Femtosecond laser ablation of ZnO nanorods for two-photon-pumped random lasing and optical data storage

Femtosecond laser ablation based on two-photon absorption was employed to cut ZnO nanorods into uniform ZnO nanoparticles of deep subwavelength size. The fabricated ZnO nanoparticles possess a shorter mean transport length for photons at the emission wavelength and a much smaller scattering cross section at the pump wavelength, leading to highly efficient two-photon-pumped random lasing with a low threshold of ??8?mJ/cm². It was demonstrated that the significant enhancement in two-photon luminescence after the irradiation of femtosecond laser pulses could also be utilized for realizing optical data storage.     

Particle acceleration by stimulated emission of radiation near a solid-state active medium

We report acceleration of electrons moving in free space near an active Nd:YAG slab. The power of a non-relativistic beam of electrons has increased by more than 30% when the medium was excited. It is demonstrated experimentally that the energy gained by the electrons is linearly proportional to the energy stored in the medium. Moreover, the energy gain traces closely the population inversion inferred by monitoring the spontaneous radiation.     

Phase of radiation from stimulated emission

With the help of the quantum theory of radiation, it is shown that the stimulated radiation from an atom has the same direction and phase dependence as the incident stimulating radiation.     

Strong amplified spontaneous emission and lasing from a narrow-gap RF-excited Ar-He-Xe gas mixture

The performance of a RF excited cw atomic xenon laser at wavelengths of 2.03 μm and 2.65 μm was studied theoretically and experimentally as a function of electrode distance. Results for inter-electrode distances from 2 to 0.25 mm are presented. A high pumping rate resulted in strong 40 mW cw amplified spontaneous emission at 2.65 μm wavelength from the configuration with the smallest distance of 0.25 mm between the electrodes. The maximum laser output of 2.7 W (0.24 W/cm³) was obtained with an active medium volume of 2×15×370 mm³ whereas the maximum specific output of 1.9 W/cm³ was received for an active medium volume of 0.25×2.25×370 mm³. A fluid model of the RF discharge was developed to analyze the laser behavior for different distances between the electrodes. Received: 30 November 1999 / Revised version: 21 April 2000 / Published online: 6 September 2000     

Random lasing in strongly disordered medium

Using the time-dependent theory, we calculate the random-laser emission spectra in a two-dimensional strongly disordered medium. The calculation results show that in low dimensional systems, such as thin- film disordered media and planar waveguides, the larger the difference of the refractive indices between the scattering and background media, the smaller the lasing threshold. We also reveal the existence of multi-mode survival and mode competition. We experimentally obtain the emission spectra of a dye solution with Al particles doped at different pumping energies, and the experimental results agree well with the calculated ones.     

Dynamic nonlinear effect on lasing in a random medium

We have studied both experimentally and numerically the dynamic effect of nonlinearity on lasing in disordered medium. The third-order nonlinearity not only changes the frequency and size of lasing modes, but also modifies the laser emission intensity and laser pulse width. When the nonlinear response time is longer than the lifetime of the lasing mode, the nonlinearity changes the laser output through modifying the size of the lasing mode. When the nonlinear response is faster than the buildup of the lasing mode, positive nonlinearity always extracts more laser emission from the random medium due to the enhancement of single particle scattering.     

Random lasing in porous scattering medium

The spectrum behavior evolution and the threshold of random lasing depending on the way of photon walk randomization in an active random medium were investigated. The following three ways of photon walk randomization were implemented: multiple light scattering by corundum and silica particles embedded into a solid polymer solution of dye (astrafloxin), multiple light reflection at sub-millimeter extensive air pores (mean diameter 200 μm) produced in the medium, and the combined action of both these effects. The most effective lasing is observed in the case of an active medium with air pores and scattering particles in the interpore space. Such a combined porous scattering medium acts as a network of dielectric waveguides transmitting effectively the random light. This spatial structure of the random active medium significantly increases the photon path in the medium, thereby promoting photon multiplication due to stimulated emission. In this combined medium the random lasing reveals the narrowest spectrum, the lowest threshold, and the highest density of spectral energy in the spectrum maximum.     

Dual Q-switched laser outputs from a single lasing medium using an intracavity MEMS micromirror array

An intracavity array of individually controlled microelectromechanical system scanning micromirrors was used to actively Q-switch a single side-pumped Nd:YAG gain medium. Two equal power independent laser outputs were simultaneously obtained by separate actuation of two adjacent micromirrors with a combined average output power of 125?mW. Pulse durations of 28?ns FWHM at 8.7?kHz repetition frequency and 34?ns FWHM at 7.9?kHz repetition frequency were observed for the two output beams with beam quality factors M² of 1.2 and 1.1 and peak powers of 253?W and 232?W, respectively.     

Low-threshold lasing in stimulated Raman lasers with nanosecond pumping

We have studied the conditions resulting in maximum lowering of the excitation threshold for pulsed stimulated Raman (SRS) lasers. It has been shown theoretically that in order to achieve the lowest possible values of laser radiation pulse energy needed to excite lasing in SRS lasers, we need high reflection of the cavity mirrors and low losses at the wavelength of the 1st Stokes component, high reflection of the output mirror at the wavelength of the pump radiation, and also matching of the confocal parameters for the exciting laser radiation and the cavity with each other and with the length of the Raman-active medium. The experimentally achieved excitation threshold for an SRS laser based on a barium nitrate crystal was 6 μJ, which quantitatively corresponds well to the calculation results. Lasing of up to five Stokes components simultaneously occurred. The efficiency for conversion of the laser radiation to one component was as high as 39%. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 75, No. 2, pp. 284–290, March–April, 2008.     

Stress-induced stimulated emission from excitonic molecule in CdS

Stimulated emission has been observed at the M line (2.543 eV) in optically excited CdS crystals under an applied uniaxial stress perpendicular to the C axis at 4.2 K. This emission is strongly polarized with an electric vector parallel to the applied stress. The observed polarization characteristics are successfully accounted for by assuming a radiative annihilation of an excitonic molecule, providing an experimental evidence for ascribing this emission to the excitonic molecule in CdS.     

Theory of stimulated nonresonant emission from relativistic beams

A study is made of the radiative Pierce instability of a relativistic electron beam in a waveguide stabilized by an infinitely strong magnetic field. Analytical and computational methods are used to determine the growth rate of the instability, as well as the efficiency for conversion of the beam energy into electromagnetic field energy as a function of the beam current, how relativistic the beam is, and the geometry of the system. The physical nature of the instability is clarified and the mechanisms for its saturation are discussed. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 2037–2050 (June 1999)     

Fresnel filtering in lasing emission from scarred modes of wave-chaotic optical resonators

We study lasing emission from asymmetric resonant cavity GaN microlasers. By comparing far-field intensity patterns with images of the microlaser we find that the lasing modes are concentrated on three-bounce unstable periodic ray orbits; i.e., the modes are scarred. The high-intensity emission directions of these scarred modes are completely different from those predicted by applying Snell's law to the ray orbit. This effect is due to the process of "Fresnel filtering" which occurs when a beam of finite angular spread is incident at the critical angle for total internal reflection.     

Amplified spontaneous emission and laser emission from a high optical-gain medium of dye-doped dendrimer

We measured the amplified spontaneous emission and laser emission from high-gain media of laser-dye encapsulated dendrimers. A highly branched poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM-OH) dendrimer formed a guest-host complex with a conventional laser-dye (DCM), resulting in a high optical-gain. Of particular note was the appearance of a laser threshold, above which a super-narrowed laser spectrum was observed, although laser feedback was caused without any mirror cavity devices. The optical feedback was attributed to spatial confinement of the light due to gain guiding under optical excitation. The laser spectrum clearly indicated a resonant laser-mode with a spectrum linewidth of less than 0.1 nm. This order of spectrum narrowing is comparable to that seen in the laser emission from ordinary laser devices.     

The futility of observing stimulated gamma-ray emission from a long-lived isomeric state

Summary We reveal the fallacies in recent gamma-ray laser schemes that propose to obtain gain by stimulating transitions from a long-lived upper to a short-lived lower nuclear state. We point out the errors in recent derivations of the stimulated-emission coefficients, derive the correct formulae, and submit an alternative explanation for an experiment purported to observe stimulated emission from a long-lived isomer.     

Collective spontaneous emission of dye molecules and lasing

The threshold pump power density for lasing in dye solutions is found to depend on the photon energy of pumping radiation. An increase in the pumping photon energy can significantly lower the threshold pump power of dye lasers. For an ethanol solution of rhodamine 6G with a concentration of 4×10¹⁸ cm^?3, the threshold power density for pumping radiation with a wavelength of 532 nm is 20-fold higher than for pumping radiation with a wavelength of 347 nm. This phenomenon is associated with the competition of collective spontaneous emission, which can lead to the efficient deactivation of excited molecules in femtosecond times, and the dephasing of excited molecules due to the intramolecular nonradiative processes of absorbed-energy conversion. An increase in the dephasing rate with the increasing energy of exciting photons lowers the efficiency of collective spontaneous emission and increases the concentration of dephased excited molecules responsible for lasing.     

Raman lasing with a cold atom gain medium in a high-finesse optical cavity

We demonstrate a Raman laser using cold (87)Rb atoms as the gain medium in a high-finesse optical cavity. We observe robust continuous wave lasing in the atypical regime where single atoms can considerably affect the cavity field. Consequently, we discover unusual lasing threshold behavior in the system causing jumps in lasing power, and propose a model to explain the effect. We also measure the intermode laser linewidth, and observe values as low as 80 Hz. The tunable gain properties of this laser suggest multiple directions for future research.