Structure and electrical characterization of amorphous ErSiO films deposited by rf magnetron sputtering on Si (001)

Amorphous ErSiO films have been fabricated on p-type Si (001) substrates using rf magnetron sputtering technique. X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy were employed to investigate the samples. It is found that ErSiO film exhibits a flat surface, a sharp interface and superior electrical properties after post-deposition annealing in O₂ ambience for 30 min at 450°C. The effective dielectric constant of the film is measured to be 14.2, and the effective oxide thickness reaches 1.9 nm, with a low leakage current density of 1.1×10⁻⁴ A/cm² at an electric field of 1 MV cm⁻¹ after annealing at 450°C. The obtained characteristics make the amorphous ErSiO films a promising substitute for SiO₂ as a high-k gate dielectric.     

Efficient continuous-wave 908 nm Nd:YLF laser emission under direct 880 nm pumping

The quasi-three-level 908-nm continuous-wave laser emission under direct diode laser pumping at 880 nm into emitting level ⁴ F _3/2 of Nd:YLF have been demonstrated. An end-pumped Nd:YLF crystal yielded 4.7 W of output power for 11.8 W of absorbed pump power. The slope efficiency with respect to the absorbed pump power was 43.3%. Comparative results obtained for the pump with diode laser at 808 nm, into the highly-absorbing ⁴ F _5/2 level, are given in order to prove the advantages of the 880-nm wavelength pumping.     

880 nm laser-diode end-pumped Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> slab laser at 1342 nm

43.6 W near-diffraction-limited continuous-wave laser beam at 1342 nm in 880 nm laser-diode partially end-pumped Nd:YVO₄ slab laser is presented. The slope efficiency and optical-to-optical efficiency with respect to absorbed pumping power were 45.4% and 35.9%, respectively. At output power of 34.5 W, the M ² factors in unstable and stable directions were 1.3 and 1.2, respectively.     

All-solid-state CW frequency-doubling Nd:LuVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>/KTP laser with 2.3 W output power at 545 nm

Efficient and compact green-yellow laser output at 545 nm is generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous-wave (CW) diode-pumped Nd:LuVO₄ laser at 1089 nm under the condition of suppressing the higher gain transition near 1066 nm. With 18.7 W of diode pump power and the frequency-doubling crystal KTiOPO₄(KTP), as high as 2.3 W of CW output power at 545 nm is achieved, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 12.3%; the output power stability over 4 h is better than 5.4%.     

Widely ultra-narrow linewidth 104 nm tunable all-fiber compact erbium-doped ring laser

A widely tunable narrow linewidth compact erbium-doped all-fiber ring laser with 104 nm tuning range was reported. An all-fiber Fabry-Perot filter (FFP-TF) was used to realize the laser tuning output, and the wavelength at constant voltage had high time stability. With the 8 m length erbium-doped fiber as gain medium, we realized widely tunable laser from 1513 to 1617 nm with the linewidth less than 40 pm at any wavelength. Pumped by the 976 nm laser diode, the fiber laser worked with slope efficiency of above 10% and threshold of less than 21 mW.     

Efficient and compact intracavity-frequency-doubled Nd:LuVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>/LBO laser at 538 nm end-pumped by a fiber-coupled laser diode

We report a diode-pumped Nd:LuVO₄ laser emitting at 1076 nm, based on the ⁴ F _3/2−⁴ I _11/2 transition, generally used for a 1066 nm emission. A power of 689 mW at 1076 nm has been achieved in continuous-wave (CW) operation with a fiber-coupled laser diode emitting 17.8 W at 809 nm. Intracavity second-harmonic generation (SHG) in CW mode has also been demonstrated with a power of 105 mW at 538 nm by using a LiB₃O₅ (LBO) nonlinear crystal.     

Long pulse duration of the UV laser with a multi-reflected cavity: Experiment and modeling

The long pulse operation of ultraviolet (UV) laser attributed to multi-reflection is presented on an acousto-optic (AO) Q-switched ultraviolet laser system blocking green light inside a cavity. The ultraviolet laser with the highest average power of 456 mW is obtained with 20 kHz repetition-rate. The numerical simulation of UV pulse broadening was studied using Gaussian curve approximation. The conclusion suggests that the short multi-reflected cavity and high incident pump power will be beneficial to alleviate the width broadening effect. The results, for the first time, would provide the technology for controlling the pulse width of an AO Q-switched DUV laser.     

Beam controller using nonlinear embedded optical transformation

Flexible and adjustable beam splitters, expanders/compressors and the cloak are presented based on a universal two-dimensional transformation formula for the embedded transformation optics. Nonlinear transformation results by the suggested formula under different conditions reveal several interesting phenomena and potential applications. All beam controllers are achieved by the nonlinear coordinate transformation.     

Half-metallic ferromagnetism in rocksalt and zinc-blende MS (M=Li, Na and K): A first-principles study

First-principles full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave method is used to investigate the electronic structure and magnetic properties of hypothetical zinc-blende and rocksalt LiS, NaS and KS. We find that all the compounds except rocksalt LiS exhibit half-metallic ferromagnetism with an integer magnetic moment of 1.00 μ_B per formula unit. The ferromagnetism results from the spin-polarization of p states of anion S. Total energies calculations indicate the rocksalt phase is lower in energy than the zinc-blende one. The total energy differences are about 0.38, 0.36 and 0.32 eV per formula unit for LiS, NaS and KS, respectively. Meanwhile, it is shown that rocksalt NaS and KS have the half-metallic gaps of 0.22 and 0.41 eV, respectively, and the half-metallic gaps are 0.03, 0.46 and 0.65 eV for zinc-blende LiS, NaS and KS, respectively. We also find the half-metallicity is robust against the lattice contraction up to 7% and 13% for rocksalt NaS and KS, respectively. Although rocksalt LiS is nonmagnetic and metallic at the equilibrium lattice constant, it shows half-metallic ferromagnetism when the lattice constant is larger than 5.40 Å.