Nd : YAG ceramic laser obtained high slope-efficiency of 62% in high power applications

By using quite uniformly nine-stacks side-around arranged compact pumping system, a high power Nd:YAG ceramic quasi-CW laser with high slope efficiency of 62% has been demonstrated. With 450 W quasi-CW stacked laser diode bars pumping at 808 nm, performance of the Nd: YAG ceramic laser with different output coupling mirrors has been investigated. Optimum output power of 236 W at 1064 nm was obtained and corresponding optical-to-optical conversion efficiency was as high as 52.5%. The laser system operated quite stably and no saturation phenomena have been observed, which means higher output laser power could be obtained if injecting higher pumping power. The still-evolving Nd: YAG ceramics are potential super excellent media for high power practical laser applications. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Highly efficient Nd:YAG ceramic CW laser with 59.8% slope-efficiency

In this paper, a highly efficient Ti:sapphire end-pumped 1 at.-% Nd:YAG ceramic laser that is comparable in efficiency with Nd:YAG single crystal lasers has been developed. Optical absorption and emission spectra for Nd:YAG ceramics have been measured. With 673-mW pumping, 295-mW laser output at 1064 nm has been obtained. The laser threshold is only 13 mW. Deducted the transmitted light, the corresponding optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is 58.4%. The lasing characteristics of Nd:YAG ceramic are nearly equal to those of Nd:YAG single crystal.

Coupling efficiency of laser beam to multimode fiber

The coupling efficiency of laser beam to multimode fiber is given by geometrical optics, and the relation between the maximum coupling efficiency and the beam propagation factor M-2 is analyzed. An equivalent factor M-F(2) for the multimode fiber is introduced to characterize the fiber coupling capability. The coupling efficiency of laser beam to multimode fiber is calculated in respect of the ratio M-2/M-F(2) by the overlapping integral theory. The optimal coupling efficiency can be roughly estimated by the ratio of M-2 to M-F(2) but with a large error range. The deviation comes from the lacks of information on the detail of phase and intensity profile in the beam factor M-2. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High quantum efficiency and high concentration erbium-doped silica glasses fabricated by sintering nanoporous glasses

A new method was used to prepare erbium-doped high silica (SiO2% > 96%) glasses by sintering nanoporous glasses. The concentration of erbium ions in high silica glasses can be considerably more than that in silica glasses prepared by using conventional methods. The fluorescence of 1532 nm has an FWHM (Full Wave at Half Maximum) of 50 nm, wider than 35 nm of EDSFA (erbium-doped silica fiber amplifer), and hence the glass possesses potential application in broadband fiber amplifiers. The Judd-Ofelt theoretical analysis reflects that the quantum efficiency of this erbium-doped glass is about 0.78, although the erbium concentration in this glass (6 x 103) is about twenty times higher than that in silica glass. These excellent characteristics of Er-doped high silica glass will be conducive to its usage in optical amplifiers and microchip lasers.

Ti:sapphire laser pumped high average power laser crystal Nd:GGG with high efficiency output

High-quality neodymium doped GGG laser crystals have been grown by Czochralski (Cz) method. Results of Nd:GGG thin chip laser operating at 1.064 μm pumped by Ti:sapphire laser operating at 808 nm were reported. The slop efficiency was as high as 20%.

Design of high-efficiency diffraction gratings based on total internal reflection for pulse compressor

We present designs of high-efficiency compression grating based on total internal reflection (TIR) for picosecond pulse laser at 1053 nm. The setup is devised by directly etching gratings into the bottom side of a prism so that light can successfully enter (or exit) the compression grating. Dependence of the -1 order diffraction efficiencies on the constructive parameters is analyzed for TE- and TM-polarized incident light at Littrow angle by using Fourier modal method in order to obtain optimal grating structure. The electric field enhancement within the high-efficiency TIR gratings is regarded as another criterion to optimize the structure of the TIR gratings. With the criterion of high diffraction efficiency, low electric field enhancement and sufficient manufacturing latitude, TIR compression gratings with optimized constructive parameters are obtained for TE- and TM-polarized incident light, respectively. The grating for TE-polarized light exhibits diffraction efficiencies higher than 0.95 within 23 nm bandwidth and relatively low square of electric field enhancement ratio of 5.7. Regardless of the internal electric field enhancement, the grating for TM-polarized light provides diffraction efficiencies higher than 0.95 within 42 nm bandwidth. With compact structure, such TIR compression gratings made solely of fused silica should be of great interest for application to chirped pulse amplification (CPA) systems. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Design of high-efficiency diffraction gratings based on rigorous coupled-wave analysis for 800nm wavelength

We report on the design of a high diffraction efficiency multi-layer dielectric grating with wide incident angle and broad bandwidth for 800 nm. The optimized grating can achieve > 95% diffraction efficiency in the first order at an incident angle of 5 degrees from Littrow and a wavelength from 770nm to 830 nm, with peak diffraction efficiency of > 99.5% at 800 nm. The electric field distribution of the optimized multi-layer dielectric grating within the gratings ridge is 1.3 times enhancement of the incidence light, which presents potential high laser resistance ability. Because of its high-efficiency, wide incident, broad bandwidth and potential high resistance ability, the multi-layer dielectric grating should have practical application in Ti:sapphire laser systems.

Efficiency improvement of organic light-emitting diodes using 8-hydroxy-quinolinato lithium as an electron injection layer

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) using tris-(8-hydroxy-quinolinato) aluminum (Alq(3)) as an emitter, 8-hydroxy-quinolinato lithium (Liq) as an electron injection layer, were prepared. Experimental results show that the efficiency of device with Liq is three times higher than that without Liq. The device using Liq as an injection layer is less sensitive in efficiency to the Liq thickness than that using LiF. In addition to the Alq3 based devices, Liq is also very effective as an electron injection layer for 4,4'-bis(2,2-diphenylvinyl)-1,1'-biphenyl based blue OLED and poly (2-methoxy,5-(2-ethyl-hexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene) based orange polymer OLED. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.