Generation of 5-W deep-UV continuous-wave radiation at 266 nm by an external cavity with a CsLiB6O10 crystal

A Brewster-cut CsLiB6O10 crystal is employed as an external resonant frequency doubler to generate cw deep-UV radiation at 266 nm. We have generated 5.0 W of usable cw output power, which is 6.1 W in the crystal, for an incident green power of 9.6 W, corresponding to an internal conversion efficiency of 61.8%. The power obtained is, to our knowledge, three times higher than previously reported for cw 266-nm generation.     

High-power, continuous-wave, singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on MgO:sPPLT

We report a high-power, widely tunable, cw singly resonant optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on MgO:sPPLT. The OPO is pumped in the green by a cw diode-pumped Nd:YVO(4) laser at 532 nm and can provide continuously tunable output across 848-1430 nm. Using a 30 mm crystal and double-pass pumping, an oscillation threshold of 2.88 W has been obtained, and single-pass idler powers in excess of 1.51 W have been generated over 1104-1430 nm for 6W of pump power at an extraction efficiency of 25.2% and photon conversion efficiency of 56.7%.     

Multicrystal, continuous-wave, single-pass second-harmonic generation with 56% efficiency

We report a simple and compact implementation for single-pass second-harmonic-generation (SP-SHG) of cw laser radiation, based on a cascaded multicrystal (MC) scheme, that can provide the highest conversion efficiency at any given fundamental power. By deploying a suitable number of identical 30-mm-long MgO:sPPLT crystals in a cascade and a 30W cw Yb-fiber laser at 1064nm as the fundamental source, we demonstrate SP-SHG into the green with a conversion efficiency as high as 56% in the low-power as well as the high-power regime, providing 5.6W of green output for 10W and 13W of green output for 25.1W of input pump power. The MC scheme permits substantial increase in cw SP-SHG efficiency compared to the conventional single-crystal scheme without compromising performance with regard to power stability and beam quality.     

Diode-pumped self-Q-switched single-frequency 946-nm Nd(3+), Cr(4+):YAG microchip laser

A stable low-threshold self-Q-switched diode-pumped 946-nm Nd(3+), Cr(4+):YAG microchip laser operating in single frequency and fundamental transverse mode is reported. The output characteristics of the microchip laser were investigated under cw and pulsed pumping. By combination of the infrared microchip and an external frequency doubler, 473-nm pulses with a conversion efficiency of 18% were achieved.     

Efficient continuous-wave self-frequency-doubling green diode-pumped Yb:YAl(3)(BO(3))(4) lasers

Efficient cw self-frequency-doubled green laser output of 160 mW has been obtained from Yb:YAl(3)(BO(3))(4) crystal pumped by 1.4-W incident power from a fiber-coupled 976-nm laser diode. The incident-pump-power-green-output-power conversion efficiency is greater than 11.3%, and the electrical-input-green conversion efficiency is 3.9%. Tunable green output from 513.0 to 545.8 nm is also demonstrated with a quartz birefringent filter.     

Diode-pumped high-power cw blue laser at 473 nm with a compact three-element cavity

We report on a diode-pumped cw Nd:YAG laser operating at 946 nm with a maximum output power of 3.3 W and a slope efficiency of 22% with respect to the incident pump power of 17.5 W. Intracavity frequency doubling with nonlinear crystal LBO yielded a single-ended blue output power of 590 mW with optical conversion efficiency of 3.4%. A very simple, compact three-element cavity of 35 mm long was used. The power fluctuation of the blue laser was 4.3% (rms) at output power level of 400 mW. Transverse mode hopping was observed at higher output power.     

High power 1.3414 μm Nd:YAP cw laser

The eigen-oscillation mode of the Nd:YAP cw laser has been analysed. The influence of thermal effects arising from the pumping process on the output character of the 1.3414 μm Nd:YAP cw laser has been discussed. The crack problem of the reflective film at a 1.34 μm dielectric mirror has been solved. Based on the aforementioned work, we have been able to achieve an 82.8 W laser output at 1.3414 μm with a nearly polarized beam from a 5.8 mm diameter by 111 mm Nd:YAP rod. The overall efficiency and the slope efficiency are 1.15% and 2.02% respectively, and the fluctuation of the output power at 62 W is less than 1% during continuous operation for 45 min.     

Recent progress in the development of type II interband cascade lasers

Type-II interband cascade lasers combine the advantage of an interband optical transition with interband tunneling to enable the cascading of type-II quantum well active regions as is done in type-I quantum cascade laser. The relatively high radiative efficiency resulting from interband optical transitions translates into very low-threshold current densities, and when combined with the high quantum efficiency of cascade lasers, this diode laser design has the potential to operate under cw conditions at room temperature with high output power. Experimental results have already demonstrated some of this potential including high differential external quantum efficiency (>600%), high peak output power (6 W/facet at 80 K), high cw power conversion efficiency (>17% at 80 K), and operation at 300 K under pulsed conditions. Recent work aimed at reducing device thermal resistance and increasing cw operating temperature is reviewed including the demonstration of significant reductions in thermal resistance (averaging 25 K/W or 40% for 1-mm-long devices), 80 K cw operation at 3.4 μm with high-power conversion efficiency (23%) and high differential external quantum efficiency (532%), and cw operation up to 214 K.     

Efficient passively Q-switched operation of a diode-pumped Nd:GGG laser with a Cr:YAG saturable absorber

The continuous-wave (cw) and passive Q-switching operation of a diode-end-pumped gadolinium gallium garnet doped with neodymium (Nd:GGG) laser at 1062 nm was realized. A maximum cw output power of 6.9 W was obtained. The corresponding optical conversion efficiency was 50.9%, and the slope efficiency was determined to be 51.4%. By using Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystals as saturable absorbers, Q-switching pulse with average output power of 1.28 W, pulse width of 4 ns and repetition rate of 6.2 kHz were obtained. The single-pulse energy and peak power were estimated to be 206 μJ and 51.6 kW, respectively. The conversion efficiency of the output power from cw to Q-switching operation was as high as 84.7%.     

Generation of 2.1 W Continuous Wave Blue Light by Intracavity Doubling of a Diode-End-Pumped Nd：YAG Laser in a 30 mm LBO

A folded four-mirror cavity with a composite Nd：YAG rod is optimized to obtain high efficient cw 473nm blue output. The laser could operate stably in the region of the thermal-lens focal length from 20mm to 70mm. LBO is used for intracavity frequency doubling of the 946nm transition of Nd：YAG and the optimum LBO length is investigated. A maximum output power of 2.1 Win the blue spectral range at 473nm is achieved with 30-mm-long LBO, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 9.1%.     

Self-optical parametric oscillation in periodically poled neodymium-doped lithium niobate

Self-optical parametric oscillation is demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge in a periodically poled neodymium-doped lithium niobate (Nd:PPLN) crystal. The crystal is pumped by a cw Ti:sapphire laser at 813.5 nm. The Nd(3+) ions absorb the 813.5-nm radiation to generate 1084-nm laser oscillation. The internally Q switched 1084-nm radiation pumps the periodically poled lithium niobate host matrix to generate optical parametric oscillation at 1.55 and 3.6 microm . Up to 24% conversion efficiency from laser to signal is observed.     

Jet-type, water-cooled heat sink that yields 255-W continuous-wave laser output at 808 nm from a 1-cm laser diode bar

A newly designed jet-type, water-cooled heat sink (the funryu heat sink, meaning fountain flow in Japanese) yielded 255-W cw laser output at 808 nm from a 1-cm bar made from InGaAsP/InGaP quantum-well active layers with a 67% fill factor [70 quantum-well laser diode (LD) array along the 1-cm bar]. A funryu heat sink measuring 1.1 mm in thickness gave the LD 0.25 degrees C/W thermal resistance, one of the lowest values achieved with a 1-cm LD bar. Over a short period of operation, the device reached a maximum cw power of 255 W. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest power ever achieved in 808-nm LD operation. In the future, the funryu heat sink may be capable of 80-W cw operation over an extended lifetime of several thousand hours.     

Continuous-wave wavelength conversion for high-power applications using an external cavity diamond Raman laser

We demonstrate continuous-wave (cw) operation of a diamond Raman laser at 1240 nm in an external cavity configuration. The output power increased linearly with pump power with a 49.7% slope efficiency and reached 10.1 W at the maximum available pump power of 31 W. The combination of resonator design with diamond provides a novel approach to power-scalable cw wavelength and beam conversion.     

The Fabrication and SHG Test of QPM Periodically Poled KTiOPO4

The Quasi-phase-matching periodically poled flux-grown KTP by high electrical field method is researched. A 8×5×1mm3, Λ=9.0μm PPKTP wafer is successfully fabricated for the first order QPM SHG. The interactive length of the sample is about 3mm. The SHG scheme of Nd:YAG at 1064nm tested that the output power of cw 532nm green light is 0.2mw at room temperature with fundamental power of 1.2w. The normalized conversion efficiency is about 0.09% (W·cm)-1.     

High-power, high-efficiency cw diode-pumped Tm:YAP laser emitting at 1.99?μm

We elaborate a high-power, high-efficiency cw Tm:YAP laser dual-end-pumped by the laser diode. With 41.9?W pumping power, we obtain a maximum cw output power of 14.7?W at 1988?nm with a slope efficiency of 43.8%, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 35.1%. At the maximum laser output, we measure a beam quality of M ²?~?1.9.     

Efficient continuous-wave and Q-switched operation of a diode-pumped Yb:KLu(WO4)2 laser with self-Raman conversion

Efficient cw and passively Q-switched operation with self-stimulated Raman scattering conversion was demonstrated in a compact diode-pumped Yb:KLu(WO4)2 laser. A cw output power of 3.28 W was obtained with an optical efficiency of 48.2% and a slope efficiency of 78.2% with respect to the incident pump power. Stable Q-switched operation was achieved with a Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber, generating 32.4 microJ fundamental pulses with a duration of 1.41 ns at 1030.6 nm and 14.4 microJ Raman pulses with a duration of 0.71 ns at 1137.6 nm. At an incident pump power of 7.0 W, the average output power reached 0.9 and 0.4 W for fundamental and Raman radiation, with slope efficiencies of 32.1% and 14.1%, respectively.     

2.5-W, continuous-wave, 629-nm solid-state laser source

We report an efficient, high-power, cw, 629-nm laser source based on a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser and a periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) frequency converter. This device integrates two separate frequency-conversion steps in a single crystal, taking advantage of the ability to fabricate PPLN with nearly arbitrary grating periods and phase-matching temperatures. This device uses a single PPLN crystal that has two grating regions in series. The first region quasi-phase matches a standard optical parametric oscillator process (1064nm?1540nm +3450nm), and the second region quasi-phase matches a sum-frequency process whereby the pump and the signal light make red light (1064nm+1540nm ?629nm). Using a four-mirror ring cavity, we were able to convert 21% of the 1064-nm pump to 629-nm output, yielding 2.5W of red output with 11.8W of input.     

Efficient quasi-phase-matched frequency doubling with phase compensation by a wedged crystal in a standing-wave external cavity

In standing-wave enhancement cavities for frequency doubling, second-harmonic fields are generated in both directions of propagation. To add the fields coherently, one should compensate for the phase shifts introduced by dispersive elements in the cavity. We experimentally demonstrate phase compensation in a compact standing-wave frequency-doubling cavity by use of a wedged periodically poled KTP crystal. The highest conversion efficiency and second-harmonic power obtained by pumping with a 1064-nm cw Nd:YAG laser were 69.4% and 268 mW, respectively.     

Efficient diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 continuous-wave laser at 1.34 μm

We report a high-power continuous-wave(cw) diode-pumped efficient 1.34 μm Nd:YVO₄ laser. The laser properties of a low Nd³⁺-doped concentration of the Nd:YVO₄ crystal operating at 1.34 μm formed with a simple plane-concave cavity have been demonstrated. With the incident pump power of 22 W, an output power of 8.24 W was obtained, giving an optical conversion efficiency of 37.5% and slope efficiency of 40%. The thermal effects of cw end-pumped solid-state lasers were studied.     

Narrow-band, tunable, semiconductor-laser-based source for deep-UV absorption spectroscopy

Tunable, narrow-bandwidth (<200-MHz), ~215-nm radiation was produced by frequency quadrupling the ~860-nm output of a high-power, pulsed GaAlAs tapered amplifier seeded by an external-cavity diode laser. Pulsing the amplifier increased the 860 nm?215 nm conversion efficiency by 2 orders of magnitude with respect to cw operation. Detection of nitric oxide and sulfur dioxide by high-resolution absorption spectroscopy was demonstrated.