Compact high-energy picosecond laser for micromachining applications

Picosecond pulse generation by active mode locking and subsequent regenerative amplification in a Nd:vanadate laser crystal has been realized in one and the same cavity using the all-in-one laser concept. An active prelasing stabilization loop has been implemented acting on the mode locker, allowing stable operation up to repetition rates as high as 3 kHz. Sub-30-ps pulses with an energy of 800 J have been achieved, constituting the highest peak power and the highest average output power ever demonstrated by means of the all-in-one approach. The combination of compact design, high peak and average power along with a near-diffraction-limited beam profile makes this source a promising tool for precision micromachining applications. PACS 42.60.Da; 42.62.Cf; 42.65.Re     

High efficiency discharge-pumped XeCl laser

Received: 19 March 1997/Revised version: 7 August 1997     

Superradiative rare gas halide lasers excited by electric discharge

Nd_xLa_1−xP₅O₁₄ (0.25≦x≦1) single crystals, placed within a confocal optical resonator, were pumped with ruby laser fundamental and second-harmonic nanosecond pulses. In both cases laser oscillations at 1.05 μm exceeding in duration many times the pumping pulse were obtained.     

初始充气密度对毛细管放电泵浦的软X射线激光的影响

 利用哈尔滨工业大学的毛细管放电装置的放电参数，对放电过程中毛细管内初始氩气密度的变化对等离子体状态和类氖氩离子3p-3s跃迁线的增益系统的影响进行了全过程的理论模拟计算。给出了毛细管放电中等离子体状态和增益系数的空间分布的时间演变过程。理论计算表明能够出现增益的密度范围比较宽，这对于实验是有利的。现有放电参数下，选取初始氩气密度在气压为40~80 Pa情况对获取好的实现结果是比较理想的。     

Rapid discharge-pumped wide aperture X-ray preionized KrF laser

A wide aperture X-ray preionized discharge-pumped KrF excimer laser has been constructed. A flat plate pulse-forming line (36 nF, 340 kV) charges a peaking capacitor (6 nF) through a rail-gap to facilitate a rapid discharge in the laser head. Collimated X-ray preionization is employed to obtain a wide and uniform discharge. The laser is intended to be used as a short pulse amplifier and results are presented when characterized as an oscillator. The active cross-section of the laser beam is 10×8 cm² with 50 cm effective electrode length. The laser pulse energy exceeds 4.7 J in a 28 ns pulse (FWHM).     

Compact gas sensor using a pulsed difference-frequency laser spectrometer

We present a novel compact pulsed laser spectrometer based on difference-frequency mixing of a cw tunable external-cavity diode laser (795-825 nm) and a pulsed Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm) in bulk LiNbO(3) . The pulsed mid-IR source is continuously tunable from 3.16 to 3.67microm and exhibits a linewidth of only 154 MHz, a peak power of approximately 50microW , and a pulse duration of 6 ns at a 6.5-kHz repetition rate. Spectra of methane in room air and formaldehyde have been recorded at room-temperature operation in a multipass cell with deduced detection limits of 10 and 40 parts in 10(9) , respectively.     

Compact laser difference-frequency spectrometer for multicomponent trace gas detection

2 O), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and sulfur dioxide (SO₂). Real-time detection of CO, N₂O, and CO₂ was performed in open air over a path length of 5 to 18 m. The feasibility of DFG spectroscopic measurement of the ¹³C/¹²C and ¹⁸O/¹⁷O/¹⁶O isotopic ratios in atmospheric carbon dioxide was also investigated. We report what to our knowledge is the first simultaneous spectroscopic measurement of all three isotopes of oxygen in ambient CO₂. Received: 14 August 1997/Revised version: 3 November 1997     

Compact and high-energy diode-side-pumped Q-switched Nd:YAG slab laser system for space application

We develop a compact and high-energy Nd：YAG slab laser system consisting of an oscillator and an amplifier for space applications. The oscillator is a diode-side-pumped electro-optically Q-switched slab laser with a cross-Porro resonator. The KD＊P Pockels cell with a low driving voltage of 950 V is used to polarization output coupling. The amplifier is a Nd：YAG zigzag slab pumped at bounces. The maximum output pulse energy of 341 m3 with 13 ns pulse duration is obtained from the system at the repetition rate of 20 Hz and the beam quality factors are M2=3.1 and M2=3.5. The beam pointing stabilities of the laser system are 3.05μrad in the X-direction and 3.99 grad in the Y-direction, respectively.     

用于ps脉冲放大的大口径放电泵浦KrF激光器

 以简单的火花间隙作为放电开关，建立了一种用于ps脉冲激光放大的大口径放电泵浦KrF准分子激光器。该激光器的有效增益口径截面为4cm×3cm，在自由运转情况下最大激光输出能量为1.3J，脉宽20ns。用作ps放大器时，利用光学偏振放大方式获得了激光能量140mJ，脉冲宽度10ps的激光输出。利用XeCl激光泵浦的染料激光作为探针测量了不同放电条件下和不同气分比条件下激光的增益和吸收系数。     

Small rare gas clusters in XUV laser pulses

Semi-classical molecular dynamics simulations of small rare gas clusters in short laser pulses of 100 nm wavelength were performed. For comparison, the cluster response to 800 nm laser pulses was investigated as well. The inner ionization dynamics of multi-electron atoms inside the cluster was treated explicitly. The simulation results underpin the belief that at XUV (extreme ultraviolet) wavelengths collisions play an important role in the energy absorption. The generation of the surprisingly high charge states of Xe atoms inside clusters, as they were observed in a free-electron laser experiment at DESY, Hamburg, Germany by Wabnitz et al. is due to the reduced ionization potential of atoms inside charged clusters, the ionization ignition mechanism, and collisions. PACS 36.40.Gk; 36.40.Vz; 31.15.Gy     

Importance of pre-ionisation for the non-chain discharge-pumped HF laser

The importance of pre-ionisation for the non-chain discharge-pumped HF laser is studied through experiments on an X-ray photo-triggered laser using mixtures of Ne, SF₆, and ethane. The discharge dynamic in Ne/SF₆ mixtures or pure SF₆, as well as the stabilisation effect induced by C₂H₆ and consequences for the laser performance, are investigated for pre-ionisation electron density values, n_eo, ranging from 10⁶ cm^-3 up to 10⁹ cm^-3, as well as for the so-called discharge self-breakdown mode. Without ethane, the minimum n_eo value which is needed to complete 100% homogeneous charge deposition in the plasma is a very sharply increasing function of the SF₆ pressure. This hinders performance optimisation when the molecule used to react with F-atoms, for instance H₂, has no effect on the discharge dynamic. The minimum ethane partial pressure that is needed to stabilise the discharge depends on n_eo, the pumping pulse duration, the deposited electric charge, and the SF₆ pressure. Discharges in Ne/SF₆ can be much more efficiently stabilised by addition of a small amount of ethane than by an increase of n_eo. A pre-ionisation density as low as 10⁶ cm^-3 is sufficient to achieve the maximum laser energy value, but total suppression of the pre-ionisation has a detrimental effect on the active medium homogeneity. Received: 30 May 2000 / Revised version: 9 October 2000 / Published online: 9 February 2001     

The homogeneity of a stabilized discharge-pumped XeCl* laser

* laser arrangement. The special pumping technique of this laser discharge is based on the additional use of a stabilizing low-current preliminary discharge. The model takes into account the time-dependent electron Boltzmann equation including electron–electron interaction for the determination of the electron kinetics, an extensive reaction kinetics involving various heavy particles and photons, and the relevant electrical circuit equations. The study has shown that density perturbations of preionization electrons lead to the inhomogeneity of the discharge plasma and the laser output. Furthermore, the impact of the spatial distribution of preionization electrons, of the HCl portion of the gas mixture, and of a low-current preliminary discharge for the discharge operation is discussed. Received: 10 September 1996/Revised version: 21 July 1997     

Compact,fiber-compatible,cascaded Raman laser

Cascaded Raman Stokes lasing in an ultrahigh-Q silica microsphere resonator coupled to a tapered fiber is demonstrated and analyzed. With less than 900 microW of pump power near 980 nm, five cascaded Stokes lasing lines are generated. In addition, a threshold power of 56.4 microW for the first-order Stokes lasing is achieved. The Stokes lasing lines exhibit distinct characteristics depending on their order, as predicted by theoretical analysis.     

放电参数对毛细管放电泵浦的软X射线激光的影响

 以哈尔滨工业大学可调谐激光技术国家重点实验室中的Marx发生器的放电脉冲波形为基础,理论上模拟计算了在不同放电参数下充氩气的毛细管放电产生的等离子体状态和类氖氩离子3p_3s跃迁线的增益系数的时空演变过程。中心模型中,选取内径为3.1 mm 的陶瓷毛细管并充入初始密度为1.07×10^-6g·cm^-3的氩气,电流脉冲峰值为27.81 kA,脉冲宽度为61.4 ns。改变放电参数进行模拟,结果表明：上升前沿越陡,则增益系数越大,电流脉冲上升时间在20~40 ns,电流峰值在25~40 kA,电流脉冲宽度在50~70 ns范围内,毛细管放电产生的等离子体状态比较理想,可获得较高的增益系数。     

放电参数对毛细管放电泵浦的软X射线激光的影响

以哈尔滨工业大学可调谐激光技术国家重点实验室中的Marx发生器的放电脉冲波形为基础,理论上模拟计算了在不同放电参数下充氩气的毛细管放电产生的等离子体状态和类氖氩离子3p_3s跃迁线的增益系数的时空演变过程。中心模型中,选取内径为3.1 mm 的陶瓷毛细管并充入初始密度为1.07×10-6g·cm-3的氩气,电流脉冲峰值为27.81 kA,脉冲宽度为61.4 ns。改变放电参数进行模拟,结果表明：上升前沿越陡,则增益系数越大,电流脉冲上升时间在20~40 ns,电流峰值在25~40 kA,电流脉冲宽度在50~70 ns范围内,毛细管放电产生的等离子体状态比较理想,可获得较高的增益系数。     

非链式重复频率HF激光器激光介质净化技术

开展了分子筛对非链式电激励重频HF激光器中基态HF分子吸附技术研究,设计了新型的分子筛吸附装置,进行了大量的吸附实验,结果表明: 3A分子筛为有效的吸附剂,实现了HF激光器在50 Hz/20 s条件下运行时平均激光能量下降率小于5%,大大提高了激光能量的稳定性,延长了激光介质的使用寿命。开展了激光器工作于不同频率条件下使用3A型分子筛吸附装置时的激光能量情况研究,并通过实验方法获得了3A型分子筛的再生活化方法。     

Tunable high-peak-power, high-energy hybrid Q-switched double-clad fiber laser

A cw laser-diode-pumped Yb-doped double-clad fiber laser operating in a hybrid Q-switched regime was demonstrated. The output pulses had a duration as short as 4.2 ns, a tunable wavelength range from 1080.8 to 1142.7 nm, and a linewidth of less than 0.05 nm. Maximum peak power of approximately 175 kW and single-pulse energy of 1.57 mJ were obtained.