Experimental investigations on energy-transfer characteristics and performance of some laser dye mixtures

Energy transfer from both Coumarin 120 (C120) and p-Bis(o-methylstyryl)-benzene (Bis-MSB), energy donors, to coumarin 7(C7) (acceptor) individually has been studied by steady-state emission measurements in methanol. The dye laser characteristics of the above-mentioned dyes have also been studied with respect to the energy transfer mechanism in the same solvent using a pulsed nitrogen laser as a pumping source. The large values of the critical transfer distances, R₀, indicate that the dominant mechanism responsible for energy transfer is due to long-range dipole–dipole interaction between the excited donor and ground state acceptor molecule. Both photophysical and photochemical stability of the donors has been examined under the effect of N₂ laser pumping.     

双泵染料激光器

本文讨论了双泵染料激光器的可能性和途径。讨论表明,引进辅助的T₁→S₁抽运,对于降低激光器的阈值,提高增益和荧光量子效率,扩大激光染料的种类和调频波段,将是有益的。 关键词：     

Laser dye stability. Part 5

Photodegradation parameters that relate bleaching and absorption at the lasing wavelength λ_l have been examined for over 30 different coumarin and quinolone laser dyes in a number of solvents. Quinolone dyes were found to bleach faster than the coumarin dyes. The effect of chemical substituents was found to affect bleaching of the coumarin dyes only to a small (20%) extent in ethanol. The major effect of chemical substituents was in the conversion of a dye to products absorbing at λ_l. Effects of solvent, cover gas, and changes in fluorescent quantum yields are discussed. Of particular interest is the photodegradation parameterA, the ratio of the percent absorption at λ_l to the total input energy per dm³. Combined with τ, the total input energy per dm³ required for a laser to reach half its original intensity, it was found thatAτ=1.2±0.9 for all of the dyes independent of dye concentration in all of the solvents tested. It appears that where bleaching of the dye is only of the order of 10–20%, the absorption at λ_l is 1.2% when our dye laser has reached one-half of its initial output. It is consequently possible to estimate τ values of new dyes by the use ofA terms through the relationshipA ₁τ₁=A ₂τ₂ where τ₁ of Dye 1 has been calibrated in the same dye laser system.     

Optical properties of GaAs1−x N x alloys grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Optical properties of GaAs_1?x N _x alloys grown by molecular beam epitaxy using GaAs (001) as the substrate have been studied. These include photoluminescence (PL), cathodoluminescence (CL), photocurrent and photomemory effects. The low-temperature (77?K) PL characteristics were measured on samples with 0–0.105% N content. The wide emission band indicates the defective nature of the materials. The widening of the band for materials with increasing nitrogen concentration also suggested that the concentration of defect states in these materials dramatically increased with increasing nitrogen content. The PL and CL spectra for GaAs_1?x N _x layer 1854 did not show identical characteristics. Some layers showed a very sharp fall in photocurrent at low temperatures, indicating a very sharp photoquenching and an interaction between antisite, interstitial and vacancy defects. The photomemory effect, which causes photoquenching and the transition from the EL2 to the EL2? metastable state, was strongly influenced by the optical exposure and thermal history of the sample.     

Efficient continuous-wave 908 nm Nd:YLF laser emission under direct 880 nm pumping

The quasi-three-level 908-nm continuous-wave laser emission under direct diode laser pumping at 880 nm into emitting level ⁴ F _3/2 of Nd:YLF have been demonstrated. An end-pumped Nd:YLF crystal yielded 4.7 W of output power for 11.8 W of absorbed pump power. The slope efficiency with respect to the absorbed pump power was 43.3%. Comparative results obtained for the pump with diode laser at 808 nm, into the highly-absorbing ⁴ F _5/2 level, are given in order to prove the advantages of the 880-nm wavelength pumping.     

CO2-laser gas discharges in narrow gaps

We have studied RF discharges as excitation mechanisms for distributed feedback (DFB) CO₂ lasers. For CO₂ laser plasmas the reduced electric fieldE/N has to be in a well-defined range. The reduced electric fieldsE/N of gas discharges in the narrow gaps with widths of the order of 100 m required for DFB are considerably above this range. In order to study the feasibility of these RF-excited discharges for DFB CO₂ lasers we have measured the electron temperatureT _e in their plasmas. From helium-line-intensity ratios we have deduced a lower limit of the electron temperatureT _e of 4eV. The observed high intensities of bands of singly ionized nitrogen indicate an even higher electron temperature, but an efficient pumping of the upper laser level is not possible with an electron temperature above 2.5 eV.We have estimated the electron densityn _e and the current densityj _e from ratios of the intesities of forbidden and allowed helium lines. The high current densityj _e is in the range of abnormal glow discharges.In the gas discharges between narrow gaps the electron oscillation amplitudex _e is large than the electrode separationd. In order to replace the resulting high electron losses a high electron temperatureT _e is necessary to sustain the gas discharge. Because of this high electron temperatureT _e an efficient pumping of the upper laser level is not possible.     

Deep levels of iron implanted inn-type silicon

Results of an investigation of 19 organic dyes pumped by a 1.7 MW discharge-pumped XeCl excimer laser are reported. The dye-laser emission covered a wide wavelength range from 340 nm to 710 nm.P-terphenyl shows efficient laser action. The highest energy conversion efficiency exceeds 40% in visible region. In comparison with 250 kW nitrogen laser pumping, higher efficiencies are obtained for most of these dyes in the same dye-laser configuration.     

Shorter dye laser wavelengths from substitutedp-terphenyls

The spectral and laser characteristics of 14 CH₃-, CF₃-, and F-substitutedp-terphenyls have been investigated. 2,2″-dimethyl-p-terphenyl in cyclohexane solution exhibits a shortest tuned laser wavelength of 311.2 nm, thus extending the range of dye laser emission by 1000 cm⁻¹ in the uv. Peak output powers of 1.5 MW and 14% conversion efficiency at 332 nm were obtained under KrF-laser pumping in an untuned cavity.     

New Far-Infrared Laser Lines and Frequency Measurements of Acetaldehyde and Vinyl Fluoride

Eight far-infrared laser lines have been obtained by optically pumping acetaldehyde (CH₃CHO) and nine by pumping vinyl fluoride (CH₂CHF) with a cw CO₂ laser. The far-infrared laser structure used a metal-dielectric waveguide cavity. This is the first reported observation of four of the laser lines in acetaldehyde. In this work, we measure the frequency, optimum pressure of operation, relative intensity, relative polarization, and pump offset from CO₂ laser-line center.     

Optically pumped submillimetre laser action in formaldoxime and ammonia

Strong submillimetre laser action has been obtained on five lines of a new laser gas, formaldoxime. Several new emission lines have also been produced by isotopic CO₂ laser pumping of¹⁴NH₃ and¹⁵NH₃. One of these lines at 102.9 m is a rotation-inversion transition in the 2v ₂ state, and is the first example of cw laser action in such a highly excited state.     

用受激拉曼泵浦方法高效制备v=2振动激发态氘分子

We report the preparation of D₂ molecules in v=2 level in molecular beam condition. A single longitudinal mode laser system was used for excitation of D₂ from (v=0, j=0) to (v=2, j=0) with the scheme of stimulated Raman pumping. An excitation efficiency of 25.2% has been achieved, which was determined by the scheme of resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization. Dependence of relative excitation efficiency on laser energy has been measured. We found that the increasing rate of excitation efficiency became slower as pulse energy of Stokes laser increase, while the excitation efficiency still increases approximately linearly with pump pulse energies up to 60 mJ. The spectral line shapes of Raman transition was also measured at different laser energies and considerable dynamical Stark effect was observed. A single peak was found on the three dimension surface of relative excitation efficiency, indicating the process occurred in the present study is a process of stimulated Raman pumping instead of stimulated adiabatic Raman passage.     

Pumping of titanium sapphire laser

Two methods of Ti:Sapphire pumping for the generation of tunable laser radiation in the visible region were studied. For coherent pumping, the radiation of the second harmonic of a Nd:YAP laser was used and a maximum output energy ofE _out=4.5 mJ was reached from the Ti:Sapphire laser. For noncoherent pumping, two different lengths of flashlamp pulses were used and a maximum ofE _out=300 mJ was obtained. Preliminary estimations of the wavelength range of tunability were made.     

Berechnung der Amplitudenfluktuation eines mit Laserlicht gepumpten optischen parametrischen Oszillators

The intensity fluctuations of the radiation of an optical parametric oscillator have been calculated by taking into account the corresponding fluctuations of the pump light. The latter are shown to have a strong influence on the fluctuations of signal and idler waves. In contrary to the laser case, they are essentially reproduced in the signal and idler radiation; more quantitatively, the correlation function 〈?(t₁) ?(t₂)〉 where ? denotes the deviation of the amplitude of the signal (or idler) wave from its mean value is, for t₁ = t₂, equal to the corresponding quantity for the pump wave apart from a reduction factor, whose value depends on the resonator losses and the relative excitation of both the pumping laser and the optical parametric oscillator and is found to be of the order of one for the normal case. It is interesting to note that for sufficiently strong pumping, the correlation function 〈?(t₁) ?(t₂)〉 approaches the value zero for |t₁ – t₂| → ∞ not monotonically but in form of damped oscillations.     

Photoionization and fragmentation of alkali metal clusters in supersonic molecular beams

A supersonic molecular beam, pulsed laser and time-of-flight mass spectrometer are arranged together in order to study photo- and auto-ionization, two-photon-ionization and fragmentation processes of alkali clusters as a function of the laser wavelength. In spite of an unfavourable duty cycle, however, the apparatus reaches a considerably higher sensitivity than cw experiments. Alkali clustersM _n (n21) have been observed and investigated. The well resolved TOF mass spectra are commonly accompanied by significant and broad signals of metastable ions, a phenomenon which cannot be observed by quadrupole mass spectrometry. ParticlesM _n (n4) have been investigated by twophoton ionization using two different laser wavelengths. Several new electronic transitions for Na₃ are found; commonly, however, the excitation and ionization channels are accompanied by strong fragmentation processes. The fragment patterns are very sensitively dependent upon the laser wavelength even when working near the ionization threshold. The results are a strong indication, that the peak intensities of cluster mass spectra cannot easily be related to the intensity distribution of the neutral cluster beam.     

Parametric oscillation of high-power 3-THz pulse by synchronously pumped ZnGeP<Subscript>2</Subscript> crystal: Computer simulation

Possible parametric oscillation of 3-THz pulse at synchronous pumping of the ZnGeP₂ crystal by a train of short second-harmonic pulses from the CO₂ laser has been analyzed. Calculation shows that at changing laser pulse duration τ between 4 and 500 ps and correspondingly pumping energy density (0.5–3.5 J cm⁻²) THz pulse peak power varies from 3 to 70MW with maximum at τ =9 ps.     

光泵重水气体产生THz激光的半经典理论分析

从半经典密度矩阵理论出发，采用三能级系统模型对光泵重水气体产生太赫兹激光进行了理论分析，求解得到了脉冲光泵重水气体分子产生太赫兹激光过程中激光信号增益系数G_s和抽运光信号被吸收系数G_p的表达式，通过迭代法对太赫兹激光信号的输出光强进行了数值计算，理论计算得到的频谱特性曲线完全符合受激Raman辐射的频谱特性，即频谱宽度较大、输出光强随抽运失谐量的改变而变化明显等特征.在脉冲激光抽运受激Raman辐射过程中，工作介质D₂O气体分子的偶极矩由于受到抽运脉冲光场的扰动发生变化，在频谱特性曲线中表现为受激辐射THz信号的谱线发生了分裂.理论计算结果与已报道的实验结果能较好地相符.     

Investigation of the pump wavelength influence on pulsed laser pumped Alexandrite lasers

Recent theoretical modelling and experimental results have shown that excess lattice phonon energy created dur ing the non-radiative energy transfer from the ⁴T₂ pump manifold to the ²E storage level in Alexandrite when pumped with wavelengths shorter than ∼645 nm causes chaotic lasing output. Shorter pump wavelengths have also been associated with increased non-radiative energy decay and reduced laser efficiency. We report studies of fluorescence emission spectra of Alexandrite illuminated at a range of wavelengths from green to red, which demonstrate reduced fluorescence yield for shorter pump wavelengths at elevated crystal temperatures. Investigations of pulsed laser pumping of Alexandrite over the same spectral range demonstrated reduced pump threshold energy for longer pump wavelengths. High repetition rate pulsed pumping of Alexandrite at 532, 578 and 671 nm showed stable and efficient laser performance was only achieved for red pumping at 671 nm. These results support the theoretical model and demonstrate the potential for scalable, red laser pumped, all-solid-state Alexandrite lasers.PACS 42.60.Lh; 42.60.Mi     

The high resolution infrared spectrum and laser Stark spectroscopy of thev8 band of propyne

The perpendicularv ₈ band lying in the 1000–1100 cm^–1 region has been studied from infrared and laser Stark, spectra. We were interested in the part of spectrum corresponding to the spectral range of the 9 m CO₂ laser lines. Assignments of rovibrational lines with J'<40 and K'<6 have been made. About 100 Stark resonances have been assigned to 12 rovibrational transitions. Effective molecular constants and dipole moment have been determined with high accuracy. A list of close resonances with CO₂ laser lines is given and may be used for optical pumping experiments.     

Thomson Scattering Applied to a Noisy Radiative Plasma

Thomson scattering with a 1.5 ms long pulse mode 20 J ruby laser has been applied to a radiative argon plasma with electron densities n_e from 2.5 10¹⁹ m^?3 to 1.5 10²⁰ m^?3 and an electron temperature T_e of about 3 eV. Photon counting techniques have been used. The accuracy of n_e and T_e to be reached is about 5% after 10 shots. The signal to noise ratio S/N has been optimized by the use of optical filters and a special purpose grating. The effects of these elements on S/N have been calculated. The entrance angle, transmission and quantum efficiency have also been optimized. A comparison between 5 possible laser systems, including a normal mode and a Q-switched mode ruby laser, has been carried out.