A new advanced thermo-microbalance

The capabilities of the new NETZSCH thermo-microbalance TG 209 are illustrated by four applications from the polymer industry.     

A comprehensive study of Nd:YAG, Nd:YAlO3, Nd:YVO4 and Nd:YGdVO4 lasers operating at wavelengths of 0.9 and 1.3 μm. Part 1: cw-operation

This paper reports on efficient generation of cw laser radiation at 0.9 and 1.3 μm in different neodymium doped laser hosts. The thermal, mechanical and optical properties as well as the laser performance of Nd:YAG, Nd:YAlO₃, Nd:YVO₄ and Nd:GdVO₄ are studied in numerical simulations as well as in experimental investigations. For example an output power of more than 4.0 W is generated in Nd:YVO₄ at the 914 nm ⁴F_3/2→⁴I_9/2 transition using a pump power of 19 W. In Nd:GdVO₄ more than 6.0 W are obtained at the 1342 nm ⁴F_3/2→⁴I_13/2 laser transition by using a pump power of 19.3 W. The spatial beam quality of both lasers is diffraction limited with an M² value of less than 1.1. PACS  42.70.Hj; 42.55.Xi; 42.60.Pk     

A comprehensive study of Nd:YAG,Nd:YAlO<Subscript>3</Subscript>, Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> and Nd:YGdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> lasers operating at wavelengths of 0.9 and 1.3 μm. Part 2: passively mode locked-operation

This paper reports on the generation of picosecond (ps) laser pulses by self-phase-adjusting additive-pulse-mode-locking (PSA) at wavelengths of 0.9 and 1.3 μm. The main objective of this work was to investigate and compare the characteristic optical properties of ps lasers based on different Nd-doped laser crystals like Nd:YAG, Nd:YAlO₃, Nd:YVO₄ and Nd:GdVO₄. As a result of these investigations a mode-locked Nd:YVO₄ laser for example, generated, ps pulses at 1.3 μm with a duration of 7 ps, a repetition rate of 160 MHz and an average power of 4.7 W. At 0.9 μm pulses with a duration of 1.9 ps were obtained at a repetition rate of 158 MHz and an average power of 2.8 W. PACS  42.70.Hj; 42.65.Re; 42.65.Ky     

Ultra‐Low‐Field NMR Relaxation and Diffusion Measurements Using an Optical Magnetometer

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry and diffusometry are important tools for the characterization of heterogeneous materials and porous media, with applications including medical imaging, food characterization and oil‐well logging. These methods can be extremely effective in applications where high‐resolution NMR is either unnecessary, impractical, or both, as is the case in the emerging field of portable chemical characterization. Here, we present a proof‐of‐concept experiment demonstrating the use of high‐sensitivity optical magnetometers as detectors for ultra‐low‐field NMR relaxation and diffusion measurements.     

Temperature dependence of coherent population trapping resonances

We measure the properties of coherent population trapping (CPT) resonances in Cs vapor cells as a function of temperature. We expected the CPT signal to increase with higher vapor density, but instead the signal fades away above a certain density. Two possible density-dependent explanations are discussed: spin-exchange collisions, which are found to give no relevant contribution at the temperatures considered here, and increased absorption due to the optical thickness of the vapor. The dependence of the dark-line resonance amplitude as a function of cell temperature can be well represented by a simple model based on the optical thickness of the vapor as a function of temperature. Received: 30 November 2001 / Published online: 7 February 2002     

13-W picosecond Nd:GdVO4 regenerative amplifier with 200-kHz repetition rate

We report a diode-pumped picosecond Nd:GdVO₄ regenerative amplifier system designed for micro-machining applications. Nd:GdVO₄ was chosen as gain material because it offers – in comparison to the commonly used Nd:YVO₄ – improved thermal properties and a larger gain bandwidth. At the maximum repetition rate of 200 kHz, the system generated 6.8-ps-long pulses with a pulse energy of 65 μJ, which corresponds to an average output power of 13 W. At 100 kHz, the pulse energy increased to 123 μJ, whereas the average power of 12.3 W remained almost identical. The broadening of the pulses due to gain narrowing was investigated in dependence on the number of cavity round trips and on the repetition rate. At 200 kHz, the injected 5.3-ps-long pulses broadened slightly to about 6.8 ps.