Highly efficient diode side-pumped Nd : YAG ceramic laser with 210W output power

We developed a highly efficient diode side-pumped Nd:YAG ceramic laser with a diffusive reflector as an optical pump cavity. A maximum output power of 211.6W was obtained with an optical -to- optical conversion efficiency of 48.7%. This corresponds to the highest conversion efficiency in the side-pumped ceramic rod. Thermal effects of the Nd:YAG ceramic rod were analyzed in detail through the measurements of laser output powers and beam profiles near the critically unstable region. A M-2 beam quality factor of 18.7 was obtained at the maximum laser output power. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Low-loss planar and stripe waveguides in Nd3+-doped silicate glass produced by oxygen-ion implantation

We report on the fabrication and characterization of low-loss planar and stripe waveguides in a Nd3+-doped glass by 6 MeV oxygen-ion implantation at a dose of 1x10(15) ions/cm(2). The dark mode spectroscopy of the planar waveguide was measured using a prism coupling arrangement. The refractive index profile of the planar waveguide was reconstructed from a code based on the reflectivity calculation method. The results indicate that a refractive index enhanced region as well as an optical barrier have been created after the ion beam processing. The near-field mode profiles of the stripe waveguide were obtained by an end-fire coupling arrangement, by which three quasitransverse electric modes were observed. After annealing, the propagation losses of the planar and stripe waveguides were reduced to be similar to 0.5 and similar to 1.8 dB/cm, respectively. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

光学表面的标量散射理论

简要论述了标量散射理论的研究进展做,着重介绍了Beckman的一维标量散射理论和几种典型的多层膜散射模型-非相关表面粗糙度模型、附加表面粗糙度模型和非相关体内不均匀模型,比较了这些模型在中心波长为632.8nm的11层高反膜的散射特性.结果表明,非相关体内的不均匀性引起反射能带边缘散射,反射能带内的散射主要由附加表面粗糙度引起.理想粗糙度对膜系反射带内的散射影响很小,对反射带边缘几乎无影响.预测了标量散射理论的应用领域及前景.

用于掺钛蓝宝石激光系统的高反膜的激光损伤

用电子束蒸发制备了用于掺钛蓝宝石啁啾脉冲放大激光系统的TiO2/HfO2/SiO2高反膜，其带宽约为176nm（R>98%, λ0=800nm），激光损伤阈值（LIDT）为2.4 J/cm2。通过TiO2和HfO2单层膜的透过光谱计算了这两种材料的折射率和消光系数。高反膜的性能主要由高折射率材料决定：折射率越高，反射带越宽；消光系数越小，薄膜吸收越小，LIDT越高。最后，讨论了高反膜的激光损伤机制。

用于钕玻璃啁啾脉冲放大系统光谱整形的多层介质膜反射镜

在千焦拍瓦高功率啁啾脉冲放大系统设计中,为了尽量消除增益窄化和增益饱和效应的影响,同时尽可能提高高功率激光输出脉冲信噪比参数,激光脉冲时空和光谱的整形问题备受关注.提出一种光谱整形新方法,利用特定结构的多层介质膜反射镜,可实现对大能量高功率啁啾脉冲钕玻璃放大系统中啁啾脉冲的光谱整形.研究结果表明,只要合理选择多层介质膜系的结构参数,可有效地控制其反射率分布,且在保证反射相位基本不变的条件下其调制度可超过60%.针对钕玻璃1053nm波长设计而成的光谱整形反射镜,反射带宽可达到196nm,色分辨率约为0.1nm,在几十纳米波长范围所对应的相位偏差小于12mrad,相当于λ/524,能够满足"神光Ⅱ"千焦拍瓦改造的技术指标要求.

Influence of different substrates on laser induced damage thresholds at 1064 nm of Ta2O5 films

Ta2O5 films are prepared on Si, BK7, fused silica, antireflection (AR) and high reflector (HR) substrates by electron beam evaporation method, respectively. Both the optical property and laser induced damage thresholds (LIDTs) at 1064 nm of Ta2O5 films on different substrates are investigated before and after annealing at 673 K for 12h. It is shown that annealing increases the refractive index and decreases the extinction index, and improves the O/Ta ratio of the Ta2O5 films from 2.42 to 2.50. Moreover, the results show that the LIDTs of the Ta2O5 films are mainly correlated with three parameters: substrate property, substoichiometry defect in the films and impurity defect at the interface between the substrate and the films. Details of the laser induced damage models in different cases are discussed.

A Single-Fundamental-Mode Photonic Crystal Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser

Single-fundamental-mode photonic crystal (PhC) vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL) are produced and their single-fundamental-mode performances are investigated and demonstrated. A two-dimensional PhC with single-point-defect structure is fabricated using UV photolithography and inductive coupled plasma reactive ion etching on the surface of the VCSEL's top distributed Bragg-reflector. The PhC VCSEL maintains single-fundamental-mode operating with output power 1.7 mW and threshold current 2.5 mA. The full width half maximum of the lasing spectrum is less than 0.1 nm, the far field divergence angle is less than 10 degrees and the side mode suppression ratio is over 35 dB. The device characteristics are analyzed based on the effective index model of the photonic crystal fiber. The experimental results agree well with the theoretical expectation.

A highly efficient light-trapping structure for thin-film silicon solar cells

A highly efficient light-trapping structure, consisting of a diffractive grating, a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) and a metal reflector was proposed. As an example, the proposed light-trapping structure with an indium tin oxide (ITO) diffraction grating, an a-Si:H/ITO DBR and an Ag reflector was optimized by the simulation via rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) for a 2.0-mu m-thick c-Si solar cell with an optimized ITO front antireflection (AR) layer under the air mass 1.5 (AM1.5) solar illumination. The weighted absorptance under the AM1.5 solar spectrum (A(AM1.5)) of the solar cell can reach to 69%, if the DBR is composed of 4 pairs of a-Si:H/ITOs. If the number of a-Si:H/ITO pairs is up to 8, a larger A(AM1.5) of 72% can be obtained. In contrast, if the Ag reflector is not adopted, the combination of the optimized ITO diffraction grating and the 8-pair a-Si:H/ITO DBR can only result in an A(AM1.5) of 68%. As the reference, A(AM1.5) = 31% for the solar cell only with the optimized ITO front AR layer. So, the proposed structure can make the sunlight highly trapped in the solar cell. The adoption of the metal reflector is helpful to obtain highly efficient light-trapping effect with less number of DBR pairs, which makes that such light-trapping structure can be fabricated easily.

Impact of thickness of GaN buffer layer on properties of AlN/GaN distributed Bragg reflectors grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition

We studied the impact of the thickness of GaN buffer layer on the properties of distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD). The samples were characterized by using metallographic microscope, transmission electron microscope (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and spectrophotometer. The results show that the thickness of the GaN buffer layer can significantly affect the properties of the DBR structure and there is an optimal thickness of the GaN buffer layer. This work would be helpful for the growth of high quality DBR structures.

IMPROVED PEAK POWER METHOD FOR MEASURING FREQUENCY RESPONSES OF PHOTODETECTORS IN A SELF-HETERODYNE SYSTEM

An improved peak power method for measuring frequency responses of photodetectors in a self-heterodyne system consisting of a distributed Bragg reflector laser is proposed. The time-resolved spectrum technique is used to measure the peak power of the beat signal and the intrinsic linewidth of heat signal for calibration. The experimental results show that the impact of the thermal-induced frequency drift, which is the main reason for producing an error in measurement by conventional peak power method and spectrum power method, can be removed.

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF A NOVEL 980nm MICROCAVITY SEMICONDUCTOR OPTICAL AMPLIFIER WITH HIGH GAIN AND LOW NOISE

A novel microcavity semiconductor optical amplifier ( MCSOA) was proposed by incorporating top and bottom distributed Bragg reflectors ( DBRs) into the waveguide structure of conventional traveling-wave semiconductor optical amplifiers(TW-SOAs). The incoming( outgoing) light beam incidented onto (escaped from) the waveguide structure at a oblique angle through two optical windows, where the top DBR was etched away, and anti-reflection coating was deposited. The light beams inside the optical cavity were reflected repeatedly between two DBRs and propagated along waveguide in a zigzag optical path. The performance of the MCSOA was systematically investigated by extensive numerical simulation based on a traveling-wave model by taking into account the comprehensive effects of DBRs on both the amplification of signals and the filtering of spontaneous emission( SE). Our results show that the MCSOA is capable of achieving a fiber-to-fiber gain as high as 40dB and a low noise figure is less than 3.5dB.

Monolithic integration of sampled grating DBR with electroabsorption modulator by combining selective-area-growth MOCVD and quantum-well intermixing

We present the monolithic integration of a sampled-grating distributed Bragg reflector (SC-DBR) laser with a quantum-well electroabsorption modulator (QW-EAM) by combining ultra-low-pressure (55 mbar) selective-area-growth (SAG) metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) and quantum-well intermixing (QWI) for the first time. The QW-EAM and the gain section can be grown simultaneously by using SAG MOCVD technology. Meanwhile, the QWI technology offers an abrupt band-gap change between two functional sections, which reduces internal absorption loss. The experimental results show that the threshold current I-th = 62 mA, and output power reaches 3.6 mW. The wavelength tuning range covers 30 nm, and all the corresponding side mode suppression ratios are over 30 dB. The extinction ratios at available wavelength channels can reach more than 14 dB with bias of -5 V.

Experimental study on a diode-pumped passively mode-locking Nd : GdVO4/SESAM laser

We demonstrate a low-threshold and efficient diode-pumped passively continuous wave (CW) mode-locked Nd:GdVO4 laser with a reflective semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The threshold for the continuous wave was 0.36 W, and it is the lowest threshold for a continuous wave in a passively mode-locked Nd:GdVO4 laser to our knowledge. The maximum average output power of 1.82 W was obtained at a pump power of 6.65 W with a slope efficiency of about 29%. The CW mode-locked pulse duration was measured to be about 10.5 ps with a 116-MHz repetition rate.

Narrow-Linewidth Microwave Generation Using a Self-Injected DBR Laser Diode

A novel technique for generating narrow-linewidth microwave or millimeter-wave signals is proposed. In this scheme, a delayed self-injected distributed Bragg reflector laser diode, which is tuned by a low-frequency square-wave voltage, is used to generate two correlated lightwaves simultaneously. Experiments show that the 10-dB linewidth of generated microwave signals is reduced from 147 MHz to 68 kHz utilizing the proposed self-injection technique.

Design and Fabrication of AlGaN-Based Resonant-Cavity-Enhanced p-i-n UV PDs

AlGaN-based resonant-cavity-enhanced (RCE) p-i-n photodetectors (PDs) for operating at the wavelength of 330 nm were designed and fabricated. A 20.5-pair AlN/Al0.3Ga0.7N distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) was used as the back mirror and a 3-pair AlN/Al0.3Ga0.7N DBR as the front one. In the cavity is a p-GaN/i-GaN/n-Al0.3Ga0.7N structure. The optical absorption of the RCE PD structure is at most 59.8% deduced from reflectance measurement. Selectively enhanced by the cavity effect, a response peak of 0.128 A/W at 330 nm with a half-peak breadth of 5.5 nm was obtained under zero bias. The peak wavelength shifted 15 nm with the incident angle of light increasing from 0 degrees to 60 degrees.