Gasdynamic cw CO2 laser

The principles of the physical processes in a high-power gasdynamic cw CO= laser are considered. An equation is derived for the output power, with account taken of the vibrational-nonequilibrium flow of the mixture through the nozzle and of the action of the optical resonator. A theory of the energy of the optical resonator used in the GDL is constructed. The corresponding models of the working medium in the section in which the gas flows through a supersonic nozzle and the optical resonator are presented. The efficiency of a resonator with a uniform field is calculated. The first experiments that have led to realization of the idea of the GDL are described. Experiments that have established for the first time that inactive absorption takes place in the amplifying medium of GDL based on combustion products are also described.Translated from Trudy Ordena Lenina Fizicheskogo Instituta im. P. N. Lebedeva, Vol. 3, pp. 50–114, 1979.     

Propagation of Optical Beams in Active Media Inside Gaussian Cavities

The evolution of relevant beam parameters of a light beam propagating through an iterated sequence of spherical lenses and Gaussian apertures immersed in an active medium is investigated. This structure is a classical model for an optical resonator. The effective size of the field distribution, the beam quality factor and the radius of wave front curvature are calculated as functions of the number of transits. Steady-state values of these parameters are also determined and the dependence of the results on the gain of the medium, the aperture width and the focal length is illustrated. A comparison with the case without active medium is also discussed.     

Autoinjection of Single-Pulse Priming Radiation in a Laser with a Bifurcated Anisotropic Resonator

The optical schemes of lasers with autoinjection of priming radiation in a bifurcated anisotropic resonator are described that make it possible to increase the efficiency of the formation of highly coherent giant pulses by raising the priming radiation intensity level. The parameters of radiation of that kind of ruby lasers have been experimentally studied with Q-switching of a low Q resonator by a bleaching filter and electrooptical switching of the generation channel into the resonator with a higher Q and/or the gain coefficient of an active element, and/or the active material space factor of the resonator.     

Comparison of the parameters of ruby and neodymium Q-switched lasers

It is shown that the rate of resonator Q- switching which determines the nature of a laser's output depends not only on the speed of prism rotation, but also on the optical properties of the active medium.     

The influence of dispersion in resonator elements on the characteristics of two-frequency generation of a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser

The influence of dispersion in the active medium and selected resonator elements (Fabry–Perot interferometers) on the output characteristics of a two-frequency diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser has been investigated. It is shown that the presence of the interferometers causes the beat frequency to depend on the generation wavelength. Based on this effect, a method to determine small displacements is proposed. A displacement of the resonator mirror as small as ~40 nm (less than one twentieth of the laser radiation wavelength) has been recorded experimentally.     

Optical resonator for high-power transverse flow CO2 lasers

A new design of the U-type resonator is described. In this way, a laser beam with symmetrical intensity profile (regarding to a symmetry plane) can be extracted from an active medium that exhibits gain asymmetry along one of the transverse directions. The whole area of the active medium cross-section can be used, and consequently the laser efficiency will be increased. This resonator structure was applied for efficiency power extraction (as a low order TEM modes laser beam) from a DC excited transverse flow CO₂ laser with cylindrical geometry. Although the cross-section area of the discharge was entirely used (including the cathode fall region), a symmetrical intensity profile of the laser beam (regarding to the two orthogonal symmetry planes) was obtained in the near field as well as in the far field; the gain asymmetry along the flow direction was compensated by the gas circulation fluidodynamical circuit with two counterflowing discharge channels. A double-U optical resonator was introduced in order to provide a laser beam with axial symmetry.For the practical construction of these two types of optical resonators we have developed two new types of 90° deflection elements: the first one, which does not reverse the image (and which has the properties of the pentaprism), and the second one, which rotates the image with 90° angle. Both elements exhibit good focusability if they are equipped with two concave mirrors.     

Study on the possibilities of controlling the laser output beam properties by an intracavity deformable mirror

The possibilities of controlling the laser beam properties by a deformable mirror introduced into the laser optical cavity were studied theoretically and experimentally. The experiments were performed under conditions of an industrial high power transverse flow cw CO₂ laser operating with a stable resonator of a folded configuration. A deformable bimorph mirror of a surface profile controlled by the voltage applied to the mirror electrodes is implemented to the laser system as a back cavity mirror or as a one of the inner folding mirrors. The near-and far-field characteristics of the laser beam versus the resonator configuration controlled by the changes of the focal length of the deformable mirror are discussed in the paper. The analysis reveals that the resonator with an inner deformable mirror is much more sensitive to the mirror curvature variations than the resonator in which the deformable mirror is used as a back cavity mirror. The presented results show that dynamic and controllable changes in the resonator properties result in the controlled modification and optimisation of the laser output power and spatial parameters of the laser radiation.     

Experimental studies of an unstable confocal resonator alexandrite laser

The effects of excited converging wave in an unstable confocal resonator onthe properties of an alexandrite laser are investigated experimentally.The results show thatexciting the converging wave inside the resonator is an effective method to reduce the diver-gence of the laser beam for low gain laser medium.     

Periodically modulated emission and the possibility of generating “giant” pulses in a three-level laser using a nonuniformly excited active medium

Summary The above analysis has shown that nonuniformity of the excitation of the active medium of a laser leads, even in the single-mode approximation, to an increase in the possible motions of the system and, in particular, to the possibility of generating giant pulses and unattenuated periodic self-modulation of emission. Clearly, allowance for a large number of oscillation modes of the optical resonator and a more rigorous calculation of the active medium distribution will considerably widen the class of possible motions and will enable us to explain the complex emission-selfmodulation structure observed experimentally in solid-state lasers.Izvestiya VUZ. Radiofizika, Vol. 8, No. 5, pp. 909–919, 1965     

Effect of the optical characteristics of semiconductor resonator structures on the amplitudes of their thermal radiation lines

We investigated, both theoretically and experimentally, the dependence of the intensity of spectral lines of thermal radiation from plane-parallel semiconductor resonator structures on their optical parameters (volume absorption and coefficients of reflection from surfaces). The investigations were performed in the spectral region of absorption by free charge carriers (λ = 3–17 μm). It is shown for such structures that the amplitudes of thermal radiation lines depend non-monotonically on the transmission factor. We determined the optical parameter values for a resonator structure that are optimal when forming comb radiation spectrum. The conditions are found under which the intensity of lines of thermal radiation from a semiconductor plane-parallel layer approaches that of thermal radiation from a blackbody.     

Mode theory of plane Fabry-Pérot resonator with inhomogeneous active medium

A new method of the eigenvalue problem solution for a resonator with inhomogeneous active medium is given. The approach is based on Maxwell's wave equation and impedance boundary conditions of resonance-type at open resonator ends. A resonator equipped with mirrors in the form of infinite long strips is studied as an example. A rigorous solutions for the cases of stepped and bounded parabolic active medium profiles are obtained. Transcendental eigenvalue equations are investigated, distributions of field amplitude of active resonator modes are found. Asymptotic behavior of rigorous solutions is investigated. A multilayer approximation method is proposed for the eigenvalue problem solution for a resonator with an arbitrary gradient profile of active medium. The testing of this method was carried out with the rigorous solutions for the bounded parabolic profile.     

Estimation of output beam characteristics of laser with unstable resonator and turbulent active medium

In this paper we present calculations of the three-dimensional mode structure and output beam characteristics of unstable resonator with turbulent active medium. The calculations of the output beam are carried out in the Fresnel approximation using the well-known iterative method [1]. The active medium is modeled as a series of phase screens with Kolmogorov statistics. The dependence of output radiation parameters of the gas flow laser with unstable resonator on the strength of turbulence in active medium and parameters of resonator is under consideration.     

Dual-band optical filter based on a single microdisk resonator

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a dual-band optical filter based on a single microdisk resonator. An analytical model is built based on the transfer matrix method and is applied to simulate the properties of such a device. Competition and interference of the dual modes in the resonator lead to dual-band filtering with high isolation. As the finite-difference time-domain simulation illustrates, two low-order resonant modes can be effectively triggered by optimizing the waveguide width and spacing gap between the compact resonator and waveguides. In experiment, a double side-coupled microdisk resonator was fabricated on a nanophotonic silicon-on-insulator platform, and dual-band bandpass filtering is realized with an optical isolation higher than 20 dB and an insertion loss lower than 2 dB. The experimental results agree well with our modeling results.     

High-sensitivity optical monitoring of a micromechanical resonator with a quantum-limited optomechanical sensor

We experimentally demonstrate the high-sensitivity optical monitoring of a micromechanical resonator and its cooling by active control. Coating a low-loss mirror upon the resonator, we have built an optomechanical sensor based on a very high-finesse cavity (30 000). We have measured the thermal noise of the resonator with a quantum-limited sensitivity at the 10(-19) m/sqrt[Hz] level, and cooled the resonator down to 5 K by a cold-damping technique. Applications of our setup range from quantum optics experiments to the experimental demonstration of the quantum ground state of a macroscopic mechanical resonator.     

Diffraction theory of an open resonator embedded in a uniaxial medium

A two-dimensional diffraction theory of an open strip resonator embedded in a umaxially anisotropic medium is presented. Applying the modified Kirchhoff approximation and a Green's function technique, the problem is reduced to the solution of a system of two coupled, homogencous integral equations for the unknown field distributions on the mirrors. The eigenvalues of this system of integral equations are related to the characteristic (complex) frequencies of the modes of the open resonator by an implicit relationship. The eigenvalues as well as the corresponding characteristic frequencies are calculated numerically. From the characteristic frequency of a mode, its resonance frequency, its diffraction loss and its quality factor follow immediatedly. For various resonator configurations the influence of the orientation of the optical axis of the uniaxial medium on the properties of the modes is studied in detail.     

Emission properties of a distributed feedback laser cavity containing silicon nanocrystals

We report on light emission from silicon nanocrystals (Si-nc) in a laser cavity. Using modified electrochemical etching of Si wafers we prepare Si-nc with blue-shifted photoluminescence spectrum down to 580-620 nm, embedded at high-volume fractions in a SiO₂-based solid matrix. We insert this active medium into an optically pumped resonator. Since our samples are only partially homogeneous, we cannot use external mirrors in order to achieve optical feedback: we induced optically an internal distributed cavity by intense, spatially periodical excitation. Mode selection was simulated by a simplified theoretical model, based on an approach of multiple reflections. In the framework of the model we discuss the experimentally observed spectral emission changes induced by the distributed cavity.     

Optical precursors in coupled-resonator-induced transparency

We experimentally examined the propagation of temporally square modulated optical pulses through a coupled ring resonator. Sharp transient spikes appeared as the square pulses entered the system. The main signal gradually grew up through coupled-resonator-induced transparency (CRIT), with the time constant determined by a second resonator. Transient spikes were attributed to the higher and lower spectral components of the incident pulse, to which the resonators cannot respond; hence, they were interpreted as optical precursors. The experiments, therefore, demonstrated that precursors and the main signal can be observed separately, with amplitudes comparable to that of the incident step in CRIT.     

1550nm垂直腔面发射激光器自旋反转模型中关键参量数值的实验确定

自旋反转模型是目前用于分析垂直腔面发射激光器(VCSELs)非线性动力学特性最常用的理论模型,因此该模型中相关参量的取值至关重要.本文基于对自由运行和平行光注入时1550 nm垂直腔面发射激光器(1550 nm-VCSELs)输出特性的实验测量结果,对描述1550 nm-VCSELs特性的SFM中光场衰减速率k、总载流子衰减速率γN、线宽增强因子α,有源介质双折射速率γp、自旋反转速率γs、有源介质线性色散速率γa等关键参量进行了估值.在此基础上,利用所测得的这些关键参量的数值,仿真了1550 nm-VCSELs的相关输出特性,所得结果与实验结果符合.     

高功率DPSL声光调Q脉宽压窄的影响因素研究

利用调Q速率方程,从工作物质的增益和谐振腔的损耗之间的内在关系出发,论述了谐振腔内多个可变参数对激光器输出脉冲宽度的影响。用实验给予了验证。在实验中,采用高效的光耦合泵浦腔,对35个20W连续激光二极管阵列侧面泵浦的声光调Q Nd∶YAG固体激光器进行了研究,激光工作物质的尺寸为Φ4mm×115mm,使用熔石英声光Q开关,在泵浦电流I=22.2A时,获得了重复频率10kHz,脉冲宽度45.8ns,平均功率112W的1064nm调Q激光脉冲输出。光-光转换效率为21.3%,电-光转换效率为8.5%。     

Specific features of excitations of “flow”-type self-oscillations in a two-component active medium of a fast-flow gas laser

The mechanism of “flow”-type self-oscillations in a two-component active medium of a flow laser with an unstable resonator is studied. It is shown that this mechanism is associated with the excitation of edge self-oscillatory in-phase perturbations of the medium components. These flow perturbations with low damping reach the optical axis of the resonator and result in an instability.