light collected by the probe tip shows a beating between two oscillations of different periods. When the probe approaches the GaAs surface, the collected luminescence intensity increases due to tunneling of evanescent wave. On the other hand, when we collect the luminescence using a lens, the intensity also increases due to similar coupling of evanescent wave into propagating wave in spite of a shadowing effect of the wide metal coating.     

Single-frequency quasi-continuous red radiation generated by a green-pumped singly resonant optical parametric oscillator

We demonstrate the operation of a quasi-continuous-wave optical parametric oscillator (OPO) in the red part of the visible spectrum by direct pumping from a frequency-doubled quasi-continuous-wave Nd:YAG laser. The OPO is singly resonant and based on a MgO-doped periodically poled stoichiometric lithium tantalate crystal. A single-frequency 1.2 W output power is obtained when an etalon is inserted inside the cavity.     

Stability measurements of a tunable single frequency He-Ne laser by means of self-locking phenomena

In two previous papers [8, 9] a theory has been developed for the phenomenon of selflocking in a pressure broadened three mode He-Ne laser. Using this phenomenon, a new method of measuring the frequency stability of another laser is presented. Actual measurements of the frequency stability of a 633 nm single frequency He-Ne laser by means of this new method are reported. The design and construction of the single frequency laser is described briefly. Using an intracavity quartz etalon, multimode to single mode output power conversion efficiencies as high as 92% have been observed in the range of several mW. Continuous tuning over a frequency range of 1.2 GHz is achieved by a combination of etalon tilting and resonator length variation. A frequency stability better than 110⁸ over periods of several min has been realized.     

Influence of a Fabry–Perot etalon on a chirped optical pulse

Taking into consideration the fact that the output from a Fabry–Perot etalon is formed on the basis of the interference of the multi-reflected beams of the input pulse that enters the etalon, an analytical expression of the output pulse intensity has been derived for an input chirped Gaussian pulse passing through an etalon. Using the expression, the temporal width and the peak power of the output pulse is investigated. Results show that for a given etalon, the chirp factor and the width of the input pulse have intense effects on the width and the peak of the output pulse.     

Broadband and rapid tuning of an all-solid-state single-frequency Nd:YVO4 laser

A diode-pumped tunable single-frequency Nd:YVO₄ laser has been built. The laser incorporates a LiNbO₃ etalon (LE) as a coarse tuning element and a LiNbO₃ crystal (LC) as a fine tuning element to obtain broadband, rapid tuning. More than 480 mW of output power has been obtained from the tunable laser with frequency tuning range of 17.2 GHz and the tuning response time of 10 ns. PACS 42.55.Xi; 42.60.Da; 42.60.Fc; 42.60.Pk     

Laser mode selection in reflective multipass optical cavity

The performance of a simple resonator that couples a reflective multipass interferometer cavity and a Fabry-Pérot etalon to obtain high efficiency tunable single-longitudinal mode (SLM) oscillation in a TEA CO₂ laser is reported. A numerical model of the resonator was explained to predict the mode behavior of the laser as well as to optimize the resonator to achieve SLM operation, and the predicted mode characters are experimentally verified.     

Solid Fabry-Perot etalons for X-rays

Solid Fabry-Perot etalons for X-rays have been constructed using sputter deposition techniques, each etalon consisting of two Layered Synthetic Microstructures (LSM) Bragg diffraction structures separated by a carbon spacer. The individual LS mirrors contain fifteen tungsten layers (t_w = 8.5 Å) separated by carbon layers (t_c = 19.1 Å. The thick carbon spacers act as resonant cavities; for the structures reported on here the spacer thicknesses, t_sp, are 496.6 Å and 981 Å. The structures were characterized at grazing incidence in reflection using Cu Kα (λ = 1.5418 Å) radiation. The measured response of the etalons agrees well with calculation. Observed reflection efficiencies for Cu K_α were approximately 50 percent of that calculated. This discrepancy is believed to be the result of the interfacial roughness (～3.25 Å) between component layers and the sensitivity of the etalon response to the divergence of the incident X-ray beam.     

A tunable UV-light source for laser spectroscopy using second harmonic generation in β-BaB2O4

A -BaB₂O₄ (BBO) crystal is used to generate UV-light tunable in the range 230–303 nm by frequency doubling of an excimer-laser-pumped dye laser. This interval can be covered by a series of continuous scans of 0.25 nm (in the UV). During each scan the -BaB₂O₄ phase-matching angle is synchronized with the rotation of grating and etalon in the dye laser. The bandwidth of the frequency-doubled light is about 2 or 4 GHz depending on the dye laser etalon. The application is illustrated by a section of the one-photon excitation spectrum of Li₂ Rydberg molecules.     

Continuous-wave operation of a single-frequency optical parametric oscillator at 4-5 microm based on periodically poled LiNbO3

We present a cw, Nd:YAG-pumped singly resonant single-frequency narrow-linewidth high-power optical parametric oscillator with idler tuning from 3.7 to 4.7 microm. In this spectral range the absorption of the idler wave in the LiNbO3 crystal is significant, causing the oscillation threshold to increase with a subsequent decrease in output power from 1.2 W at 3.9 microm to 120 mW at 4.7 microm. The optical parametric oscillator's cavity was stabilized and mode-hop tuned with a rotatable solid etalon but with a subsequent reduction in idler power of as much as 50%. We demonstrated the usefulness for spectroscopy by recording the photoacoustic spectrum of a strong CO2 absorption, using a 24-GHz continuous idler scan.     

System for precise measurement in inverse Raman spectroscopy

A system for precise measurement was developed for inverse Raman spectroscopy, using a cw argon laser and a pulsed dye laser pumped by a YAG laser. The frequency accuracy was assured by monitoring the frequency of both of the lasers with an iodine fluorescence cell or a Fabry-Perot etalon dynamically calibrated by a stabilized HeNe laser. The spectrometer system employed a digitally controlled mechanism to handle the complicated measurement procedure and hence to reduce the overall measurement time. The performance of the system was tested by measuring the CH₄ v₁ lines and the H₂ Q(1) line.     

Enhancement of the recoilless fraction in R2Fe10Co4Si2 (R=Gd, Er, Y) offstoichiometric compounds after hydrogenation

Samples of R₂Fe₁₀Co₄Si₂ (R=Gd, Er and Y) solid solutions were prepared by arc melting and exposed to hydrogenation. Characterization of hydrogenation effects was done using Mössbauer spectroscopy. The values of the magnetic hyperfine fields corresponding to the four inequivalent lattice sites were found to increase after hydrogenation in all offstoichiometric compounds investigated. Slight changes in the relative site occupancies were observed. Transmission Mössbauer spectra were also recorded for absorbers consisting of the intermetallic and the stainless steel etalon. The recoilless fraction was derived from these spectra using the method developed by us. Our study is the first to evidence that the recoilless fraction is enhanced after hydrogenation.