Broad-bandwidth shot-noise-limited class-A operation of a monomode semiconductor fiber-based ring laser

We demonstrate the operation of a monomode semiconductor laser with a relative intensity noise limited by the shot-noise floor, -156 dB/Hz for a typical detected photocurrent of 1 mA, over a large frequency range from 50 MHz to 18 GHz. We achieve direct control of photon lifetime to turn an initially class-B laser into a relaxation-oscillation-free class-A one while preserving strict single-mode operation. Finally, we confirm experimentally that the laser operation in the desired class-A regime allows a dramatic filtering out of the relative intensity noise.     

Polarization dynamics of longitudinally monomode bipolarized microchip solid-state lasers

This paper is devoted to the polarization dynamics of a longitudinally monomode bipolarized Nd:YAG laser: the low-frequency polarization dynamics of a microchip laser is studied experimentally and theoretically. The intensities and the relaxation oscillation spectrum of orthogonally polarized modes versus the direction of pump polarization is observed. A phase-sensitive model of a longitudinally monomode bipolarized solid-state laser with linear polarized diode laser pump is developed to account for the experimental observations.     

窄线宽光纤激光器进展

详细介绍采用光纤光栅获得窄线宽光纤激光器的各种技术,并讨论获得单模激光输出以及提高功率输出的方法。介绍了目前的最新进展,尤其是镱铒共掺磷酸盐玻璃DBR光纤激光所获得的最新数据,激光功率200mW,线宽1．75kHz。对光纤掺杂、光敏性以及光栅刻写等关键技术也进行了探讨。还重点介绍了作为应用之一的高功率激光系统前端种子源。     

Pulse shortening in degenerate four wave mixing in atomic sodium vapor

Phase conjugation is observed in sodium vapor near the resonance lines using a monomode pulsed dye laser. The divergence of the beam strongly varies during the pulse. By combining the curvature of the pumping beams and the diameter of a pinhole, it is possible to generate pulses which are shorter than the incident pulse by a factor as large as 20.     

Optical chaos and hysteresis in a laser-diode pumped Nd doped fibre laser

Modulated pumping of a Nd³⁺ doped silica monomode fibre laser has been investigated experimentally. For small modulation depths the laser exhibits a resonance at the relaxation oscillation frequency, providing pulses of a few microseconds duration at a repetition rate in the region of 10 kHz, dependent on the average pump level above threshold. As the pump modulation depth is increased, hysteresis is observed as a function of modulation frequency, along with optical bistability. For further increase in modulation depth, optical chaos and period doubling are observed. Gain-switching has also been demonstrated.     

Underlying dynamics of the pedestal components in a modulated laser diode with noise

We demonstrate that the pedestal components observed in the power spectra of a directly modulated laser diode, which were interpreted as a sign of instability of the periodic regime, are an indication of the coexistence of a chaotic regime with the periodic one. We present the underlying dynamics behind the rise of these pedestals, showing two different situations in which the pedestals appear. In both, a periodic regime coexists with another attractor, a saddle cycle in one case and a chaotic attractor in the other. The random fluctuations included in the laser diode model allow the coexisting attractors to merge in the observed behavior of the laser.     

Very compact tunable solid-state laser utilizing a thin-film organic semiconductor

Optically pumped organic semiconductor lasers are fabricated by evaporation of a thin film of tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq(3)) molecularly doped with a laser dye on top of a polyester substrate with an embossed grating structure. We achieve low-threshold, longitudinally monomode distributed-feedback laser operation. By varying the film thickness of the organic semiconductor film, we can tune the wavelength of the surface-emitting laser over 44 nm. The low laser threshold allows the use of a very compact all-solid-state pump laser ( approximately 10 cm long). This concept opens up a way to obtain inexpensive lasers that are tunable over the whole visible range.     

Saturation effects at backward-stimulated scattering in the single-mode regime of interaction

The effects of amplitude modulation of interacting waves at stimulated Mandelstam-Brillouin scattering (SMBS) in a monomode fibre caused by the noise origin of the initial Stokes wave are investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Depending on the determined conditions, there can taken place either a smoothing of the noise amplitude modulation or its preservation in the Stokes radiation in the deep saturation regime of SMBS. Amplitude modulation with period corresponding to the double time of radiation propagation through the fibre is observed along with noise-amplitude modulation of the Stokes and pump waves. The effect of this period prolongation is discussed. The influence of phase fluctuations on amplitude modulation of interacting waves is investigated. The role of phase correlations in the feedback regime of SMBS is considered. Experimental results are in good agreement with numerical calculations.     

Lasers with two-photon saturable absorbers

We study the mean field properties of a solid-state monomode laser containing a saturable absorber which can undergo only two-photon transitions. Even when the cavity is tuned to the atomic line center there are two classes of stationary solutions, one of which is tuned to the microscopic frequency whereas the other one is always detuned. Furthermore optical bistability arises either between two tuned states or between a tuned and a detuned state.     

Laser stabilization to an atomic transition using an optically generated dispersive line shape

We report a simple and robust technique to generate a dispersive signal which serves as an error signal to electronically stabilize a monomode continuous-wave laser emitting around an atomic resonance. We explore nonlinear effects in the laser beam propagation through a resonant vapor by way of spatial filtering. The performance of this technique is validated by locking semiconductor lasers to the cesium and rubidium D₂ lines and observing long-term reduction of the emission frequency drifts, making the lasers well adapted for many atomic physics applications.     

From superradiant Rayleigh scattering to Bragg scattering

We present the results of an experiment on light scattering from an elongated Bose-Einstein condensate interacting with far off resonant laser light. Due to superradiant Rayleigh scattering a coherent superposition of two atomic wavepackets with different momenta forms in the presence of a single laser beam. Varying the intensity of a weak counterpropagating laser beam we observe the transition from the pure superradiant regime to the Bragg scattering regime, where Rabi oscillations in a two-level system are observed. The process is limited by the decoherence between the two atomic wavepackets.     

Light coupling from a junction laser into a monomode fibre with a glass cylindrical lens on the fibre end

A new method of producing a small cylindrical glass lens on the end of a glass fibre is described. The intensity distribution in the focal plane of such a lens formed on the end face of a monomode fibre was measured. An improvement factor of 2.5 in the coupling efficiency into the fibre from a stripe geometry GaAs laser was observed. The tolerances of the coupling laser-fibre are carefully measured. In contrast to previous work it is shown that the improvement in coupling efficiency is obtained only at the expense of much tighter alignment tolerances.     

Mechanisms for lasing with cold atoms as the gain medium

We realize a laser with a cloud of cold rubidium atoms as gain medium, placed in a low-finesse cavity. Three different regimes of laser emission are observed corresponding, respectively, to Mollow, Raman, and four-wave mixing mechanisms. We measure an output power of up to 300 microW and present the main properties of these different lasers in each regime.     

611.8 nm single-mode He-Ne laser

The conditions for optimum 611.8 nm laser operation are obtained and a convenient method for indicating 3.39 µm suppression is proposed. Single longitudinal mode 611.8 nm generation is obtained using higher gas-mixture pressure and application of an axial magnetic field. Several milliwatt monomode output power and 0.75 multimode-to-monomode power conversion coefficients are obtained without an internal iodine cell. A comparison of the experimental results with a single-mode laser theory is given.     

Repetition rate dependency of low-density plasma effects during femtosecond-laser-based surgery of biological tissue

Femtosecond laser based nanosurgery of biological tissue is usually done in two different regimes. Depending on the application, low kHz repetition rates above the optical breakdown threshold or high MHz repetition rates in the low-density plasma regime are used. In contrast to the well understood optical breakdown, mechanisms leading to dissection below this threshold are not well known due to the complexity of chemical effects with high numbers of interacting molecules. Furthermore, the laser repetition rate may influence their efficiency. In this paper, we present our study on low-density plasma effects in biological tissue depending on repetition rate by static exposure of porcine corneal stroma to femtosecond pulses. We observed a continuous increase of the laser-induced damage with decreasing repetition rate over two orders of magnitude at constant numbers of applied laser pulses or constant laser pulse energies. Therefore, low repetition rates in the kHz regime are advantageous to minimize the total delivered energy to biological tissue during femtosecond laser irradiation. However, due to frequent excessive damage in this regime directly above the threshold, MHz repetition rates are preferable to create nanometer-sized cuts in the low-density plasma regime.     

Frequency dynamics of semiconductor lasers with atomic absorbers: theory and experiments

In this paper we discuss the spectral behavior of monomode semiconductor laser systems whose output amplitude is constant, but whose frequency may be bistable, multistable, locked or present instabilities. The explored configurations are: (i) a laser diode (Fabry-Pérot) under orthogonal filtered optical feedback; and (ii) an extended-cavity diode laser with an intracavity strongly-saturated resonant vapor. Starting from rate equations for the carrier density and for the radiation field oscillating in the cavity of these systems we describe spectral features which are in very good quantitative agreement with experimental observations.     

二能级原子与高品质因子腔的自发辐射特性

用全量子理论研究二能级原子单模腔耦合系统,通过理论推导和数值计算得出系统的自发辐射光谱和平均粒子数密度.共振时腔与原子的发射光谱在强耦合与弱耦合区域有所不同,腔发射光谱分裂只出现于强耦合区域,而原子发射光谱由于腔感应透明效应在弱耦合区域出现了缺口.本文系统地研究了原子与腔在失谐时的发射光谱,在好腔机理(腔线宽小于原子线宽g)原子与腔即使在大失谐时腔发射出腔频率的光子,这给当前实验上困惑的特性提供了一个理论依据.为了给腔感应透明效应一个新的深入了解,还研究了原子与腔平均粒子数密度随时间的演化,以及平均粒子数密度与光强度之间的关系. 关键词： 自发辐射 强耦合 腔感应透明 好腔机理     

Side-pumped fiber laser

A neodymium-doped side-pumped double-clad fiber laser operating at 1.06 µm is described. We report here, what is, to our knowledge, the first exclusively repetitive side-pumping scheme with two monomode laser diodes. Side-pumping has been realized by prism-fiber couplers. A pump-light-loss analysis at the pump positions has been performed. An output power of 13.5 mW is obtained with both diode lasers. The highest slope efficiency of 66% with respect to absorbed pump power at 809 nm is achieved when pumping with only one diode.     

Experimental investigation of chemical oxygen-iodine laser

Results of an experimental investigation of a chemical oxygen-iodine laser (COIL) are presented. We determine the factors influencing the efficiency of a chemical singlet-oxygen generator (SOG) of the bubbler type operating on the chlorination of an alkaline solution of oxygen peroxide. We describe SOG constructions. A cw COIL with output power up to 400 W is developed on the basis of the investigated SOG. The feasibility of a modular construction of high-power COIL is demonstrated. A power-output level of 1 kW was achieved with a two-section laser. The feasibility is analyzed of COIL operation in a pulsed regime by pulsed bulk accrual of iodine atoms. We show that in this regime the laser can be operated without a low-temperature trap. An advantage of such a regime is also the possibility of controlling, in a wide range, the lasing pulse duration. A strong influence of molecular chlorine on the energy content of the active medium is observed when alkyliodides are used as iodine donors. The possibilities of using a pulsed COIL for controlled thermonuclear fusion are discussed. Translated from Trudy Fizicheskogo Instituta im. P. N. Lebedeva Akademiya Nauk SSSR, Vol. 194, pp. 114–147 (1989).