A radiation source for both the visible and the infrared

A radiation source with high output in both the visible and infrared spectral ranges has been developed, and its operating parameters are described. The hot element, a carbon composite board, is simple to fabricate as well as to operate. The source has been compared to both a tungsten strip lamp and a Nernst glower. For applications where both the visible and infrared ranges are of interest, this source allows for simplified experimental design.     

High resolution FROG system for the characterization of ps laser pulses

We report on a frequency resolved optical gating (FROG) system which allows the reconstruction of amplitude and phase of picosecond pulses generated by mode-locked diode laser oscillators and amplifiers. The main challenge of developing such a FROG system is the required high spectral resolution. In the spectrometer a cylindrical grating with 1200 lines/mm and a radius of curvature of 3 m is used. A width of the illuminated area of 15 cm provides in a spectral resolution exceeding 2 GHz (1.4 pm) at 460 nm. The FROG system is, thus, well suited for analyzing ps-pulses with durations of up to 80 ps and a corresponding fourier-limited spectral width of 0.017 nm. PACS 42.55.Px; 42.65.Re; 42.60.Fc; 42.30.Rx     

Bichromatic pulsed source in the visible and infrared

A source of bichromatic coherent radiation is described with independent tunability in wavelength, energy and pulse duration. The system is able to deliver pulses in the visible to infrared region with possible extension into the ultraviolet. Pulse durations can be tailored to be from 15 ps to 310 fs with collimated beam fluences of several mJ/cm². Received: 28 January 2002 / Revised version: 24 April 2002 / Published online: 12 July 2002     

Mass-limited Sn target irradiated by dual laser pulses for an extreme ultraviolet lithography source

A thin Sn film was investigated as a mass-limited target for an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography source. It was found that those energetic ions that are intrinsic with the mass-limited Sn target could be efficiently mitigated by introducing a low-energy prepulse. High in-band conversion efficiency from a laser to 13.5 nm EUV light could be obtained using an Sn film with a thickness down to 30 nm when irradiated by dual laser pulses. It was shown that the combination of dual pulse and inert Ar gas could fully mitigate ions with a low ambient pressure nearly without the penalty of the absorption of the EUV light.     

氢原子在红外激光和极紫外脉冲组合场中的阈上电离

通过求解氢原子在强红外(IR)激光和极紫外（XUV）脉冲组合场中的三维含时薛定谔方程(TDSE),理论研究了XUV脉冲的加入对光电子能谱和二维光电子动量分布的影响.计算结果表明,与仅由红外场驱动的情况相比,组合场驱动下的光电子能谱和二维光电子动量分布中呈现出明显的干涉增强结构,干涉结构对XUV脉冲的强度、光子能量和时间延迟都有很强的依赖,该方案可实现高能阈上电离谱的选择性增强.     

Application of lidar in ultraviolet,visible and infrared ranges for early forest fire detection

The efficiencies of direct lidars operating at 355, 532, 1064 and 1540-nm radiation wavelengths for early forest fire detection were compared. For each wavelength, the range for reliable smoke-plume detection was estimated on the basis of a computer simulation plume using a one-dimensional “top-hat” gas dynamic model for the calculation of the backscattering and extinction-coefficient profiles within the plume. The agreement between the predicted signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and experimental results for 532 and 1064-nm wavelength radiation is good. The decrease of the signal-to-noise ratio with distance is maximum for 355 nm and minimum for 1064 nm. At 1540 nm, the decay of SNR with distance is slightly faster, but the SNR is higher than for other wavelengths, leading to the highest detection efficiency for the same energy of the probing laser pulse. For a burning rate of 2 kg/s and a laser beam divergence of 2.5 mr, the maximum distance for reliable detection varies between 6 and 12 km, depending on the wavelength. Received: 15 May 2002 / Revised version: 13 September 2002 / Published online: 22 January 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +351-21/841-8120, E-mail: rui.vilar@ist.utl.pt     

Competition between ultraviolet and infrared nanosecond laser pulses during the optical breakdown of KH2PO4 crystals

This study addresses the initiation of laser-induced breakdown of dielectric materials in the nanosecond regime under multi-wavelength conditions. In particular, the competition between multi-photon absorption and electronic avalanche as ionization mechanisms in KDP crystal is studied. Since they are both dependent on the laser frequency and intensity of incident radiations, we carried out two experiments: in mono-wavelength configuration at 1,064?nm and in multi-wavelengths configuration applying the simultaneous mixing of 1,064 and 355?nm radiations with various fluence ratios. To interpret experimental data, a model based on heat transfer and which includes ionization processes has been developed for both configurations. The comparison between experiments and modeling results first indicates that avalanche can be responsible for optical breakdown at 1,064?nm. Then, the study underlines the existence of a coupling effect in the multi-wavelength configuration where multi-photon absorption and electronic avalanche both contribute to the breakdown. From a general point of view, the model accounts for the experimental trends and particularly reveals that the electronic recombination timescale may have an important role in the scenario of nanosecond laser-induced breakdown.     

An improved high-resolution solar reference spectrum for earth's atmosphere measurements in the ultraviolet, visible, and near infrared

We have developed an improved solar reference spectrum for use in the analysis of atmospheric spectra from vacuum wavelengths of 200.07 through 1000.99 nm. The spectrum is developed by combining high spectral resolution ground-based and balloon-based solar measurements with lower spectral resolution but higher accuracy irradiance information. The new reference spectrum replaces our previous reference spectrum, and its derivatives, for use in a number of physical applications for analysis of atmospheric spectra, including: wavelength calibration; determination of instrument transfer (slit) functions; Ring effect (Raman scattering) correction; and correction for spectral undersampling of atmospheric spectra, particularly those that are dilute in absorbers. The applicability includes measurements from the GOME, SCIAMACHY, OMI, and OMPS satellite instruments as well as aircraft-, balloon-, and ground-based measurements.     

Conical emission from laser plasma interactions in the filamentation of powerful ultrashort laser pulses in air

We performed detailed experimental and numerical investigations of the conical emission (CE) accompanying the filamentation of powerful ultrashort laser pulses in air. It was found that the CE originates from self-phase modulation in the plasma produced by the pulse during propagation. The experiment and the simulation agree on the essential features of the CE: The CE angle decreases with increasing wavelength and is independent of the position along the filament, and there is no CE at Stokes-shifted wavelengths.     

Physical and material aspects in using visible laser pulses of nanosecond duration for ablation

Interaction phenomena of 50 ns copper vapour laser pulses ( = 511/578 nm) with matter are investigated. The basic ablation process is classified into four fundamental classes. On basis of this classification processing results are connected with specific material properties like the brittleness, the viscosity of the melt or the optical properties. Knowing these properties a prognosis of the expected fundamental process is possible. In order to generate a geometrically defined structure via ablation in a given material-specific process, strategies have to be developed. Typical examples for process strategies are given.     

Space-selective growth of frequency-conversion crystals in glasses with ultrashort infrared laser pulses

We report on space-selective growth of a second-harmonic-generation beta-BaB(2)O(4) (BBO) crystal inside a BaO-Al(2)O(3)-B(2)O(3) glass sample at the focal point of an 800-nm femtosecond laser beam. A spherical heated region was formed during the focused laser irradiation through observation with an optical microscope. We moved the heated region by changing the position of the focal point of the laser beam relative to the glass sample. We grew BBO crystal continuously in the glass sample by adjusting the moving speed of the heated zone. Our results demonstrate that functional crystals can be formed three dimensionally in glasses by use of a nonresonant ultrashort pulsed laser.     

Multimilliwatt ultrashort pulses continuously tunable in the visible from a compact fiber source

We report on a single-pass device that efficiently converts the broadband near-infrared output from a femtosecond fiber laser into a narrow spectrum in the visible. With fan-out poled MgO:LiNbO3 we obtain sub-picosecond, continuously tunable pulses in the 520-700 nm range. Conversion efficiencies as high as 30% are observed at typical pump power levels of 30 mW, corresponding to average output powers up to 9.5 mW. The specifications of our device are ideal for applications in confocal microscopy and frequency metrology.     

Compact laser source for high-power white-light and widely tunable sub 65 fs laser pulses

We demonstrate an Yb:KGW femtosecond solitary mode-locked laser oscillator, which is used as a pump source for tapered fibers to generate white-light laser pulses with an average output power of up to 2.5 W and a spectral bandwidth of over 1000 nm. By spectrally filtering these pulses and subsequent compression of the filtered pulses with a prism sequence, we are able to generate ultrashort laser pulses with durations between 26 and 65 fs that are tunable from 600 to 1450 nm and with tens to several hundreds of milliwatts of average power.     

Optical seizing and merging of voids in silica glass with infrared femtosecond laser pulses

We demonstrate that one can seize and translate voids formed by IR femtosecond laser pulses inside silica glass and can also cause two voids to merge into one. We also present clear evidence of a void and its surrounding region by showing scanning electron microscope images of cleaved voids, which we produced by cleaving through the glass along a plane that included a thin laser-ablated line on the surface of the glass and the voids formed inside.     

A system for the remote spectroscopy in the visible and infrared regions

Results of the design and development of a system for remote sensing of the state and evaluation of the parameters of the natural environment and objects are presented. The devices developed are based on a generalized structural model of measuring system for acquisition of data on spectral, energy, polarization, angular, and spatial characteristics of the optical radiation field of the object under investigation. A. N. Sevchenko Scientific Research Institute for Applied Physical Problems at the Belarusian State University, 7, Kurchatov St., Minsk, 220064, Belarus. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 64, No. 6, pp. 827–833, November–December, 1997.     

Tunable synchronously-pumped fiber Raman laser in the visible and near-infrared exploiting MOPA-generated rectangular pump pulses

We report a tunable synchronously pumped fiber Raman laser (SPFRL) in the near-infrared (NIR) and visible wavebands pumped by a pulsed, all-fiber PM 1060 nm master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) and its frequency-doubled output, respectively. The seed was adaptively shaped to deliver rectangular output pulses, thereby enabling selective excitation of individual Raman Stokes lines. Using filtered synchronous feedback of the desired Raman Stokes line, the linewidth of the SPFRL was reduced by a factor of 4 and the extinction ratio of the desired Raman Stokes was improved by more than 3 dB relative to a simple single-pass conversion scheme. A continuous tuning range of 2.2 THz was obtained for each of the Raman Stokes orders in the visible (spanning from green to orange-first to fifth Stokes lines). A larger 5.0 THz tunable range was achieved in the NIR spectral region.     

Attenuation of powerful ruby laser pulses in the atmosphere by resonant absorption of water vapor

The attenuation of a ruby laser pulse at the wavelength = 6943.8å is calculated under conditions of spectroscopic saturation for a parallel beam and a diverging beam with divergence angle = 10^–5 rad. It is shown that deviation from the Bouguer law may reach 45% at a path length = 2 km for an initial power level of I₀ = 0.5I_s for the parallel beam, and 20% for I₀ = 0.25I_s for the divergent beam (I_s, saturation power).Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 2, pp. 7–12, February, 1978.