激光二极管抽运(Tm,Ho)∶YLF激光器光谱特性实验分析

Ho∶YLF晶体的5I7和5I8斯塔克能级分裂数较多,形成2047~2070nm宽的增益谱带,对于可调谐2μm激光及宽带激光放大器研究具有重要意义。理论上分析了(Tm,Ho)∶YLF晶体的能级结构,并对晶体掺杂浓度和长度进行了优化。实验研究了激光二极管抽运微片Tm(原子数分数0.06),Ho(原子数分数0.004)∶YLF激光谱线可调谐特性,调谐范围2.0656~2.0671μm。利用(Tm,Ho)∶YLF晶体的宽增益谱特性,将其作为激光二极管抽运激光放大器,成功地将2.048μm(Tm,Ho)∶GdVO4激光功率放大了2.5倍。实验上测量了(Tm,Ho)∶YLF晶体在强抽运条件下480~492nm及530~550nm可见波段的上转换蓝绿光荧光谱。     

Efficient single-axial-mode operation of a Ho:YAG ring laser pumped by a Tm-doped silica fiber laser

Efficient single-frequency operation of a Ho:YAG ring laser at room temperature with a traveling-wave TeO2 acousto-optic modulator to enforce unidirectional operation is reported. By use of a 2-at. % Ho3+-doped 10-mm-long Ho:YAG rod, end pumped by a cladding-pumped tunable Tm-doped silica fiber operating at 1.9 microm, the Ho:YAG ring laser yielded 3.7 W of single-frequency output at 2.1 microm in a diffraction-limited TEM00 beam with M2 < 1.1 for an incident pump power of 8.8 W. The rf power required for unidirectional operation was 0.3 W and corresponded to an increase in cavity loss for the lasing direction (due to diffraction) of only 0.5%. The prospects for further improvement in efficiency are discussed.     

Performance evaluation of ZnGeP2 optical parametric oscillator pumped by a Q-switched Tm,Ho:GdVO4 laser

A doubly resonant ZnGeP2 （ZGP） optical parametric oscillator （OPO） pumped by a novel Tm,Ho：GdVO4 laser was demonstrated. Cryogenic Tin（5 at.-%）, Ho（0.5 at.-%）：GdVO4 laser with high pulse repetition frequency （PRF） of 10 kHz at 2.05 μm was employed as pumping source of ZGP OPO. The 15-mm-long ZGP crystal, 55° cut for I-type phase-matching with low absorption coefficient less than 0.05 cm^-1 at 2 μm, was placed in a piano-piano cavity with resonator length of 30 mm. The ZGP OPO generated a total combined output power of 1.2 W at 3.75 and 4.52 μm under pumping power of 5.3 W, corresponding to slope efficiency of 40% from incident 2μm laser power to midinfrared （Mid-IR） output. A widely tunable range from 3.0 to 6.5 μm was achieved by changing the crystal angle only 3.5°.     

高脉冲重复频率调Q Tm,Ho:GdVO4激光器

报道了一个高效率连续波和调Q高重频两种运行方式的Tm,HoGdVO4激光器.Tm,HoGdVO4晶体尺寸4 mm×4 mm×7 mm,a轴通光,液氮制冷到100 K,由发射中心波长为793 nm的光纤耦合激光二极管端面泵浦.Tm,HoGdVO4激光连续波输出功率4.0 W,光光转换效率26%.声光调Q条件下输出平均高功率3.9 W,脉冲重复频率10 kHz,脉冲宽度50 ns. 通过减小声光Q开关的开启时间,激光脉冲宽度由50 ns减小至23 ns.在10 kHz重频下,测量最大脉冲能量0.39 mJ , 峰值功率7.8 kW.     

A ring ZnGeP2 optical parametric oscillator pumped by a Ho:LuAG laser

We have demonstrated that we believe to be the first ring ZnGeP₂ (ZGP) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a pulsed Ho:LuAG laser. The maximum output power of the ring ZGP OPO laser was 5.51 W at 13.1 W incident Ho pump power, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 59.0 %. The ZGP OPO laser produced 14 ns mid-infrared pulses in the 3.72–4.01 and 4.37–4.75 μm spectral regions simultaneously. In addition, the continuous wave Ho:LuAG laser generated 26.5 W of linearly output at 2,094.4 nm at the absorbed Tm pump power of 49.9 W.     

Laser spectrum of a high power Tm,Ho:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser

In this paper, we report a 18.8 W continuous wave and 18.4 W Q-switched diode-pumped cryogenic Tm(5 at %), Ho(0.5 at %):GdVO₄ laser. The pumping source of Tm, Ho:GdVO₄ laser is a fiber-coupled laser diode with fiber core diameter of 0.4 mm, supplying 42 W power at 802.5 nm. For input pump power of 41.9 W at 802.4 nm, the output power of 18.8 W in CW operation, optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 45% at 2.05 μm and the average output power of 18.4 W in Q-switched operation, optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 44% at 2.04 and 2.05 μm have been attained. The emission wavelengths of the Tm(5 at %), Ho(0.5 at %):GdVO₄ laser were firstly compared when it worked in CW mode and Q-switched mode.     

Diode-pumped tunable single-longitudinal-mode Tm,Ho:YAG twisted-mode laser

A diode-end-pumped tunable twisted-mode cavity Tm, Ho:YAG laser with single-longitudinal-mode(SLM)operation is demonstrated in this Letter. The maximal SLM output power is 106 m W with a slope efficiency of 4.86%. The wavelength can be changed from 2090.38 to 2097.32 nm by tuning the angle of an etalon.     

1.2 W中红外ZnGeP2光参量振荡器

报导了利用Tm,HoGdVO4激光器抽运双谐振ZnGeP2光参量振荡器实验研究.Tm(5%),Ho(0.5%)GdVO4晶体采用液氮制冷方式,工作在77 K温度条件下.以25 W波长为800 nm的光纤耦合激光二极管抽运,2 μm激光最大平均功率7 W,脉冲宽度小于30 ns, 脉冲重复频率5 kHz到20 kHz可调.非线性频率转换晶体ZnGeP2长15 mm,55?切割,OPO谐振腔为平平腔,腔长约25 mm.在5W的2 μm激光抽运下,脉冲重复频率10 kHz,实现了信号光3.7 μm及闲频光4.5 μm中红外激光输出,参量光脉冲宽度为15～17 ns,最大平均功率大于1.2 W,光-光转换效率为20%.测量参量光输出光束全宽度远场发散角4 mrad,光束质量M2因子小于3.     

Alkali lasers for magnetic resonance imaging

Spin-polarized nuclei of such gases as ³He and ¹²⁹Xe are successfully used for magnetic resonance imaging of lungs and other organs of human body. To produce large numbers of spin-polarized nuclei required for this medical application, a high power narrowband tunable laser source is required. Diode pumped alkali lasers, developed during last several years can be an ideal source for this application. In this paper we present our latest achievements in diode pumped alkali lasers development. We describe optically pumped Cs laser tunable in the range of 14 GHz and operating in single transverse mode with a linewidth less than 3 MHz. We also present continuous wave diode pumped Rb and Cs lasers with output power 17 W and 20 W.     

A high power CW Ho,Tm:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser

In this paper, we report a 22.7 W continuous wave (CW) diode-pumped cryogenic Ho( at %), Tm(3 at %):GdVO₄ laser. The pumping sources of Ho,Tm:GdVO₄ laser are two fiber-coupled laser diodes with fiber core diameter of 0.4 mm, both of them can supply 42 W power laser operating near 802 nm. For input pump power of 64.7 W at 802.5 nm, the output power of 22.7 W in CW operation, optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 35.1% at 2.05 μm has been attained. The M ² factor was found to be 2.0 under an output power of 16.5 W.     

An Ho:YAG Laser with Double-Pass Pumping and the ZnGeP2 OPO Pumped by the Ho:YAG Laser

We report an efficient Ho:YAG laser end pumped by Tm:YLF lasers with double-pass pumping. We achieve the maximum continuous wave (CW) output power of 46.0 W with a single-pass pumping and 50.2 W with a double-pass pumping, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 58.0% and 62.8%, respectively. In addition, we use the Ho:YAG laser as a pumping source of the ZnGeP₃ optical parametric oscillator (OPO) and obtain the maximum average output power of 14.2 W with a linear cavity and 17.0 W with a ring resonator, respectively.     

激光二极管端面抽运室温Tm,Ho:YLF连续固体激光器

报道了激光二极管端面抽运Tm，Ho：YLF固体激光器的输出特性.室温下，选用不同透过率的输出耦合镜进行了实验研究，确定了最佳输出耦合镜透过率为2%. 利用小孔扫描的方法，得到了激光远场的光强分布，证明激光为基横模输出，并且给出了热焦距随抽运功率的变化关系.通过在激光谐振腔内插入两个固体Fabry-Perot标准具的方法，获得了2μm激光的单频输出，阈值功率为250mW，在抽运功率为2.8W时，单频输出功率为118mW.此单频激光器可用作激光振荡器和激光放大器的种子源. 关键词： 激光光学 激光二极管 Tm Ho:YLF固体激光器 单频     

Room temperature efficient continuous wave and Q-switched operation of a Ho:YAP laser

We report the continuous wave and acousto-optically Q-switched operation of a Tm:YLF-pumped Ho:YAP laser at room temperature. Continuous wave output power of 6.8 W at 2118 nm was obtained under the incident pump power of 13.4 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 65.6% and a conversion efficiency of 50.7%. For the Q-switched mode, a maximum pulse energy of 1.28 mJ and a minimum pulse width of 31 ns at the repetition rate of 5 kHz were achieved, resulting in a peak power of 41.3 kW. In addition, the Ho:YAP laser was employed as a pumping source of ZGP optical parametric oscillator, the total average output power of which was 3.2 W at 4.08 and 4.41 μm with a slope efficiency of 69.5%, corresponding to the diode-to-mid-IR conversion efficiency of 9.0%.     

磷化镓高功率太赫兹共线差频源的研究

在众多实现太赫兹辐射的方法中, 非线性光学共线差频能够实现高功率、宽波段、连续可调谐的太赫兹波辐射. 理论分析表明, 各向同性磷化镓晶体, 在1064 nm附近波长激光共线差频下具有毫米量级的相干长度, 能够满足高功率宽波段的太赫兹辐射条件.实验证明, 磷化镓晶体共线差频实现高功率宽波段的太赫兹光辐射, 其太赫兹光波长调谐范围为95.9–773.4 μm (0.39–3.13 THz), 最高峰值功率7 W位于频率2.0 THz处.该实验结果与理论计算基本保持一致. 关键词： 太赫兹源 磷化镓 共线差频     

Tunable,narrow linewidth,linearly polarized and gain-switched Cr<Superscript>2+</Superscript>:ZnSe laser

We demonstrate a tunable, narrow linewidth, linearly polarized and gain-switched Cr²⁺:ZnSe laser pumped by a Tm, Ho:YVO₄ laser at 10 kHz pulse repetition frequency. By setting a quartz birefringent filter with a Brewster angle in the cavity, the linearly polarized Cr²⁺:ZnSe laser can be continuously tuned from 2.45 to 2.50 μm, and the output power was almost not changed. In addition, the linewidth was compressed to about 5 nm. At the incident pump power to the crystal of 14 W, the maximum output power of 2.84 W was obtained, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 20.4%.     

Stable 10 W Er:ZBLAN fiber laser operating at 2.71-2.88 μm

We have developed a diode-pumped tunable 3 μm fiber laser with a cw output power of the order of 10 W with the use of an erbium-doped ZBLAN fiber. A tunability range of 110 nm (2770 to 2880 nm) with an output power between 8 and 11 W was demonstrated. As the pump power was increased, the center of the wavelength range was shifted toward longer wavelengths, but the width of the wavelength range was largely unaffected. The total tunability range for various pump power levels was 170 nm (2710 to 2880 nm). To our knowledge, this is the highest performance (output power and tunability) obtained from a tunable 3 μm fiber laser.     

6.17-W continuous wave operation of a 2132-nm c-cut Tm,Ho:YAP pumped by a laser diode of 794.3 nm

Continuous wave (CW) operation of a c-cut Tm (5 at %), Ho (0.3 at %):YAP laser at 2132 nm wavelength were reported in this paper. In the temperature of 77 K, the Tm,Ho:YAP crystal was double end-pumped by a 21.4 W fiber-coupled laser diode (LD) at the center wavelength of 794.3 nm. Different resonator lengths and output couplers for the total pump power were tried. The resonator length was 205 mm, and the maximum CW output power of 6.17 W was acquired, corresponding to an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 28.8% and a slope efficiency of 35.6%.     

Efficient high-power Ho:YAG laser directly in-band pumped by a GaSb-based laser diode stack at 1.9 μm

An efficient high-power Ho:YAG laser directly in-band pumped by a recently developed GaSb-based laser diode stack at 1.9 μm is demonstrated. At room temperature a maximum continuous wave output power of 55 W at 2.122 μm and a slope efficiency of 62% with respect to the incident pump power were achieved. For narrow linewidth laser operation a volume Bragg grating was used as output coupler. In wavelength stabilized operation a maximum output power of 18 W at 2.096 μm and a slope efficiency of 30% were obtained. In this case the linewidth is reduced from 1.2 nm to below 0.1 nm. Also spectroscopic properties of Ho:YAG crystals at room temperature are presented.     

High power tunable picosecond green laser pulse generation by frequency doubling of an Yb-doped fiber power amplifier seeded by a gain switch laser diode

A compact tunable high power picosecond green laser pulse source based on frequency doubling of an Yb-doped fiber amplifier seeded by a gain switch laser diode has been developed. The fiber amplifier generates the picosecond infrared pulses with average power of 10.3 W, repetition rate of 1 MHz, pulse duration of 150 ps, and tunable range of 20 nm around 1064 nm. For underwater use, the tunable output infrared pulses are frequency doubled into picosecond green laser pulses, which can be tuned from 527 to 537 nm with average power of more than 1.1 W, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 10.7% by a BBO nonlinear crystal. This kind of laser source will have potential application for underwater optical communication.     

Efficient Ho:YAP laser dual-end-pumped by Tm fiber laser

We report the continuous wave and acousto-optically Q-switched operation of an in-band dual-end-pumped Ho:YAP laser at room temperature. A continuous wave output power of 11.0W at 2118 nm was obtained at an absorbed pump power of 19.8 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 62.1%. For the Q-switched mode, a maximum pulse energy of about 1.07 mJ and a minimum pulse width of 29 ns at a repetition rate of 10 kHz were achieved, resulting in a peak power of 36.9 kW.