Femtosecond optical Kerr effect study of Ge(10)AS(40)S(30)Se(20) film

The results of the femtosecond optical heterodyne detection of optical Kerr effect at 805 nm with the 80 fs ultrafast pulses in amorphous Ge10As40S30Se20 film is reported in this paper. The film shows an optical non-linear response of: 200 fs under ultrafast 80 fs-pulse excitation and the values of real and imaginary parts of non-linear susceptibility chi((3)) were 9.0 X 10(-12) and -4.0 X 10(-12) esu, respectively. The large third-order non-linearity and ultrafast response are attributed to the ultrafast distortion of the electron orbits surrounding the average positions of the nucleus of Ge, As, S and Se atoms. This Ge10As40S30Se20 chalcogenide glass would be expected as a promising material for optical switching technique. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ultrafast optical Kerr effect in amorphous Ge10As40S30Se20 film induced by ultrashort laser pulses

The results of the femtosecond optical heterodyne detection of optical Kerr effect at 805 am with the 80 fs ultrafast pulses in amorphous Ge10As40S30Se20 film is reported in this Letter. The film shows an optical nonlinear response of 200 fs under ultrafast 80 fs-pulse excitation, and the values of real and imaginary parts of nonlinear susceptibility chi((3)) were 9.0 x 10(-12) esu and -4.0 x 10(-12) esu respectively. The large third-order nonlinearity and ultrafast response are attributed to the ultrafast distortion of the electron orbits surrounding the average positions of the nucleus of Ge, As, S and Se atoms. This Ge10As40S30Se20 chalcogenide glass would be expected as a promising material for optical switching technique.

Structure and properties of amorphous thin film for optical data storage

In this paper the magnetic and magneto-optical properties of amorphous rare earth-transition metal (RE-TM) alloys as well as the magnetic coupling in the multi-layer thin films for high density optical data storage are presented. Using magnetic effect in scanning tunneling microscopy the clusters structure of amorphous RE-TM thin films has been observed and the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in amorphous RE-TM thin films has been interpreted. Experimental results of quick phase transformation under short pulse laser irradiation of amorphous semiconductor and metallic alloy thin films for phase change optical recording are reported. A step-by-step phase transformation process through metastable states has been observed. The waveform of crystallization propagation in micro-size spot during laser recording in amorphous semiconductor thin films is characterized and quick recording and erasing mechanism for optical data storage with high performance are discussed. The nonlinear optical effects in amorphous alloy thin films have been studied. By photo-thermal effect or third order optical nonlinearity, the optical self-focusing is observed in amorphous mask thin films. The application of amorphous thin films with super-resolution near field structure for high-density optical data storage is performed. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High-energy LDA switched side-pumped electro-optical Q-switched Nd : YAG ceramic laser

By employing a uniformly compact side-pumping system, a high-energy electro-optical Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser has been demonstrated. With 420 W quasi-cw laser-diode-array pumping at 808 ran and a 100 Hz modulating repetition rate, 50 mJ output energy at 1064 nm was obtained with 10 ns pulse width, 5 W average output power, and 5 MW peak power. Its corresponding slope efficiency was 29.8%. The laser system operated quite stably and no saturation phenomena have been observed, which means higher output energy could be expected. Laser parameters between ceramic and single-crystal Nd:YAG lasers have been compared, and pulse characteristics of Nd:YAG ceramic with different repetition rate have been investigated in detail. The still-evolving Nd:YAG ceramics are potential super excellent media for high-energy laser applications. (C) 2007 Optical Society of America.

Stable pulse-compressed acousto-optic Q-switched fiber laser

A novel acousto-optic switch operation by a simple laser-diode pumped acousto-optic, Q-switched, ytterbium-doped, double-clad fiber laser is reported. Stable compressed Q-switched sub-40 ns pulses with a beam quality factor (M-2 = 2) are achieved at the repetition rate of 1-50 kHz. Q-switched pulses of similar to 20 mu J pulse energy and 35 as pulse width are obtained at the repetition rate of 50 kHz. Finally, a reasonable explanation of the novel Q-switched operation is presented. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.

20-W average power, high repetition rate, nanosecond pulse with diffraction limit from an all-fiber MOPA system

In this article, we report an all-fiber master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system, which can provide high repetition rate and nanosecond pulse with diffraction-limit. The system was constructed using a (2 + 1) X 1 multimode combiner. The Q-Switched, LD pumped Nd:YVO4 solid-state laser wets used (is master oscillator. The 976-nm fiber-coupled module is used as pump source. A 10-m long China-made Yb3+-doped D-shape double-clad large-mode-area fiber was used as amplifier fiber. The MOPA produced as much as 20-W average power with nanosecond pulse and near diffraction limited. The pulse duration is maintained at about 15 its during 50-175 kHz. The system employs a simple and compact architecture and is therefore suitable for the use in practical applications such as scientific and military airborne LIDAR and imaging. Based oil this system. the amplification performances of. the all fiber amplifier is investigated. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Preparation and optical properties of Ag/PPy composite colloids

Ag/PPy (polypyrrole) composite colloids were prepared through the reaction of silver nitrate with pyrrole solution in DNIF either in the dark, or under the irradiation of femtosecond laser (fs) pulse or UV lamp. The UV-vis spectra of the nanocomposite colloid display an intense absorption band around 620 nm, accompanied by a weak one around 470 nm. The colors and optical absorption spectra of as-synthesized colloids can be reversibly tuned between blue and red, corresponding to absorption band of 620 urn and 526 urn, within few seconds by adding base and acid solutions or gases in turn into the composite colloid suspension. In addition, excess of H+ solution enhanced the absorption band around 470 nm and, at the same time, depressed that around 620 nm. The possible mechanism for the formation and optical absorption properties of the Ag/PPy composite colloid was proposed. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

CW-pumped evanescent amplification based on side-polished fiber with heavily Er3+-doped glass overlay

A novel diffractive-pumping scheme is proposed to improve the evanescent amplification using blazed fiber grating for the first time. We also investigate the cw-pumped-evanescent amplification at 1.55 mu m wavelength with the relative optical gain pumped at 1480 nm of around 2 dB based on side-polished fiber with the effective interaction length as long as 16 mm and with a heavily Er3+-doped (N-Er(3+) > 1.19 x 10(21) ions/cm(3)), low refractive index (n(1550) < 1.47) glass overlay, which has no concentration quenching (tau(f) = 9.0 ms).

Spectroscopic properties of Er3+ doped TeO2-BaO (Li2O, Na2O)-La2O3 glasses for 1.5-mu m optical amplifiers

This paper reports on the optical spectroscopic properties and thermal stability of Er3+-doped TeO2-BaO (Li2O,NaO)-La2O3 glasses for developing 1.5-mu m fiber amplifiers. Upon excitation at 977 nm laser diode, an intense 1.53-mu m infrared fluorescence has been observed with a broad full width at half maximum (FWHM) of about 60 nm for the Er3+-doped TeO2-BaO (Li2O, Na2O)-La2O3 glass with 10 mol% of BaO. The calculated fluorescence lifetime and the emission cross-sections of the 1.53-mu m transition are 2.91 ms and similar to 9.97 x 10(-21) cm(2), respectively. It is noted that the gain bandwidth, a, x FWHM, of the TeO2-BaO-La2O3Er2O3 glass is about 600, which is significantly higher than that in silicate and phosphate glasses. Meanwhile, it is interesting to note that the TeO2-BaO-La2O3-Er2O3 glass has shown a high glass thermal stability and good infrared transmittance. As a result, TeO2-BaO (Li2O, Na2O)-La2O3 glass with 10 mol% of BaO has been considered to be more useful as a host for broadband optical fiber amplifier. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Generation of 210 fs laser pulses at 1093 nm by a self-starting mode-locked Yb:GYSO laser

We report the first demonstration, to our knowledge, of the femtosecond laser operation by using a new alloyed Yb:GYSO crystal as the gain medium. With a 5 at. % Yb3+-doped sample and chirped mirrors for dispersion compensation, we obtained pulses as short as 210 fs at the center wavelength of 1093 nm. The average mode-locking power is 300 mW, and the pulse repetition frequency is 80 MHz. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America

Laser induced damage of multi-layer dielectric used in pulse compressor gratings

Laser induced damage threshold (LIDT) of multi-layer dielectric used in pulse compressor gratings (PCG) was investigated. The sample was prepared by e-beam evaporation (EBE). LIDT was detected following ISO standard 11254-1.2. It was found that LIDTs of normal and 51.2 deg. incidence (transverse electric (TE) mode) were 14.14 and 9.31 J/cm2, respectively. A Nomarski microscope was employed to map the damage morphology, and it was found that the damage behavior was pit-concave-plat structure for normal incidence, while it was pit structure for 51.2 deg. incidence with TE mode. The electric field distribution was calculated to illuminate the difference of LIDT between the two incident cases.

Investigation of damage threshold to TiO2 coatings at different laser wavelength and pulse duration

Laser-induced damages to TiO2 single layers and TiO2/SiO2 high reflectors at laser wavelength of 1064 nm, 800 run, 532 urn, and pulse width of 12 ns, 220 ps, 50 fs, 8 ns are investigated. All films are prepared by electron beam evaporation. The relations among microstructure, chemical composition, optical properties and laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT), have been researched. The dependence of damage mechanism on laser wavelength and pulse width is discussed. It is found that from 1064 nm to 532 nm, LIDT is mainly absorption related, which is determined by film's extinction coefficient and stoichiometric defects. The rapid decrease of LIDT at 800 nm is due to the pulse width factor. TiO2 coatings are mainly thermally by damaged at long pulse (tau >= 220 ps). The damage shows ablation feature at 50 fs. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mechanism initiated by nanoabsorber for UV nanosecond-pulse-driven damage of dielectric coatings

A model of plasma formation induced by UV nanosecond pulselaser interaction with SiO2 thin film based on nanoabsorber is proposed. The model considers the temperature dependence of band gap. The numerical results show that during the process of nanosecond pulsed-laser interaction with SiO2 thin film, foreign inclusion which absorbs a fraction of incident radiation heats the surrounding host material through heat conduction causing the decrease of the band gap and consequently, the transformation of the initial transparent matrix into an absorptive medium around the inclusion, thus facilitates optical damage. Qualitative comparison with experiments is also provided. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.

Influence of laser preconditioning on the capacity of optical films to resist laser-induced damage

As a technique to improve the ability of optical films to resist laser-induced damage (ARLID), laser preconditioning has been investigated broadly. In this paper, the laser preconditioning effect has been analyzed based on the defect-initialized damage mechanism that the author had put forward previously. Theoretical results show that an energy density scope (PEDS) exists in which the preconditioning laser can effectively improve the ARLID of optical films. In addition, when the energy density of the testing laser pulse is altered, the boundary of PEDS will change accordingly. Experimental results have verified these theoretical assumptions. PEDS will also become wider if the critical energy density of the preconditioning laser that can induce films' micro-damage increases, or the critical energy density of the preconditioning laser that can cause laser annealing decreases. In these cases, it is relatively easy to improve the ARLID of optical films. Results of the current work show great significance in enhancing the ARLID of optical films through the laser preconditioning technique. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.