Highly stable, diode-pumped Nd : YLF regenerative amplifier

We present the design and experimental results for a diode pumped Nd:YLF regenerative amplifier applied to amplify a nanosecond laser pulse. Numerical simulation shows that the maximum output energy and the best stability can be obtained when the regenerative amplifier operates in a saturated mode for all pulse duration and temporal profiles. Using extra post-pulse is a good method to decrease the square-pulse distortion caused by gain saturation effect. The amplifier shows output energy of 4.2mJ with a total energy gain of more than 107 and output energy stability of better than 1% rms. When extra post-pulse is added, square-pulse distortion is decreased from 1.33 to 1.17 for the amplifier that is seeded with an optical pulse of 3 ns.

Optimization of Pulse Temporal Contrast in Optical Parametric Chirped Pulse Amplification

In optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA), the degradation of temporal contrast of the compressed signal pulse mainly results from spectral clipping in the grating stretcher with finite size of the optics, parametric fluorescence (PF) and the spectral variations transferred from temporal fluctuation of the pump pulse. The temporal contrast of the recompressed amplified pulse in the OPCPA system is studied numerically and a number of solutions are considered and optimized to achieve the highest temporal contrast.

133-W pulsed fiber amplifier with large-mode-area fiber

A master-oscillator fiber power amplifier (MOPA) system with a 4-m-long Yb3+-doped homemade large mode area (LMA) double-clad fiber is reported. The system emits up to 133.8 W of amplified radiation at a wavelength of 1064 nm and a repetition rate of 100 kHz, limited only by the available pump power. Peak power of 300 kW at 20 kHz with a pulse duration of 15 ns is obtained. (c) 2006 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

High power coherent beam combination from two fiber lasers

Phase locking of two fiber lasers is demonstrated experimentally by the use of a self-imaging resonator with a spatial filter. The high-contrast interference strips of the coherent beam profile are observed. The coherent output power of the fiber array exceeds 12W and the efficiency of coherent power combination is 88% with pump power of 60W. The whole system operates quite stably and, for the spatial filter, no thermal effects have been observed, which means that we can increase the coherent output power further by this method. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America

2W Yb-doped double-clad fiber superfluorescent source with 42 nm 3 dB bandwidth

The output spectrum of Yb-doped double-clad fiber superfluorescent source (SFS) is tailored by placing a broadband dichroic mirror in the pump end of conventional single-pass forward configuration, which constitutes double-pass forward configuration. The 3 dB bandwidth is increased from I I to 42 nm. A maximum output SFS power of 2.12 W and a slope efficiency of 43.2% are obtained. The double-clad fiber is 25 in and the pump power is adequate to saturate the fiber as far as the feedback-induced lasing appears. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

133-W pulsed fiber amplifier with large-mode-area fiber

A master-oscillator fiber power amplifier (MOPA) system with a 4-m-long Yb3+-doped homemade large mode area (LMA) double-clad fiber is reported. The system emits up to 133.8 W of amplified radiation at a wavelength of 1064 nm and a repetition rate of 100 kHz, limited only by the available pump power. Peak power of 300 kW at 20 kHz with a pulse duration of 15 ns is obtained. (c) 2006 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Phase-locking of two large-core fibre lasers with 60W of coherent output power

A phase-locking fibre laser array with up to 60 W of coherent output power based on two large-core fibre is reported. The slope efficiency of the in-phase mode is 37%. For two cases of spacings between the cores, steady high-contrast interference stripes are observed. When the whole system operates under a high pump power level, no thermal effects for the spatial filter have been observed, which means that we can increase the coherent output power further by increasing the individual fibre laser power.

CE3+对ER3+/Yb3+共掺TeO2-WO3-ZnO玻璃发光性能的影响

Ce3+ ions were introduced into the Er3+/Yb3+ -codoped TeO2-WO3-ZnO glasses, and the effect of Ce3+ on the emission properties at 1.5 mu m band and the upconversion luminescence of Er3+ in the glasses was investigated. With the increasing of Ce3+ concentration, the emission intensity of Er3+ at 1.5 mu m band increases firstly, and then decreases. The optimal doping concentration of Ce3+ is about 2.07 x 10(20)/cm(3). As for the Er3+ emission at 1.5-mu m band, the fluorescence lifetime decreases a little from 3.4ms to 3.0ms, while the full width at half maximum (FWHM) hardly changes with the increase of Cc 3+ concentration. Due to the effective cross relaxation between Ce3+ and Er3+ : Er3+ (I-4(11/2)) + Ce3+ (F-2(5/2)) -> Er3+ (I-4(13/2)) + Ce3+ (F-2(7/2)), the upconversion emission intensity of Er3+ is reduced greatly. But when Ce3+ -doping concentration is too high, the other cross relaxation between Ce3+ and Er3+ : Er3+ (4I(13/2)) + Ce3+ (F-2(5/2)) -> Er3+ (I-4(15/2)) + Ce3+ (F-2(7/2)) happens, which depopulates the I-4(13/2) level of Er3+ and results in the decrease of the emission intensity and fluorescence lifetime of Er3+ at 1.5 mu m band.

H-2-sensing characteristics of nanocrystalline La0.8Pb0.2FeO3 prepared by sol-gel method

Nanocrystalline La0.8Pb0.2FeO3 has been prepared by the sol-gel method. XRD patterns show that the nanocrystalline La0.8Pb0.2FeO3 is a perovskite phase with the orthorhombic structure and its mean crystallite size is about 19 nm. The influence of Pb ions which replaced the La ions on A-sites can be directly observed from the electrical and sensing properties to H-2 gas. The conductance of La0.8Pb0.2FeO3-based sensor is considerably higher than that of LaFeO3-based sensor, and Pb-doping can enhance the sensitivity to H2 gas. An empirical relationship of R = KCH2alpha with alpha = 0.668 was obtained.

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.

Ridge optical waveguide in an Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped phosphate glass produced by He+ ion implantation combined with Ar+ ion beam etching

This paper reports on the fabrication and characterization of a ridge optical waveguide in an Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped phosphate glass. The He+ ion implantation (at energy of 2.8 MeV) is first applied onto the sample to produce a planar waveguide substrate, and then Ar+ ion beam etching (at energy of 500 eV) is carried out to construct rib stripes on the sample surface that has been deposited by a specially designed photoresist mask. According to a reconstructed refractive index profile of the waveguide cross section, the modal distribution of the waveguide is simulated by applying a computer code based on the beam propagation method, which shows reasonable agreement with the experimentally observed waveguide mode by using the end-face coupling method. Simulation of the incident He ions at 2.8 MeV penetrating into the Er3+/Yb3+ co-doped phosphate glass substrate is also performed to provide helpful information on waveguide formation.

Devitrification of TeO2-doped fluoroaluminate glass

Crystallization behavior of the glass system AlF3-MgF2-CaF2-SrF2-BaF2-YF3-TeO2 (AMCSBY-TeO2) Was studied by the nonisothermal method using differential thermal analysis. The activation energy E and Avrami exponent n were determined by nonisothermal method. It is found that the value of E varies with increasing TeO2 and reaches a minimum at 10 mol fraction TeO2, while n decreases from 3.65 to 1.78 with the addition of TeO2. X-ray diffraction shows that Ba2Te3O8, MgTe2O5, and SrTeO3 phase formed when the glasses were reheated. The addition of TeO2 changes the crystallization mechanism and improves the stability of the fluoroaluminate glass.

Low-threshold diode-pumped Yb3+, Na+: CaF2 self-Q-switched laser

For the first time to our knowledge, the laser performance of Yb3+, Na+-codoped CaF2 single crystals was demonstrated. Self-Q-switched laser operation at 1050nm was observed for 976 nm diode pumping at room temperature. On 5 W of incident power, the repetition rate and width of the self-Q-switched pulses reached 28 kHz and 1.5 mu s, respectively. A maximal slope efficiency of 20.3% and minimal threshold absorbed pump power of 30 mW were respectively achieved with different output couplers, showing the promising application of Yb3+, Na+-codoped CaF2 crystals as compact and efficient solid-state lasers. (C) 2005 Optical Society of America.