Optical systems for high-power laser applications: principles and design aspects

Starting from the optical properties of laser beams, the requirements of optical systems for manipulating laser radiation in industrial applications are derived. The relevant parameters, relations to the diffraction limit and the state-of-the-art design techniques are discussed. The three important types of lasers for use in industrial materials processing operate at wavelengths ranging from the infrared (10.6 m, CO₂ laser; 1.06 m, Nd:YAG) to the ultraviolet region (excimer lasers). Each wavelength range is associated with specific design challenges. The scarcity of suitable refractive materials for the 10 m wavelength range and the ultraviolet below 300 nm is a major constraint. Reflective systems are used widely at the longer wavelength, but some designs suffer from coma. The 1.06 m radiation from the Nd:YAG laser can make use of many well-developed optical means for handling visible light. Energy transport by optical fibres is commonly used. Optical systems for excimer laser applications are specific in that they image a mask onto a workpiece, and use the high photon energy and the high definition possible with the short wavelength for precision micro-machining.     

Pulsed laser crystallization of hydrogen-free a-Si thin films for high-mobility poly-Si TFT fabrication

The possibility to fabricate high-mobility polysilicon TFTs by nanosecond pulsed laser crystallization of unhydrogenated amorphous Si thin films has been investigated. Two types of lasers have been used: a large area ( 1 cm²) single ArF excimer laser pulse and a small diameter ( 100 m) frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser beam, working in the scanning regime. Processed films have been characterized in detail by different optical and microscopic techniques. Device performances indicate that the best results are achieved with the excimer laser leading to high mobility values (up to 140 cm²/Vs) which are much larger than in polysilicon TFTs fabricated onto the same quartz substrates by low-temperature thermal (630° C) crystallization of amorphous Si films (_fe55 cm²/Vs).     

The lasing mechanism of nuclear-pumped IR lasers at krypton and argon atomic transitions

For studying the lasing mechanism of nuclear-pumped IR lasers at krypton and argon atomic transitions, the kinetics of the plasma process is considered and computations are made for the energy and threshold characteristics of He-Kr (=2.52 m) and He-Ar (=1.79 m) lasers excited by uranium fission fragments. The calculated optimal pressures, mixture compositions, laser output powers and threshold characteristics agree satisfactorily with the experimental ones.     

Excimer lithography for ULSI

A brief review of excimer lithography for ULSI is presented with an emphasis on the recent progress made in KrF excimer stepper technology. In particular, the types of projection optics, excimer laser and the related performance of steppers are explained in detail. The resist patterns obtained with a recent excimer stepper are shown. Although there are many problems to be overcome for future lithography, it is anticipated that not only 0.35 m design rules but also 0.20 to 0.25 m design rules will be achieved using excimer lasers.     

Recent developments in photonic devices for telecommunication applications in Taiwan

We report recent activities and achievements on the development of photonic devices for telecommunication applications. Opto-electronic devices such as high performance 1.55 m complex-coupled InGaAsP-InP distributed feedback (DFB) and 1.3 m uncooled AllnGaAs-InP lasers, the InGaAs-InP p-i-n photodetector on semi-insulating substrate, the 0.98 m InGaAs-GaAs-InGaP pumping laser, and 12-channel laser and detector arrays, are presented. Work on the development of in-house vertical integration for the fabrication of a 1.55 m single frequency transmitter, a 1.3 m multimode transmitter and receiver, and an Er-doped fibre amplifier, and their applications in system trials in the Taiwan National Information Infrastructure network, is described.     

Actively mode-locked 1.3 and 1.55 μm InGaAsP diode lasers

Active mode-locking of uncoated InGaAsP diode lasers having an external diffraction grating cavity was investigated experimentally. A high frequency r.f. signal and short-duration electrical pulses were used to drive the lasers. The pulse duration was measured by an ultrafast streak camera. Pulses as short as 13 ps at 1.3m and 29 ps at 1.55m were generated at a repetition rate of 1 GHz. The reason for obtaining broader pulses from the 1.55m laser which had the same structure as the 1.3m diode laser is explained.Formerly with GEC Hirst Research Centre, Wembley, Middlesex, UK.     

FIR gain measurements in cw laser pumped CH3OD

Direct measurements of small signal and saturated gain in cw laser pumped CH₃OD are reported for three lasing transitions of 57 m, 82 m and 103 m. The 57 m transition has a measured gain of 0.6/m, the strongest gain in methanol reported so far. Moreover small gain saturation of this line makes it to be one of the strongest known cw FIR laser lines.     

Positivity of entropy production in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics

We analyze different mechanisms of entropy production in statistical mechanics, and propose formulas for the entropy production ratee() in a state . When is steady state describing the long term behavior of a system we show thate()0, and sometimes we can provee()>0.     

Measurement of Optical Constants of CVD-Diamond for Short-Wavelength Far-Infrared Lasers

A diagnostic system using short-wavelength far-infrared (FIR) lasers (40–70 m in wavelength) is now being developed for high density and large volume plasmas. In the wavelength region, a CVD-diamond is the excellent materials for optical windows of the laser and the plasma vessel and beam splitters of a multichannel interferometer. To design these optical elements, the optical constants (refractive index n, absorption coefficient and transmissivity T) of the CVD-diamond have been measured precisely by using FIR lasers of 48-, 57- and 71-m in wavelength. As an example, the result for 57.1511 m light is n = 2.383(1) ± 0.002, = 0.19 ± 0.05 cm^-1 and T = 97.5 ± 1.5% at 1.023 mm in thickness.     

Future μCF program with pulsed muons at UTMSL/KEK and RIKEN/RAL

The present paper summarizes new experimental proposals on muon catalyzed fusion (CF) research with a sharply pulsed negative muon beam now available at the UTMSL/KEK facility and soon to be available in a more extensive way at the RIKEN/RAL facility. Special emphasis is placed on (1) CF studies on ultra-pure D-T mixture, (2) slow ^– beam production via CF, and (3) some exotic CF phenomena.     

Ultrashort in-plane semiconductor microlasers with high-reflectivity microstructured mirrors

We present very compact, as short as 20 m long, low-threshold in-plane semiconductor lasers operating at a wavelength of 980 nm, in which microstructured mirrors have been formed at both cavity ends by deep reactive ion etching (RIE). The back mirror consists of a seven-period third order Bragg reflector with a measured reflectivity of 95%. The front mirror has a similar configuration, but consists of three periods with a lower reflectivity (80%) in order to allow output coupling. Lasing has been achieved from 20 m long and 8 m wide devices exhibiting a current threshold of 7 mA. These are among the shortest in-plane Fabry–Perot electrically pumped lasers demonstrated to date. Design issues are discussed, along with experimental data from which values for the reflectivity of the mirrors are derived. State-of-the-art electron beam lithography (EBL) and high-aspect-ratio RIE have been used for device fabrication, while additional strategies are proposed for the further improvement of the device performance.     

Trilinear generally covariant equations

Field equations for n-frames h ^a that are possible in the theory of absolute parallelism are considered. It is shown that in three cases the equations can, after the substitution h ^a =H^pH ^a (H=det H ^a , p is an n-dependent constant), be written in a trilinear form that contains only the matrix H _a and its derivatives and not H ^a . It is shown that the equations are still regular for degenerate but finite matrices H _a if rank H _a 2.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 2, pp. 22–27, February, 1991.     

Fabrication and characteristics of double-fused vertical-cavity lasers

We discuss the fabrication process and characteristics of three consecutive runs of double-fused 1.5-m vertical-cavity lasers. We have measured light-current characteristics of over three hundred lasers with ten different diameters between 6 and 60 m and observe a yield of over 95%. The process and design improvements resulted in a low pulsed threshold current of 3 mA on a number of 6- and 8-m-diameter devices and threshold current density of 2 kA cm^–2 on 60-m-diameter devices at room temperature.     

Strong far-infrared laser action in carbonyl fluoride and vinyl fluoride

Intense far-infrared laser action is reported for carbonyl fluoride and vinyl fluoride. Eleven new lines with wavelengths between 339 m538 m were obtained by optically pumping carbonyl fluoride with numerous lines of the 10.4 m band of a cw CO₂ laser. Twenty-three lines with wavelengths in the range 172 m783 m were detected when pumping the recently discovered efficient FIR laser molecule vinyl fluoride. In addition, three very weak new lines were found using 1.1-difluoroethylen.     

High efficiency cw far infrared lasers at 119 μm and 127 μm

The optically pumped FIR laser lines at 119 m from CH₃OH and at 127 m from¹³CD₃OH are known to be the most powerful in the far infrared spectral region. We report on efficiency measurements for our waveguide laser system. The effect of various parameters was investigated, resulting in the highest efficiency ever reported for the 119 m line. The Stark effect and others parameters of the 127 m were measured, and a new¹³CD₃OH laser line at 175 m discovered, with the same pump transition. These measurements are helpful for completing the assignment already proposed for the 127 m line.     

Compact, high power FIR NH3 laser pumped in a three mirror CO2 laser cavity

A compact CO₂–NH₃ FIR laser system where an NH₃ laser cavity was inserted in pump, three mirror CO₂ laser cavity was designed. The total length of this system was about 1.8 m. Output energy of about 1 mJ (10 KW pea power) was obtained at the 152 m and 90 m lines in NH₃. Power conversion efficiency of 1.7 percent was obtained at the 90 m line.     

Light absorption in laser-heated cavities

The absorption of laser light in 0.25–1 mm diameter gold cavities, irradiated for the purpose of generating high-temperature blackbody radiation with intense laser radiation of either =0.44 m or =1.3 m wavelength, was investigated. For =0.44 m radiation the absorption exceeded 0.9 for all conditions, but dropped to only 0.3 for the smallest cavities irradiated at =1.3 m. Entrance hole and cavity filling with plasma seems important for the understanding of the observations.     

Submillimeter emission lines from CD2Cl2 optically pumped lasers

Fifty-five new submillimeter laser lines from optically pumped CD₂Cl₂, have been obtained in a FIR metallic waveguide resonator. Twenty-seven lines, ranging from 184 m to 1387 m, and twenty-eight lines, from 219 m to 888 m, have been observed when using CW CO₂ laser and CW N₂O laser optical pumping, respectively. The accuracy of wavelength measurements are of the order of 3.10^–3.     

The refractivity of CO2 gas in the region of 10 μm

The refractivity of the CO₂ gas is measured with an experimental error of 2% in the 10-m region, using 10.4-m band CO₂ laser line. The frequency of the CO₂ laser is swept through the Doppler profile of the laser line. The experiment is achieved using a 0.63-m He–Ne/10.6-m CO₂-laser interferometer with a 2-m long vacuum cell. From the result, it is found that the Koch's formula also holds for the wavelengths in the 10-m region within an accuracy of 2%.     

A Strategy for a Vanishing Cosmological Constant in the Presence of Scale Invariance Breaking

Recent work has shown that complex quantum field theory emerges as a statistical mechanical approximation to an underlying noncommutative operator dynamics based on a total trace action. In this dynamics, scale invariance of the trace action becomes the statement 0 = Re Tr T , with T the operator stress energy tensor, and with Tr the trace over the underlying Hilbert space. We show that this condition implies the vanishing of the cosmological constant and vacuum energy in the emergent quantum field theory. However, since the scale invariance condition does not require the operator T to vanish, the spontaneous breakdown of scale invariance is still permitted.