An approach of open-path gas sensor based on tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy

Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy(TDLAS)is a new method to detect trace-gas qualitatively or quantificationally based on the scan characteristic of the diode laser to obtain the absorption spectroscopy in the characteristic absorption region.A time-sharing scanning open-path TDLAS system using two near infrared distributed feedback(DFB)tunable diode lasers is designed to detect CH_4 and H_2S in leakage of natural gas.A low-cost Fresnel lens is used in this system as receiving optics which receives the laser beam reflected by a solid corner cube reflector with a distance of up to about 60 m.High sensitivity is achieved by means of wavelength-modulation spectroscopy with second-harmonic detection.The minimum detection limits of 1.1 ppm·m for CH_4 and 15 ppm·m for H_2S are demonstrated with a total optical path of 120 m.The simulation monitoring experiment of nature gas leakage was carried out with this system. According to the receiving light efficiency of optical system and detectable minimum light intensity of detection,the detectable optical path of the system can achieve 1-2 km.The sensor is suitable for natural gas leakage monitoring application.     

High sensitivity micro-displacement homodyne interferometry北大核心CSCD

Interferometry is widely used in nano-scale micro-topography measurement. In order to improve its accuracy and sensitivity, a high-sensitivity homodyne interferometry based on white light interference and laser secondary interference was proposed. A high-sensitivity homodyne interferometry system was designed, and the zero point of the laser secondary interference was used to locate the dark striation of white light interference, so that it could reach the maximum slope when optical path difference was zero. The signals of white light and laser were analyzed by using the wave principle and intensity formula of interference fringes, and a sensitivity calculation method based on the combination of white light and laser interference signal was proposed. The system and its sensitivity were simulated. Finally, the optical path was built, and the white light interference fringes were adjusted to the dark striations position, so as to locate the zero position of laser secondary interference and carry out the data acquisition. It is showed that the sensitivity of the measurement method is at least 1 832 times higher than that of the laser secondary interference, and the corresponding measurement uncertainty is only ±0.288 7 mV. The measurement system can effectively solve the problem of large amount of calculation in traditional interferometry, and has high sensitivity, stability and reliability. Copyright ©2022 Journal of Applied Optics. All rights reserved.     

An accurate and stable method of array element tiling for high-power laser facilities

Due to laser-induced damage, the aperture of optics is one of the main factors limiting the output capability of highpower laser facilities. Because of the general difficulty in achieving large-aperture optics, an alternative solution is to tile some small-aperture ones together. We propose an accurate, stable, and automatic method of array element tiling and verify it on a double-pass 1 × 2 tiled-grating compressor in the XG-III laser facility. The test results show the accuracy and stability of the method. This research provides an efficient way to obtain large-aperture optics for high-power laser facilities.     

Thermal analysis of the baffle structure of the Solar Space Telescope

The SST(Space Solar Telescope) is an astronomical telescope with a primary mirror of 1 m in diameter.It observes the sun with a small view field to ensure that its high spatial resolution imaging has 0.1″-0.15″ and high SNR(signal to noise ratio).Surrounding the small view field is still the sun,which is an intense source of both heat and stray light.The baffles(the main baffle,the aperture,and the outer baffle),which are used to eliminate the stray light,will change the thermal flux in the SST and will weaken the effect of the thermal control design.In this study,the compatibility analysis of the thermal effect of baffle structures in SST is performed.The GCF(Geometry Composing Function) and BRDF(Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function),which are two inherent related parameters in the compatibility analysis,are derived.The objective and method of the compatibility analysis are determined.With the thermal analysis software,the temperature fields are calculated for different lengths of the main baffle,different radii of apertures,different lengths of the outer baffle with a 3' tilt angle and 16' tilt angle,and different tilt angles of the outer baffle with a 200 mm length.A series of configurations and sizes of the baffles are studied with the goals of both thermal control and elimination of stray light.The design of the baffle structure of SST is achieved:the main baffle of length 4100 mm,the internal shield of radius 494 mm,the outer baffle of length 200 mm,and the outer baffle of tilt angle 3' are successfully designed.This paper presents the relationship between the thermal control design and stray light elimination plan in the SST.The aims of the optimal design of the baffle structure of SST are reached.The thoughts and methods of the optimal analysis are also useful for similar optical telescopes designed for solar observation.     

Photoacoustic measurement of the thermal property of condensed matter using a strong light-absorbing surface layer

By using a strong light-absorbing surface layer and front-surfaceillumination with a low power He-Ne laser(6mW),photoacousticmeasurements of the thermal effusivities of materials have been made,based on the photoacoustic theory,derived in this paper,of condensedmatter with a strong light-absorbing surface layer.This method can elimi-nate the stray light,give full play to the power of the light irradiation,and improve the signal to noise ratio.The experiment results are in goodagreement with the theoretical values.     

Efficient Generation of Red and Blue Light in a Dual-Structure Periodically Poled LiTaO3 Crystal

We demonstrate the efficient generation of red light at 671nm and blue light at 447nm from a diode-pumped Q-switched 1342nm Nd: YVO4 laser together with a periodically poled LiTaO3 (PPLT) crystal. The sample used in this experiment is a dual-structure PPLT crystal with the period of 14.9μm for the second harmonic generation and that of 4.9μm for the third harmonic generation. The red and blue light, with the respective average power of 752 m W and 153 m W were obtained in a single path under an average fundamental power of 1.74 W, corresponding to the conversion efficiencies of 43.2% and 8.8%, respectively. These results indicate that the dual-structure PPLT can be used to construct a compact and efficient all-solid-state red-and-blue dual-wavelength laser.     

Generation of a Collimated Doughnut-Beam for Atom Trapping Using a Single-Cone Axicon

We propose a novel method to generate a collimated doughnut-beam (DB) using only one single-cone axicon andrealize it experimentally. The diameter of the DB is estimated by ray optics and is in good agreement with theexperimental results. The CUD image of the DB and the radial light intensity distribution are experimentallyobtained. The light intensity of the DB dark inner region is about 1% of the peak intensity of the DB. Thefar-field divergent angle is about 6mrad and seems to be well-collimated. With optimum values of the power andthe positive detuning of the laser field, the optical dipole potential of the DB can be chosen to be very large as agood confinement for atom trapping.     

Generation and measurement of complex laser pulse shapes in the SG-Ⅲ laser facility

The generation and measurement of complex ultraviolet laser pulse shapes is demonstrated in the SG-III laser facility. Relatively high contrast ratio of 300∶1 required by the physics experiment is achieved and successfully measured. Two continuous main shots validate the reproduction and the stability of the pulse shape, which provide solid foundation for precise physics experiment and laser power balance.     

Output Intensity Variations of the Laser Used in a Prism Coupling System and Its Application

The output intensity variations of the laser used in a prism coupling system are observed and found to be induced by the external optical feedback, which comes from the reflection on the prism. The intensity variations are explained with laser theory. The trough in the intensity variation corresponds to the position of the prism when the output light beam propagates perpendicularly to the prism. Based on the trough a new method for rotating the prism and reading out the step numbers is proposed, by which the angle 0° in the system need not to be calibrated. It is proven by experiment that the new method would improve the accuracy of the refractive index up to ±0.00001 and thickness to ±1 nm.     

Fabrication of Pure Silica Core Multimode Ultraviolet Optical Fibre Probes by Tube Etching

As a light wave-guide component for transmitting ultraviolet （UV） laser pulses, pure silica core UV fibre probes have attracted a great deal of attention in the near-field optical data storage and bio-medical studies. We fabricate UV fibre probes with tips in dimension of about 2-5μm and taper angle 16° by the tube etching method, using 40% HF acid as etching solution and xylene as overlayer. Probes produced have curvy configuration with smooth surface. The yield of fine probes is rather high and etching operation greatly simplified. With higher damage threshold, pure silica core multimode UV fibre probes can be coupled into more laser power. In addition, using UV light reduces the cutoff wavelength of the fibre probes, which is in favour of increasing the transmission efficiency of the probe. Furthermore, the larger tip dimension helps to enhance the light throughput either. The advances of fabrication technique of UV optical fibre probe may further support the studies of UV light data storage, pulsed laser biosurgery and UV photolithography.     

Narrow-linewidth single-polarization frequency-modulated Er-doped fiber ring laser

We demonstrate a 1550-nm narrow-linewidth fiber ring laser with stable single polarization by using single-mode Er-doped fiber as active fiber and saturable absorber. A polarization-maintaining circulator is used to acquire single-polarization laser light with the degree of polarization of 99.8%--99.9%. The linewidth measured using a delayed self-heterodyne method is less than 0.5 kHz. Frequency of the fiber laser can be modulated by driving the waveguide phase modulator with proper voltage. A Mach-Zehnder interferometer with the optical path difference between two arms of about 36 km is used to study the long-distance coherent detection of the fiber laser for frequency-modulated continuous-wave application.     

Theoretical study of the trapping efficiency of an optical tweezers array system

Optical tweezers have been a valuable research tool since their invention in the 1980s. One of the most important developments in optical tweezers in recent years is the creation of two-dimensional arrays of optical traps. In this paper, a method based on interference is discussed to form gradient laser fields, which may cause the spatial modulation of particle concentration. The parameters related to the optical tweezers array are discussed in detail and simulated by the Matlab software to show the influence of important parameters on the distribution of particle concentration. The spatial redistribution of particles in a laser interference field can also be predicted according to the theoretical analysis.     

Study on validation method of visible imagery spatial resolution of imager on geostationary platform

Based on the analysis for the main elements of the total modulation transfer function (MTF) of imager on geostationary platform, the precise evaluation for its low spatial frequency spectrum has been achieved. Meanwhile, it is pointed out that the main cause of imagery spatial resolution lower than the designed value is the "slight defocus" of imager focal plane array (FPA). The validation method for visible imagery spatial resolution is proposed based on the analysis of defocused optical system model and edge-spread-function (ESF), the relative error is less than 7% after alleviating stray light effects. This method has been applied in the in-orbit ground testing of FY-2C geostationary meteorological satellite successfully.     

Lower Exciton Number Strong Light Matter Interaction in Plasmonic Tweezers

The plasmonic nanocavity is an excellent platform for the study of light matter interaction within a sub-diffraction volume under ambient conditions.We design a structure of plasmonic tweezers,which can trap molecular Jaggregates and also serve as a plasmonic cavity with which to investigate strong light matter interaction.The optical response of the cavity is calculated via finite-difference time-domain methods,and the optical force is evaluated based on the Maxwell stress tensor method.With the help of the coupled oscillator model and virtual exciton theory,we investigate the strong coupling progress at the lower level of excitons,finding that a Rabi splitting of 230 meV can be obtained in a single exciton system.We further analyze the relationship between optical force and model volume in the coupling system.The proposed method offers a way to locate molecular J-aggregates in plasmonic tweezers for investigating optical force performance and strong light matter interaction.     

Simultaneous measurement of SO_2 and NO_2 concentration using an optical fiber-based LP-DOAS system

SO2 and NO2 are the most important pollution in atmosphere.An optimized long path(LP)differential optical absorption spectroscopy(DOAS)system of high light intensity at an ultraviolet(UV)wavelength is proposed and used to measure the concentration of SO2 and NO2 simultaneously.In contrast to the traditional DOAS,the system adopted a Y-type optical fiber structure instead of a combination of mirrors in the telescope.The UV light intensity test shows that the light intensity of UV can arrive to above 80% of the max measuring range when the light path reaches 135 m,and the integral time of the spectrograph is only 15 ms.The system is proved to be efficacious through laboratory calibration.The maximum error of SO2 calibration is 4.19%,and is 5.22% for NO2.The error of the SO2 and NO2 mixture calibration is within 10%.Field measurement is implemented in a wastewater treatment plant in winter.The measurement light path is 738 m.The concentration of SO2 varies from 6μg/m^3(2.26 ppb)to 20μg/m^3(7.52 ppb),and the concentration of NO2varies from 100μg/m^3(53.2 ppb)to 200μg/m^3(106.4 ppb)approximately.The results are in accordance with the data from a monitoring station nearby in magnitude order and variation tendency mostly.     

Transverse Zeeman background correction method for air mercury measurement

By utilizing a natural mercury lamp, the transverse Zeeman background correction method, which is used for trace mercury measurement in air, is studied. In this paper, a natural mercury lamp is used as a light source, and is placed in a 1.78-T magnetic field. The lamp emits two linearly polarized light beams σ± and π of 253.65-nm resonance line, which are used as bias light and absorbing light, respectively. A polarization modulation system is used to allow σ± and π light beams to pass through alternately with a certain frequency. A multipath optical cell with 12-m optical path is used to increase optical distance. Based on the system described above, the influence caused by UV absorbing gases, such as NO2, SO2, acetone, benzene, and O3, is analyzed. The results show that it may reduce the detection limit when the concentrations of these gases exceed 83.4 ppm, 20.3 ppm, 142.3 ppm, 0.85 ppm, and 0.55 ppm, respectively. The detection limit of the system is calculated and can achieve up to 1.44 ng/m3 in 10 minutes. Measurements on mercury sample gas and air are carded out, and the measured data are compared with the data of RA-915 mercury analyzer （Russia）. The result shows that the correlation coefficient reaches up to 0.967. The experimental results indicate that the transverse Zeeman background correction method can be used to quantify trace mercury in air with high-precision.     

Frequency stabilization of diode laser to 1.637 μm based on the methane absorption line

The frequency of an external-cavity diode laser has been stabilized to 1.637 μm by using the reference of absorption lines of methane. The method can be applied to wavelength division multiplexed optical communication, fiber-optic sensing systems, as well as the high-sensitivity detection of methane. The derivative-like error signal yielded by frequency modulation and phase sensitivity detection technology is inputted into the PI feedback loop circuit in order to stabilize the frequency to the line center. After stabilization, the frequency fluctuation of diode laser is held within 5.6 MHz, and the root of Allan variance of error signal reaches a minimum of 1.66×10-10 for an average time of 10 s.     

The compensability between the longitudinal andtransverse mismachining tolerance of gratingin the optical pick-up head

In this paper numeric analysis is made to the influence of the longitudinal mismachining tolerance (LMT) and the transverse mismachining tolerance (TMT) of the grating in the optical pick-up head (GOPH) of VCD, DVD, and CD-ROM on the transmissivity and the intensity ratio of the auxiliary light beam to the main read-write light beam (IRAM) by using the general expression of diffraction efficiency obtained from the scalar diffraction theory. On solving GOPH problem, the scalar diffraction theory and the vector diffraction theory are coincident, and the scalar diffraction theory is reliable. The result shows that LMT and TMT can compensate for the inverse effect of IRAM, however, at the expense of reducing transmissivity. As far as GOPH is concerned, the goodness that LMT and TMT can be effectively compensated for is very advantageous in manufacturing of the grating.     

Matched wavelength and incident angle for the diagnostic beam to achieve coherent grating tiling

Design and operation of a practical,accurate alignment diagnostic system is important for the grating tiling technology,which is supposed to be applied in a chirped-pulse amplification system to increase the output power.A diagnostic method is proposed and demonstrated for grating tiling.Provided that the wavelength and incident angle of the diagnostic beam are properly set,the far-field of the main laser beam and that of the diagnostic beam can vary in the same way with the tiling errors between the sub-aperture gratings.Therefore,rotational and translational errors can be controlled and compensated according to the far-field of the diagnostic beam.The real-time monitoring and alignment can be achieved without disturbing the main beam.     

Stray light suppression in BRDF measurement infrared optical system

A set of system based on personal computer for the bi-directional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) measurement was developed, whose laser wavelengths cover 0.6328, 1.34, 3.39, and 10.6 μm from visible to infrared. Stray light in BRDF measurement system was analyzed. It can be reduced and suppressed by the design of the system light path in BRDF measurement system, the choice of the measuring scheme, the processing to the optoelectronic signal, and the radiation control of the optical components and mechanical equipments. So the minimum measurable value of BRDF is less than 10-5/sr.