折叠式角锥棱镜谐振腔的偏振特性理论与实验研究

建立了角锥棱镜的偏振模型,分析了角锥棱镜对入射线偏振光的偏振态的影响,分析表明角锥棱镜的单个入射区域存在特殊的偏振方向,该方向的线偏振光被角锥棱镜反射后仍然是线偏振光。利用角锥棱镜的该特性设计了腔内存在线偏振光振荡的角锥棱镜激光谐振腔,能够使用电光开关调Q,在振动环境中具有较好的抗失调稳定性。研制了激光器样机并进行了实验,在重复频率为10 Hz时,输出激光单脉冲能量大于300 mJ,光束质量因子β值在2左右,实验结果也表明角锥棱镜的棱和顶点并不影响输出激光的光束质量。     

1064nm角立方反射镜的偏振特性分析

利用TFCalc3.5薄膜设计软件设计出了对1064nm和500nm附近双波长高反射的理想膜系,并用琼斯算法对由1064nm高反射镜组成的角立方反射镜(外反射)的偏振特性进行了详细的分析与计算,得到了各种情况下角立方反射镜的本征值和本征向量,并分析得出了1064nm高反射镜的位相延迟δ=180°时,任意偏振状态的光经角立方反射镜后偏振状态保持不变。     

A high-efficient method for generating radially and azimuthally polarized Bessel beams using biaxial crystals

As was shown previously, in propagation of a circularly polarized Bessel light beam along the optical axes of a biaxial crystal, there takes place the conversion of the order of Bessel function. In this paper, a new result is presented which is obtained by varying the polarization state of an input beam. Namely, a linearly polarized beam can be transformed into a beam with the radial or azimuthal polarization state. At that the order-transformation also occurs. The switching between radial and azimuthal polarization states of the output beam is performed by the proper switching between two orthogonal linear polarization states of the input beam. The efficiency of polarization conversion is high and can be practically full at an appropriate choice of the cone angle of the input beam or crystal length.     

Diffraction of an ultrashort pulsed beam with arbitrary polarization state from a volume holographic grating in LiNbO3 crystals

Based on a modified coupled wave theory of Kogelnik, we have studied the diffraction of an ultrashort pulsed beam with an arbitrary polarization state from a volume holographic grating in photorefractive LiNbO₃ crystals. The results indicate that the diffracted intensity distributions in the spectral and temporal domains and the diffraction efficiency of the grating are both changed by the polarization state and spectral bandwidth of the input pulsed beam. A method is given of choosing the grating parameters and input conditions to obtain a large variation range of the spectral bandwidth of the diffracted pulsed beam with an appropriate diffraction efficiency. Our study presents a possibility of using a volume holographic grating recorded in anisotropic materials to shape a broadband ultrashort pulsed beam by modulating its polarization state.     

Reduction of turbulence-induced scintillation by nonuniformly polarized beam arrays

We have explored a method to reduce turbulence-induced scintillation by using an incoherent beam array composed of beamlets with nonuniform polarization. It is shown that significant scintillation reduction of such an incoherent beam array can be obtained by using nonuniformly polarized beamlets whose scintillation properties are optimized.     

The polarization property and irradiance distribution of incoherent and coherent Gaussian beam combinations

Based on the beam coherence-polarization (BCP) matrix, the polarization property of coherent and incoherent Gaussian beam combinations is studied in detail. The general expressions for the degree of polarization P of the resulting beam in case of incoherent and coherent combinations are derived. It is shown that P is dependent on the incoherent or coherent combination, propagation distance, separation, azimuth of the polarization plane and numbers of beamlets in general. The irradiance distribution of the resulting beam for the coherent cases depends on the azimuth of the polarization plane of beamlets. However, for the incoherent case it does not.     

抽运角锥棱镜腔电光调Q固体激光器

利用角锥棱镜的退偏效应实现了电光调Q固体激光器的偏振耦合输出.器件采用热传导冷却半圆柱面LD阵列侧向泵浦Nd∶YAG泵浦几何,获得在20 Hz运行条件下,脉冲能量163 mJ/pulse、脉冲宽度6.5 ns、发散角3.5 mrad、能量稳定性±2.8％、光光效率16.7％的理想性能.与传统平行平面腔相比,具有效率高、峰值功率大、输出能量和脉宽可调,且输出稳定等优点.     

A low-finesse Fabry–Pérot interferometer for use in displacement measurements with applications in absolute gravimetry

A low-finesse Fabry–Pérot interferometer is used to determine long and fast displacements. Two corner cube reflectors form the traveling-wave cavity and one beam splitter couples the input collimated laser beam. Given the retro-directive property of corner cube reflectors, the cavity operates at the edge of stability over an extended scanning range. The in-line scheme with a single fixed optical component makes the proposed interferometer robust and easy to align and use. These characteristics are particularly useful in applications running in noisy environments, such as in on-field absolute gravimetry. Experimental data showing the performances reached in a transportable ballistic gravimeter are also presented.     

角锥阵列改善固体热容激光器光束质量

 为改善光束远场质量,探索研究了角锥反射器的应用,利用角锥棱镜的准相位共轭特性,将角锥棱镜阵列作为热容激光器的后腔镜,抑制腔内波前畸变,并通过数值模拟计算对角锥阵列的单元边长进行优化设计。实验结果表明:角锥阵列对光束远场质量有明显的改善,当角锥阵列的单元边长为4 mm时,实现光束远场7倍衍射极限输出。     

角锥棱镜阵列谐振腔的输出特性

 角锥棱镜阵列具有溯源反射和准相位共轭两大特点,可在一定程度上补偿高平均功率固体激光器的热畸变。但由于这种角锥棱镜阵列自身的缺陷和由它构成的谐振腔输出激光模式众多的特点,限制了其在谐振腔中的应用。分析了角锥棱镜阵列谐振腔产生多模输出的原因,提出了采用腔内滤波的方法实现单模输出。理论模拟和实验研究结果表明：利用该方法可较好地改善阵列角锥棱镜谐振腔的输出特性,获得了近5倍衍射极限的输出。     

High-power electro-optic switch technology based on novel transparent ceramic

A novel high-power polarization-independent electro-optic switch technology based on a reciprocal structure Sagnac interferometer and a transparent quadratic electro-optic ceramic is proposed and analyzed theoretically and experimentally.The electro-optic ceramic is used as a phase retarder for the clockwise and counter-clockwise polarized light, and their polarization directions are adjusted to their orthogonal positions by using two half-wave plates. The output light then becomes polarization-independent with respect to the polarization direction of the input light. The switch characteristics, including splitter ratios and polarization states, are theoretically analyzed and simulated in detail by the matrix multiplication method.An experimental setup is built to verify the analysis and experimental results. A new component ceramic is used and a nonpolarizing cube beam splitter(NPBS) replaces the beam splitter(BS) to lower the ON/OFF voltage to 305 V and improve the extinction ratio by 2 d B. Finally, the laser-induced damage threshold for the proposed switch is measured and discussed.It is believed that potential applications of this novel polarization-independent electro-optic switch technology will be wide,especially for ultrafast high-power laser systems.     

LD抽运角锥棱镜腔电光调Q固体激光器

利用角锥棱镜的退偏效应实现了电光调Q固体激光器的偏振耦合输出.器件采用热传导冷却半圆柱面LD阵列侧向泵浦Nd:YAG泵浦几何,获得在20 Hz运行条件下,脉冲能量163 mJ/pulse、脉冲宽度6.5 ns、发散角3.5 mrad、能量稳定性土2.8%、光光效率16.7%的理想性能.与传统平行平面腔相比,具有效率高、峰值功率大、输出能量和脉宽可调,且输出稳定等优点.     

球面角锥棱镜非稳腔钕玻璃激光器

为了将虚共焦非稳腔输出光束质量高和角锥棱镜谐振腔具有免调试的优点结合到一起,提出了用球面角锥棱镜构成虚共焦非稳腔的方案。利用已有虚共焦非稳腔钕玻璃激光器,设计加工了一球面角锥棱镜非稳腔钕玻璃激光器。模拟计算了两谐振腔输出光束的模式分布,然后对两钕玻璃激光器进行了实验对比研究。结果表明:实验得到的模式分布与模拟计算结果相吻合,球面角锥棱镜非稳腔钕玻璃激光器与虚共焦非稳腔钕玻璃激光器分别获得了最大2176.9J和2340.6J的能量输出,二者的电光效率与束散基本相同,分别为4.3%,0.30mrad和4.6%,0.26mrad。     

Changes in the state of polarization of partially coherent flat-topped beam in turbulent atmosphere for different source conditions

The polarization states, i.e. the size, the shape and the orientation of the polarization ellipse of partially coherent flat-topped (PCFT) beams passing through atmospheric turbulence are studied in detail. The effects are studied of different source conditions on the polarization states of a PCFT beam propagating through atmospheric turbulence. Based on the unified theory of the polarization states for random electromagnetic beams, we have established the detailed formula for calculating the change of the polarization states of such beams. The polarization states behavior of PCFT beams passing through atmospheric turbulence for any arbitrary order of a flat-topped beam “N” under different source conditions were investigated.     

用角锥棱镜阵列抑制低频波前畸变

 分析了角锥棱镜阵列“准”位相共轭特性的原理；采用模拟计算的方法，验证了角锥棱镜阵列对低频波前畸变的抑制作用，并研究了其单元数的优化，指出了该方法的局限性和有效应用范围。研究结果表明，采用该方法能有效地提高畸变激光束的焦斑能量集中度，对于抑制双程同轴激光系统的大幅动态低频波前畸变具有现实的应用意义。     

透射型光折变体全息光栅对超短脉冲激光光束衍射的特性

在Kogelnik耦合波理论的基础上,考虑光栅记录介质的色散效应的影响,研究了光折变体全息光栅对不同偏振状态的超短脉冲激光光束衍射的性质,讨论了高斯型入射脉冲激光光束的谱宽与光栅的有效衍射谱宽之比不同时,衍射和透射光束的光谱宽度、时间宽度、波形和衍射效率的变化。结果表明,光栅的有效衍射谱宽受光栅参量及入射条件的影响,对衍射性质的影响很大,且在考虑光栅记录介质的色散效应时减小。当入射脉冲的偏振方向垂直于入射面时,光栅的有效衍射谱宽大于偏振方向平行于入射面的情形,衍射效率在入射脉冲宽度较大时小于偏振方向平行于入射面的情形;谱宽比较大时,衍射光束的时间分布曲线产生展宽和变形,且比偏振方向平行于入射面的情形展宽和变形得更加明显。     

Polarization controller using nematic liquid crystals

In this Letter we demonstrate a polarization controller capable of changing any state of polarization of light from one arbitrary state to another. The controller consists of a stack of three homogeneous nematic liquid-crystal cells. The polarization state is controlled by proper adjustment of the voltages applied across each of the cells. The mathematical algorithm and principles of this polarization controller are developed in the framework of the Stokes parameters, allowing easy visualization by use of a Poincaré sphere representation. The transformation functions are given for conversion of an arbitrary input state to any output state. Experiments are carried out to demonstrate arbitrary polarization transformation.     

Measurement and study of the embedding impedance presented by the whisker antenna of a schottky diode corner cube mixer

A 250× scale model of a Schottky diode corner cube mixer designed for operation in the terahertz region has been built and tested. It has been successfully used to measure the embedding impedance presented to the diode at the whisker tip and also determine the impedance of the whisker antenna itself. The results have been input into a computer analysis to determine as to how the performance may be improved. With regards to improving the physical ruggedness of such mixers, a simple equivalent whisker structure has been determined and a new technique that may be used to fabricate a space qualifiable corner cube mixer intended for terahertz operation is disclosed.     

Microscopy of non-birefringent transmissive phase samples using Sagnac laser interferometer

A cyclic interferometer, appropriately combined with a long working distance microscope objective, is adapted for quantitative phase microscopy. In such an arrangement, the sample information, in terms of the diffracted orders emerging from the sample, is carried by both the counter propagating beams within the cyclic interferometer. However, positioning the sample close to the input/output cube beam splitter and use of a suitably converging laser beam of light as the input to the interferometer ensure that only one of the counter propagating beams carries the object information to the objective while the other beam, which serves as the reference, allows only the undiffracted component to contribute to the process of image formation. Use of suitable polarization optics renders the interferometer its polarization phase shifting property. Using the proposed arrangement, the experimental results showing the quantitative 3D phase rendering of polystyrene microspheres and micro-wells etched in glass are presented.     

Polarization control in spun and telecommunication optical fibers

We consider the counterpropagating interaction of a signal and a pump beam in a spun fiber and in a randomly birefringent fiber, the latter being relevant to optical telecommunication systems. On the basis of a geometrical analysis of the Hamiltonian singularities of the system, we provide a complete understanding of the phenomenon of polarization attraction in these two systems, which allows to achieve a control of the polarization state of the signal beam by adjusting the polarization of the pump. In spun fibers, all polarization states of the signal beam are attracted toward a specific line of polarization states on the Poincaré sphere, whose characteristics are determined by the polarization state of the injected backward pump. In randomly birefringent telecommunication fibers, we show that an unpolarized signal beam can be repolarized into any particular polarization state, without loss of energy.