Pulse tail suppression in laser diode output by tunable notch filter

Efficient suppression of relaxation oscillations in the output signal from an overdriven gain-switched laser diode was demonstrated. Several quantum-well distributed feedback laser diodes from different manufacturers were used for experimental analysis. A five-fold increase in the peak power was achieved for the tail-free operation. It was found that spectral filtering removed the nonlinearly chirped components resulting in pulse shortening by a factor of three.

Optimization of erbium-doped actively Q-switched fiber laser implemented in symmetric configuration

We report the results of an experimental study aimed at improving the performance of actively Q-switched fiber lasers. Unlike generic design schemes employing photonic crystal fibers, largemodal diameter fibers or double-clad fibers, we demonstrate a high-power, actively Q-switched laser based on standard com- munication erbium doped fibers with peak irradiance beyond the state-of-the-art at 3.1 GW/cm2 . The laser had 2.2 kW peak power, 15.5 ns pulse duration and 36.8 µJ pulse energy. We have also investigated the dynamics of pulse generation and have success- fully suppressed pulse instabilities caused by backscattered laser emission reaching the pump laser diodes.

Optical trapping with superfocused high-M2 laser diode beam

Many applications of high-power laser diodes demand tight focusing. This is often not possible due to the multimode nature of semiconductor laser radiation possessing beam propagation parameter M2 values in double-digits. We propose a method of 'interference' superfocusing of high-M2 diode laser beams with a technique developed for the generation of Bessel beams based on the employment of an axicon fabricated on the tip of a 100 μm diameter optical fiber with highprecision direct laser writing. Using axicons with apex angle 140º and rounded tip area as small as 10 μm diameter, we demonstrate 2-4 μm diameter focused laser 'needle' beams with approximately 20 μm propagation length generated from multimode diode laser with beam propagation parameter M2=18 and emission wavelength of 960 nm. This is a few-fold reduction compared to the minimal focal spot size of 11 μm that could be achieved if focused by an 'ideal' lens of unity numerical aperture. The same technique using a 160º axicon allowed us to demonstrate few-μm-wide laser 'needle' beams with nearly 100 μm propagation length with which to demonstrate optical trapping of 5-6 μm rat blood red cells in a water-heparin solution. Our results indicate the good potential of superfocused diode laser beams for applications relating to optical trapping and manipulation of microscopic objects including living biological objects with aspirations towards subsequent novel lab-on-chip configurations.

Superfocusing of high-M2 semiconductor laser beams:experimental demonstration

The focusing of multimode laser diode beams is probably the most significant problem that hinders the expansion of the high-power semiconductor lasers in many spatially-demanding applications. Generally, the 'quality' of laser beams is characterized by so-called 'beam propagation parameter' M2, which is defined as the ratio of the divergence of the laser beam to that of a diffraction-limited counterpart. Therefore, M2 determines the ratio of the beam focal-spot size to that of the 'ideal' Gaussian beam focused by the same optical system. Typically, M2 takes the value of 20-50 for high-power broad-stripe laser diodes thus making the focal-spot 1-2 orders of magnitude larger than the diffraction limit. The idea of 'superfocusing' for high-M2 beams relies on a technique developed for the generation of Bessel beams from laser diodes using a cone-shaped lens (axicon). With traditional focusing of multimode radiation, different curvatures of the wavefronts of the various constituent modes lead to a shift of their focal points along the optical axis that in turn implies larger focal-spot sizes with correspondingly increased values of M2. In contrast, the generation of a Bessel-type beam with an axicon relies on 'self-interference' of each mode thus eliminating the underlying reason for an increase in the focal-spot size. For an experimental demonstration of the proposed technique, we used a fiber-coupled laser diode with M2 below 20 and an emission wavelength in ~1μm range. Utilization of the axicons with apex angle of 140deg, made by direct laser writing on a fiber tip, enabled the demonstration of an order of magnitude decrease of the focal-spot size compared to that achievable using an 'ideal' lens of unity numerical aperture. © 2014 SPIE.

Influence of parameters of drying on laser induced diffuse reflectance of banana discs

Banana discs of 1 cm thickness were immersed into different antioxidant solutions to slow down potentially disturbing discoloration during drying. Samples were randomly split into 8 groups according to the 2^p experimental design. Two antioxidant solutions with 1.66% and 4.59% ascorbic acid, two levels of drying temperature with 50°C and 80°C, two levels of drying time with 6h and 8h were used or adjusted. Laser diodes of seven wavelengths (532, 635, 650, 780, 808, 850 and 1064 nm) were selected to illuminate the surface and light penetration pattern was evaluated on the basis of radial profiles. Profiles acquired at three wavelengths (532, 635 and 650 nm) were found to respond sensitively to adjusted parameters. As a result of drying, intensity decay was observed to move closer to incident point. Significant effect (p<0.01) of temperature, drying time and their interaction was found on extracted descriptive attributes of intensity profiles: full width at half maximum (FWHM), distance of inflection point (DIP) and slope of logarithmic decay (SLD). Beyond their presence, antioxidant concentration was neutral factor without significant contribution to the model. Results were in agreement with reference spectroscopic measurements, especially with NDVI index. Promising results suggest that evaluated method might be suitable for monitoring purposes during drying of fruits.

Binary group III-nitride based heterostructures: band offsets and transport properties

In the last few years, there has been remarkable progress in the development of group III-nitride based materials because of their potential application in fabricating various optoelectronic devices such as light emitting diodes, laser diodes, tandem solar cells and field effect transistors. In order to realize these devices, growth of device quality heterostructures are required. One of the most interesting properties of a semiconductor heterostructure interface is its Schottky barrier height, which is a measure of the mismatch of the energy levels for the majority carriers across the heterojunction interface. Recently, the growth of non-polar III-nitrides has been an important subject due to its potential improvement on the efficiency of III-nitride-based opto-electronic devices. It is well known that the c-axis oriented optoelectronic devices are strongly affected by the intrinsic spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization fields, which results in the low electron-hole recombination efficiency. One of the useful approaches for eliminating the piezoelectric polarization effects is to fabricate nitride-based devices along non-polar and semi-polar directions. Heterostructures grown on these orientations are receiving a lot of focus due to enhanced behaviour. In the present review article discussion has been carried out on the growth of III-nitride binary alloys and properties of GaN/Si, InN/Si, polar InN/GaN, and nonpolar InN/GaN heterostructures followed by studies on band offsets of III-nitride semiconductor heterostructures using the x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy technique. Current transport mechanisms of these heterostructures are also discussed.

New optoelectronic devices using GaAs-GaAlAs epitaxy

Three subjects related to epitaxial GaAs-GaAlAs optoelectronic devices are discussed in this thesis. They are:

1. Embedded Epitaxy

This is a technique of selective multilayer growth of GaAs- Ga_1-xAl_xAs single crystal structures through stripe openings in masking layers on GaAs substrates. This technique results in prismatic layers of GaAs and Ga_1-xAl_xAs "embedded" in each other and leads to controllable uniform structures terminated by crystal faces. The dependence of the growth habit on the orientation of the stripe openings has been studied. Room temperature embedded double heterostructure lasers have been fabricated using this technique. Threshold current densities as low as 1.5 KA/cm² have been achieved.

2. Barrier Controlled PNPN Laser Diode

It is found that the I-V characteristics of a PNPN device can be controlled by using potential barriers in the base regions. Based on this principle, GaAs-GaAlAs heterostructure PNPN laser diodes have been fabricated. GaAlAs potential barriers in the bases control not only the electrical but also the optical properties of the device. PNPN lasers with low threshold currents and high breakover voltage have been achieved. Numerical calculations of this barrier controlled structure are presented in the ranges where the total current is below the holding point and near the lasing threshold.

3. Injection Lasers on Semi-Insulating Substrates

GaAs-GaAlAs heterostructure lasers fabricated on semi-insulating substrates have been studied. Two different laser structures achieved are: (1) Crowding effect lasers, (2) Lateral injection lasers. Experimental results and the working principles underlying the operation of these lasers are presented. The gain induced guiding mechanism is used to explain the lasers' far field radiation patterns. It is found that Zn diffusion in Ga_1-xAl_xAs depends on the Al content x, and that GaAs can be used as the diffusion mask for Zn diffusion in Ga_1-xAl_xAs. Lasers having very low threshold currents and operating in a stable single mode have been achieved. Because these lasers are fabricated on semi-insulating substrates, it is possible to integrate them with other electronic devices on the same substrate. An integrated device, which consists of a crowding effect laser and a Gunn oscillator on a common semi-insulating GaAs substrate, has been achieved.

Designing a coupler for the intersatellite optical communication system

Coupling a single-mode laser diode with 200 mW to a single-mode fiber (SMF) through an orthonormal aspherical cylindrical lens and a GRIN lens for the intersatellite optical communication system is proposed and demonstrated. We experimentally studied how the coupling efficiency changes with the SMF's position displacement and axial angle variation, and obtained 80 mW output power at the end of the SMF, which shows that the coupling units have satisfied the designed request. (c) 2007 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Strong visible up-conversion emissions and thermometric applications of Er3+-Yb3+ codoped Al2O3 prepared by the sol-gel method

The Er3+-Yb3+ codoped Al2O3 has been prepared by the sol-gel method using the aluminium isopropoxide [Al(OC3H7)(3)]-derived Al2O3 sols with addition of the erbium nitrate [Er(NO3)(3) center dot 5H(2)O] and ytterbium nitrate [Yb(NO3)(3) center dot 5H(2)O]. The phase structure, including only two crystalline types of doped Al2O3 phases, theta and gamma, was obtained for the 1 mol% Er3+ and 5 mol% Yb3+ codoped Al2O3 at the sintering temperature of 1,273 K. By a 978 nm semiconductor laser diodes excitation, the visible up-conversion emissions centered at about 523, 545, and 660 nm were obtained. The temperature dependence of the green up-conversion emissions was studied over a wide temperature range of 300-825 K, and the reasonable agreement between the calculated temperature by the fluorescence intensity ratio (FIR) theory and the measured temperature proved that Er3+-Yb3+ codoped Al2O3 plays an important role in the application of high temperature sensor.

Yb:YAG/YAG复合陶瓷薄片连续和调Q输出特性

采用面泵浦的CAMIL结构，我们研究了970 nm泵浦的Yb:YAG/YAG复合陶瓷薄片激光器，获得了连续和调Q的激光输出。在连续运转情况下，获得了最高1.05 W的激光输出，中心波长为1031 nm，后腔输出镜透射率为2％。我们同时获得了声光调Q的脉冲输出，重复频率从1 kHz到30 kHz，脉宽分别从166 ns到700 ns。

大功率线阵激光二极管侧面抽运Nd：YAG激光器特性研究

对激光二极管（LD）抽运固体激光器中大功率线阵激光二极管三向对称侧面抽运的漫反射腔结构进行了研究。激光器使用Nd：YAG作为激光晶体，电光器件材料为KD^＊P晶体，漫反射体为陶瓷材料。实验表明，抽运光的利用率和均匀性有较大提高。在重复频率为10Hz下，实现了脉冲宽度8ns，最大平均功率为近2W的1064nm红外激光输出，激光器的效率有显著提高。

激光二极管端面抽运Nd∶YVO_4板条激光器及其热效应

激光器中激光介质采用板条状几何结构可以极大地降低它的热效应,但仍然需要进一步分析其影响,进而优化激光器效率。利用有限元分析方法分析了部分端面抽运的混合腔板条激光器中激光介质的热效应,计算的热透镜焦距与实测结果基本相符。分析了热效应对模式匹配的影响,分析结果对于优化激光器效率、改进谐振腔设计具有一定的参考价值。并在分析的基础上进行了混合腔实验,抽运功率为110 W时,获得连续输出激光功率41.5 W,光-光转换效率约38%,斜效率达58.8%,M2因子为非稳腔方向M2x=1.59,稳定腔方向M2y=1.55。

Nd-glass belt lasers with improved beam quality

Nd-doped phosphate glass belt lasers pumped by laser diodes are demonstrated. The Nd-glass belt with a large cross-section and a small Fresnel number is air-cooled to provide around 18-W continuous wave (CW) output power with a beam quality factor of My2

Optical amplification near 1300 nm in bismuth-doped strontium germanate glass

We demonstrate the broadband optical amplification in bismuth-doped strontium germanate glass with 808 nm and 980 nm laser diodes (LDs) as excitation sources. The net optical gain has been obtained within the wavelength region of 1272 to 1348 nm with 808 nm laser diode under 0.97 W power. The maximum gain and gain coefficients are 1.23 and 1.03 cm(-1) at 1315 nm, respectively. The signal increment at 1300 nm is 2.8 times with 980 nm LD, under 3 W power. The differential thermal analysis measurement reveals the good thermal stability of the studied glass. This glass could be suggested as a promising gain medium for broadband optical amplifiers.

Broadband optical amplification near 1300 nm in bismuth-doped germanate glass

In this paper, we present the broadband optical amplification in bismuth-doped germanate glass, at the second telecommunication window when excited with 808 nm and 980 nm laser diodes, respectively. The amplification range is from 1272 nm to 1348 nm wavelength, which is within the O-band of silica fiber communication. This bismuth-doped glass can be used as ultra broadband amplification material for wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) at the second telecommunication window.