Design, fabrication, and characterization of an ultracompact low-loss photonic crystal corner mirror

An ultracompact, low-loss, and broad-band corner mirror, based on photonic crystals, is investigated in this paper. Based on the theoretical analysis of the loss mechanism, the boundary layers of the photonic crystal region are revised to improve the extra losses, and the transmission characteristics are evaluated by using the 3-D finite-difference time-domain method. The device with optimized structure was fabricated on silicon-on-insulator substrate by using electron-beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma etching. The measured extra losses are about 1.1 +/- 0.4 dB per corner mirror for transverse-electronic polarization for the scanning wavelength range of 1510-1630 nm. Dimensions of the achieved PC corner mirror are less than ;7 x 7 mu m(2), which are only about one tenth of conventional wave-guide corner mirrors.

High average power and short pulse duration continuous wave mode-locked Nd : GdVO4 laser with a semiconductor absorber mirror

Passive mode locking of a solid-state Nd:GdVO4 laser is demonstrated. The laser is mode locked by use of a semiconductor absorber mirror (SAM). A low Nd3+ doped Nd:GdVO4 crystal is used to mitigate the thermal lens effect of the laser crystal at a high pump power. The maximum average output power is up to 6.5 W, and the pulse duration is as short as 6.2 ps. The optic-to-optic conversion efficiency is 32.5% and the repetition rate is about 110 MHz.

Realization of an ultracompact low-loss photonic crystal corner mirror

We report on the realization and characterization of an ultracompact, low-loss, and broadband corner mirror based on photonic crystals (PCs). By modifying the boundary layers of the PC region, extra losses of 1.1 +/- 0.4 dB per corner mirror are achieved for transverse-electronic polarization for silicon-on-insulator ridge waveguides fabricated by electron beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma etching. Dimensions of the PC corner mirror are less than 7 x 7 mu m(2), which are only about one tenth of conventional waveguide corner mirrors.

High-average-power and high-conversion-efficiency continuous wave mode-locked Nd : YVO4 laser with a semiconductor absorber mirror

A high-power continuous wave (cw) mode-locked Nd:YVO4 solid-state laser was demonstrated by use of a semiconductor absorber mirror (SAM). The maximum average output power was 8.1 W and the optic-to-optic conversion efficiency was about 41 %. At the maximum incident pump power, the pulse width was about 8.6 ps and the repetition rate was 130 MHz. Experimental results indicated that this absorber was suitable for high power mode-locked solid-state lasers. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A bidirectionall diode-pumped, passively mode-locked Nd : YVO4 ring laser with a low-temperature-grown semiconductor saturable absorber mirror

We report the operation of a bidirectional picosecond pulsed ring Nd:YVO4 laser based on a low-temperature-grown semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. Except for the laser crystal, the six-mirror ring laser cavity has no intra-cavity elements such as focusing lens or mirror. The bidirectional mode locked pluses are obtained at the repetition rate of 117.5 MHz, pulse duration of 81 ps, power of 2 x 200 mW.

A two-dimensional photonic crystal slab mirror with silicon on insulator for wavelength 1.3 mu m

A concrete two-dimensional photonic crystal slab with triangular lattice used as a mirror for the light at wavelength 1.3 mu m with a silicon-on-insulator (Sol) substrate is designed by the three-dimensional plane wave expansion method. For TE-like modes, the bandgap in the F-K direction is from 1087nm to 1559nm. The central wavelength in the bandgap is about 1.3 mu m, hence the incident light at wavelength 1.3 mu m will be strongly reflected. Experimentally, such a photonic crystal slab is fabricated on an SOI substrate by the combination of EBL and ICP etching. The measurement of its transmission characteristics shows the bandgap edge in a longer wavelength is about 1540mn. The little discrepancy between the experimental data and the theoretical values is mainly due to the size discrepancy of the fabricated air holes.

A passively mode-locked diode-end-pumped Nd : YAG laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror grown by metal organic chemical vapour deposition

We report the experimental results of a mode-locked diode-end-pumped Nd:YAG laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) from which we achieved a 10 ps pulse duration at 150 MHz repetition rate. The SESAM was grown by metal organic chemical vapour deposition at low temperature. The recovery time was measured to be 0.5 ps, indicating the potential pulse compression to sub-picoseconds.

Passive mode locking of a diode-end-pumped Nd : GdVO4 laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror

We report an end-pumped and passive mode-locking all-solid-state laser. The laser consists of a Nd:GdVO4 crystal and a linear resonator with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror that yield mode locking. We achieved stable continuous-wave mode locking with an 8-ps pulse duration at a 154-MHz repetition rate. The average output power was 600 mW with 4 W of pump power. To our knowledge this is the first report of the use of a Nd:GdVO4 crystal for mode locking with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. (C) 2003 Optical Society of America.

Theoretical and Experimental Studies of an Ultra-compact Photonic Crystal Corner Mirror Based on Silicon-On-Insulator

An ultra-compact silicon-on-insulator based photonic crystal corner mirror is designed and optimized. A sample is then successfully fabricated with extra losses 1.1 +/- 0.4dB for transverse-electronic (M) polarization for wavelength range of 1510-1630nm.

Principle of the moving-mirror-pair interferometer and the tilt tolerance of the double moving mirror

A novel type of interferometer, the moving-mirror-pair interferometer, is presented, and its principle and properties are studied. The new interferometer is built with three flat mirrors, which include two flat moving mirrors fixed as a single moving part by a rigid structure and one flat fixed mirror. The optical path difference (OPD) is obtained by the straight reciprocating motion of the double moving mirror, and the OPD value is four times the physical shift value of the double moving mirror. The tilt tolerance of the double moving mirror of the novel interferometer is systematically analyzed by means of modulation depth and phase error. Where the square aperture is concerned, the formulas of the tilt tolerance were derived. Due to the novel interferometer's large OPD value and low cost, it is very applicable to the high-spectral-resolution Fourier-transform spectrometers for any wavenumber region from the far infrared to the ultraviolet. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America.

Efficient Mode-locked and Q-switched Nd∶YVO_4 Laser with Semiconductor Saturable Absorber Mirror

We reported an efficient diode pumped Nd ! YVO, 1 064 nm laser passively mode-locked and Q-switched by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror(SESAM). At the incident pump power of 7. 5 W, 2. 81 W average output power was obtained during stable CW mode locking with a repetition rate of 111 MHz. The optical conversion efficiency was 37. 5% , and the slope efficiency was 39%. So far as we know, this is the highest optical-optical conversion efficiency with a SESAM at home.

Comparative studies of semiconductor saturable absorber mirror mode-locking dynamics in pulsed diode-end-pumped picosecond Nd:GdVO4 and Nd:YAG lasers

Ultrashort pulses were generated in passively mode-locked Nd:YAG and Nd:GdVO4 lasers pumped by a pulsed laser diode with 10-Hz repetition rate. Stable mode-locked pulse trains were produced with the pulse width of 10 ps. The evolution of the mode-locked pulse was observed in the experiment and was discussed in detail. Comparing the pulse evolutions of Nd:YAG and Nd:GdVO4 lasers, we found that the buildup time of the steady-state mode-locking with semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) was relevant to the upper-state lifetime and the emission cross-section of the gain medium.

5.3-W Nd:YVO_4 passively mode-locked laser by a novel semiconductor saturable absorber mirror

We report a diode end-pumped continuous wave (CW) passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser with a homemade semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The maximum average output power is 5.3 W at the incident pump power of 17 W, which corresponds to an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 31.2% and slope efficiency of 34.7%. The corresponding optical spectrum has a 0.2-nm full width at half maximum (FWHM), and the pulse repetition rate is 83 MHz.

Passively Mode Locked Diode-End-Pumped Yb∶YAB Laser with High Reflectivity Type Semiconductor Saturable Absorption Mirror

利用金属有机气相淀积方法生长了一种新型吸收体:高反射率半导体可饱和吸收镜.用这种吸收体兼作端镜,实现了1.044μm半导体端面泵浦Yb∶YAB激光器被动锁模,脉冲宽度为3.05ps,重复率为375MHz,输出功率为45mW.