3μm与2μm级联振荡Ho3+:ZBLAN光纤激光器的动态特性分析

基于传输速率方程，对Ho³⁺:ZBLAN光纤激光器的动态特性——上能级粒子数以 及输出激光功率的弛豫振荡特性进行了数值分析.通过忽略光纤参数对传输方向的依赖性，抽运光 和信号光的功率传输方程被分别简化处理.结果表明，在⁵I₆能级的 粒子数首先经历 一次弛豫振荡后，⁵I₆和⁵I₇能级的粒 子数交替弛豫振荡并达到稳态；同 样，在3μm波长的激光功率首先经历一次弛豫振荡后，3μm和2μm波长的激光功率交替弛豫 振荡并达到稳态，而且，弛豫振荡时的峰值功率远大于稳态时的激光功率. 关键词： 光纤激光器 动态特性 光纤激光理论 钬光纤     

Trace-gas sensor based on mid-IR difference-frequency generation in PPLN with saturated output power

The development and characterization of a compact pulsed mid-IR laser source for sensitive on-line trace-gas analyses in the 3–4 μm wavelength range is reported. The source is based on an advantageous difference-frequency mixing configuration in periodically poled LiNbO₃ (PPLN) with a cw external-cavity diode laser (ECDL; 810–830 nm) for broad and accurate tunability and a diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm) for high mid-IR peak power. With 5 mW cw pump and 4.7 kW signal peak power incident on a 19 mm long PPLN crystal, a maximum of 360 μW mid-IR peak power was generated. The narrowband (∼150 MHz) radiation was saturated by a factor of 15 compared with the nonsaturated case due to depletion of the pump laser radiation. This results in a very high amplitude stability of the generated mid-IR power and thus in a high detection sensitivity. A minimum detectable absorption coefficient of 2.8×10⁻⁸ cm⁻¹ was achieved in combination with a 36.2 m multipass cell in an averaging time of 20 s, as demonstrated by on-line analyses of formaldehyde traces near 3.53 μm.     

New FIR laser lines from an optically pumped far-infrared laser with isotopic 13C16O2 pumping

A ¹³C¹⁶O₂ laser optically pumping a FIR laser has resulted in 17 new FIR cw emissions from 78.5 μm to 917 μm. The FIR media were: CD₃OD, CH₃OD, CD₃OH, NH₃ and ¹⁵NH₃. Interesting effects have been observed with a combination of NH₃ and CD₃OD resulting in a new FIR emission. Two new FIR emissions at 181.5 μm and 355.5 μm have been observed with a ¹²C¹⁶O₂ laser optically pumping CD₃OD.     

Tunable laser via F 2 + and F 2 − colour centers in the spectral region 0.88–1.25 μm

Frequency-tunable generation by means of F ₂ ⁺ and F ₂ ^? colour centers in a LiF crystal is reported. Colour centers were created by illuminating LiF crystals with electrons of 3 meV energy at the electron current density of 1 μA/cm². The pumping source was a ruby laser with a peak power of 20 MW, a pulse duration of 20 ns, and a repetition rate of 1 Hz. The frequency tuning is obtained in the range of 0.88–1.25 μm. Discussed are the ways of pumping of colour centers and the possibility of lasing in the spectral region of 0.85 to 2 μm in the type of colour centers under investigation.     

A coherent light source,widely tunable down to 16 μm by stimulated Raman scattering

An infra-red emission tunable down to 16 μm is produced by a hydrogen Stokes shifted dye laser. The peak power measured at 16 μm is of ca. 50 kW in 2 ns within a one millimeter diameter beam. The corresponding light flux of the order of 5 MW cm^-2 could allow a multi-step vibrational excitation of molecules absorbing down to 16 μm. Simultaneous emissions from the laser and from the previous Stokes bands are available at: 0.76, 1.62, 2.09 μm with respective peak powers of 550, 50 and 20 MW. Spectral widths of 0.8 cm^-1 and of ca. 7 × 10^-2 cm^-1 are obtained for the dye laser and for each of the Stokes band respectively.     

Optically-pumped pulsed laser action in isotopically-substituted DCN

Pulsed MIR and FIR laser action is reported from D^12,13C^14,15N pumped by a 9 μm region TEA CO₂ laser. Thirty-four wavelengths and assignments are reported, spanning 18.1–477 μm. Output energies from D¹³C¹⁵N at 392 μm pumped by CO₂ 9R(32) are up to a factor of two larger than those from D₂O pumped by 9R(22), one of the strongest known pulsed FIR lasers.     

Absolute frequency measurements of 12C16O and 13C16O laser transitions

The absolute frequencies of one 5.2 μm ¹²C¹⁶O laser line and one 5.3 μm ¹³C¹⁶O laser line have been measured against 10 μm band transitions of the CO₂ laser by heterodyning in a tungsten-nickel diode. The frequencies, wavelengths and wave numbers of these lines are reported to an accuracy of one part in 10⁷.     

Intensity anomalies in the spectra of 2p-3d multiplets of A1XI and A1X observed on the rear surface of laser-irradiated foils

The relative intensities of the 2p-3p multiplets of A1XI (λ ≈ 52 Å) and A1X (λ ≈ 55 Å) emitted from the plasma produced by the irradiation of 9 μm thick aluminium foils with a neodymiun laser focussed to peak intensities ≈ × 10₁₅ Wcm^-2 have been recorded with spatial resolution of ≈ 30 μm. The measured relative intensities indicate that there is partial intermixing of the quantum states near the 3d states of A1XI and A1X in plasma expanding from the rear of the laser-irrdiated foils. The spectra recorded are consistent with the rear plasma being produced by superthermal electrons travelling around the foil edge and striking the back of the foil.     

Performance of a diode end-pumped Cr,Er:YSGG laser at 2.79 μm

We present a diode end-pumped Cr,Er:YSGG laser at 2.79 μm operated in the continuous-wave (CW) and pulsed modes. Er³⁺ ions are directly pumped into the upper laser state ⁴ I _11/2 using a 967-nm diode laser, which avoids various nonradiative losses. The laser produces 50.2 mW of power in the CW mode. An average power of 169 mW is obtained at a repetition rate of 100 Hz and a pulse duration of 2 ms. The maximum laser energy achieved is 1.95 mJ at a repetition rate of 50 Hz, corresponding to a peak power of 970 mW and a slope efficiency is 7.6%. The far-field divergence angle of the laser is measured to be 8 mrad.     

Simulation of parametric oscillation in the submillimeter range at pumping of the ZnGeP2 crystal by a train of 100-ps high-power pulses

Analysis is given for a possibility of singly resonant parametric oscillation in the submillimeter range at synchronous pumping of the ZnGeP₂ crystal by a train of 100-ps second-harmonic pulses from the CO₂ laser with the radiation energy 1.0 J. The calculation shows that using the ZnGeP₂ crystal and the second harmonic of the CO₂ laser with the energy density 1.8 J cm⁻², one can get the peak submillimeter radiation power from 3.6 to 12 MW in the range from 95 to 300 μm (1.0–3.3 THz). The expected peak power values are larger than the experimental ones obtained by other nonlinear optics methods.     

Initiation of nuclear reactions under laser irradiation of metal nanoparticles in the presence of thorium aqua ions

Laser irradiation of tungsten and gold nanoparticles in aqueous solutions of Th(NO₃)₄ was experimentally studied. Picosecond Nd:YAG lasers with a wavelength of 1.06 μm and a peak power from 10¹¹ to 10¹³ W cm⁻² were used. The composition of colloidal solutions before and after laser irradiation was analyzed using atomic absorption and gamma spectrometry. It was found that laser irradiation initiates nuclear reactions involving thorium nuclei, occurring via two different channels. Radioactive decay of thorium nuclei within its radioactive series is enhanced under laser irradiation in D₂O; one of the fission fragments is ¹³⁷Cs. Possible mechanisms of the process are discussed.     

Mitigation of laser damage growth in fused silica by using a non-evaporative technique

A non-evaporative technique is used to mitigate damage sites with lateral sizes in a range from 50 μm to 400 μm and depths smaller than 100 μm.The influence of the pulse frequency of a CO 2 laser on the mitigation effect is studied.It is found that a more symmetrical and smooth mitigation crater can be obtained by increasing the laser pulse frequency form 0.1 to 20 kHz.Furthermore,the sizes of laser-affected and distorted zones decrease with the increase of the laser pulse frequency,leading to less degradation of the wave-front quality of the conditioned sample.The energy density of the CO 2 laser beam is introduced for selecting the mitigation parameters.The damage sites can be successfully mitigated by increasing the energy density in a ramped way.Finally,the laser-induced damage threshold(LIDT) of the mitigated site is tested using 355 nm laser beam with a small spot(0.23 mm 2) and a large spot(3.14 mm 2),separately.It is shown that the non-evaporative mitigation technique is a successful method to stop damage re-initiation since the average LIDTs of mitigated sites tested with small or large laser spots are higher than that of pristine material.     

Pulsed laser damage of proustite

Pulsed laser damage thresholds have been measured for proustite (Ag₃ As S₃) as the wavelengths 0.694, 1.065, 1.32 and 10.6 μm. The damage thresholds have been found to vary with both the wavelength and duration of the irradiating pulse. At 1.065 μm damage thresholds are 0.38 J/cm² for pulses of duration <50 ns whilst for durations >50 ns a value of 7 MW/cm² is appropriate. The results suggest that damage is initiated by absorbing inclusions approximately 0.6 μm in diameter embedded within the crystals. These inclusions are heated by an incident pulse to cause catastrophic damage of both the surface and interior of an irradiated sample. A model has been developed to enable a study of the thermal behaviour of inclusions irradiated by laser pulses with Gaussian time-dependence to be made.     

Generation of tunable picosecond pulses in the medium infrared by down-conversion in AgGaS2

Picosecond pulses from a mode-locked Nd:YAG laser and a traveling-wave dye laser are mixed in an AgGaS₂ crystal to generate pulses at the difference frequency. The dye laser is tunable between 1200 nm and 1460 nm resulting in a tuning range of the parametric pulses from 3.9 μm to 9.4 μm. The spectral bandwidth is quite narrow. A value of Δ?=6.5 cm^-1 was measured which is constant over the whole tuning range. Several percent of the Nd:YAG laser photons are converted to infrared photons. Pump pulses of 21 ps give parametric pulses of 8 ps.     

Tea CO2 laser beam absorption in polyethylene

The absorption coefficient of polyethylene sheets has been measured for two wavelengths (0.6328 μm, He-Ne laser; 10.6 μm, CO₂ laser). For TEA CO₂ laser power densities up to 10⁴ W cm⁻², the absorption coefficient was found to be 35.36 cm⁻¹. The measured absorption coefficient shows that polyethylene sheets are good and simple attenuators for CO₂ laser radiation.     

Noncollinear phase-matched four-photon mixing of CO2 laser radiation in germanium

Noncollinear four photon mixing of two TEA CO₂ laser beams in germanium at room temperature has been used to obtain phase-matched generation of step tunable radiation in the 8.7 μm region which is of interest for the uranium isotope separation. Using an 8.3 cm long crystal of germanium, peak output power of ≈10kW (corresponding to 1 mJ per pulse) was obtained at 8.7 μm with 3 MW peak input power from each of the two CO₂ lasers operating at 9.6 μm and 10.6 μm.     

A 13 MW peak power dye laser tunable in the 1.1 μm range

A 13 MW peak power and 1 watt average power dye laser, tunable in the 1.084–1.125 μm range, has been achieved utilizing 40 MW TEM₀₀ Nd-YAG laser as a pump. This corresponds to a power conversion efficiency of 30%.     

Tuneable laser operation of F+2 and (F+2)A centers in OH- and SH- doped alkali halides

Stabilization and tuneable laser operation of F⁺₂ and (F⁺₂)_A centers using OH^- and SH^- doped alkali halide crystals are reported. The new stabilization technique improves previously described laser systems and produced a new F⁺₂(KBr) laser (1.72–2 μm), covering an important gap around 2 μm. All crystals can easily be reactivated for laser operation after extended periods of storage at room temperature.     

Simultaneous dual-wavelength operation at 1.06 and 1.34 μm in Nd-vanadate laser crystals

Output performances of Nd-vanadate lasers with simultaneous dual-wavelength emission on the 1.06-μm ⁴ F _3/2 → ⁴ I _11/2 transition and the ⁴ F _3/2 → ⁴ I _13/2 transition at 1.34 μm are discussed. The design uses a linear resonator for emission at 1.06 μm and an L-type folded resonator for the 1.34-μm wavelength, and the ratio between the power of a single wavelength and the total power is adjusted by the choice of the output mirror transmissions. A continuous-wave (CW) Nd:GdVO₄ laser with total output power in the range of 3.9 to 6.8 W and the corresponding ratio of the output power at 1.06 μm to the total output power between 0.26 and 0.97 is realized. It is also shown that in comparison with the pump at 808 nm, the pump directly into the ⁴ F _3/2 emitting level at 879 nm improves the total output power. Furthermore, a Nd:GdVO₄ laser with simultaneous emission at 1.06 and 1.34 μm and that generates also green light at 0.53 μm by intracavity frequency-doubling with LiB₃O₅ (LBO) nonlinear crystal is demonstrated.     

Examining surfaces of oxidized aluminum exposed to СО<Subscript>2</Subscript> laser pulses

Comprehensive microstructure studies of the surfaces of duralumin sheets exposed to an intense microsecond СО₂ laser pulse (Е ~ 500 J) are performed for the first time. The irradiated area is ~100 cm². A pulse with a duration of ~5 μs has an ~200 ns leading peak. Passivated duralumin sheets subjected to pressure and thermal treatment resulting in the formation of Al₂O₃ layers ~7 μm thick are irradiated. Electron and atomic force microscopy, X-ray spectral analysis, and optical profilometry are used in the study. Detected traces of nonequilibrium evaporation contained a polycrystalline aggregate of several stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric phases of aluminum oxide and its compounds with manganese and magnesium.