Baohua Feng

Continuous wave 935 nm Nd:CNGG laser at watt-level power

An efficient continuous wave (CW) laser-diode-pumped Nd-doped Ca(3)(NbGa)(2-x)Ga(3)O(12) (CNGG) laser operating at 935 nm is demonstrated by using a simple linear cavity for the first time to our knowledge. Output power up to 1.12 W is obtained, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 7.1% and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 5.7%. The laser operates with the fundamental transverse mode when the output power is as high as 800 mW. This laser provides a potential light source for differential absorption lidar in water vapor detection.

Dual-wavelength Nd:YAG laser operation at 1319 and 1338 nm by direct pumping at 885 nm.

This paper presents a continuous wave and a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser pumped by diode laser at 885 nm. The maximum output power of the CW laser is 8.28 W with an absorbed slope efficiency of 35.01%. The Q-switching is achieved using a V³⁺:YAG crystal as the saturable absorber. The maximum output power of the passively Q-switched laser is 3.55 W with an absorbed pumping power of 28.65 W operated with a dual wavelength at 1319 and 1338 nm. The shortest pulse widths of the Q-switched laser are 20.20 and 20.86 ns, with a maximum repetition rate of 64.10 kHz.

Refractive index of a single ZnO microwire at high temperatures

We report a study of refractive index of a wurtzite ZnO single crystal microwire at a temperature range from room temperature to about 400 K using optical cavity modes. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra of the ZnO microwire at different temperatures were performed using a confocal micro-photoluminescence setup. The whispering gallery modes observed in the PL spectra show a redshift both in the ultraviolet and the visible range as the temperature rises. The redshift is used to extract the refractive index of the ZnO microwire. The dispersion relations are deduced at different temperatures, and the results show that the refractive index increases with raising temperature for both transverse electric and transverse magnetic modes. The refractive index increases faster at a shorter wavelength, which is due to the fact that the shorter wavelength is closer to the resonance frequencies of ZnO microwire according to the Lorentz oscillator model.

Structural and optical properties of tungsten-doped vanadium dioxide films

Thin films of tungsten (W)-doped thermochromic vanadium dioxide (VO2) were deposited onto soda-lime glass and fused silica by radio frequency magnetron sputtering. The doped VO2 films were characterized by X-ray diffraction, optical transmittance measurement, and near field optical microscopy with Raman spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction patterns show that the (011) peak of W-doped thermochromic VO2 film shifts to a lower diffraction angle with the increase of W concentration. The optical measurements indicated that the transmittance change (?T) at wavelength of 2500 nm drops from 65% (?T at 35 ?C and 80 ?C for undoped VO2 film) to 38% (?T at 30 ?C and 42 ?C for the doped VO2 film). At the same time, phase transition temperature drops from 65 ?C to room temperature or lower with the increase of W concentration. Near field optical microscopy image shows that the surface of W-doped VO2 film is smooth. Raman results show that the main Raman modes of W-doped VO2 are centered at 614 cm?1, the same as that of undoped VO2, suggesting no Raman mode changes for lightly W-doped VO2 at room temperature, due to no phase transition appearing under this condition.

An 885-nm Direct Pumped Nd:CNGG 1061 nm Q-Switched Laser

The 885 nm direct pumping method, directly into the F-4(3/2) emitting level of Nd3+ ion, is used to a Nd:CNGG crystal to product passive Q-switched 1061 nm laser pulses, for the first time to the best of our knowledge. A maximum average output power of 1.16 W for 1061 nm Q-switched pulses and a repetition rate of 12.54 kHz are obtained. The pulse width is measured to be 24 ns and the peak power is 3.843 kW. A high-quality fundamental transverse mode can be observed owing to the reduction of the thermal effect for Nd: CNGG crystal by 885 nm direct pumping.

Diode-pumped self-Q-switched Cr,Nd:YAG laser with 7-W average output power

We report a diode-pumped self-Q-switched 1064-nm Cr,Nd:YAG laser with pulse duration in the range of 16?18 ns. The maximum average output power up to 7 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 33%, is obtained in a simple and compact linear cavity by using a plane-concave output coupler with a transmittance of 15%. The laser operates at TEM00 mode with a pump power of 14.2 W.

Efficient femtosecond optical parametric generator with a birefringent delay compensator

A novel method based on a birefringent crystal is presented to compensate for the group-velocity mismatch between a femtosecond pulsed pump and the signal or idler in an optical parametric generator (OPG). With a thin calcite plate inserted between two beta-barium borate crystals for synchronization, an efficient four-pass OPG pumped by a frequency-doubled ~200-fs Ti:sapphire laser is obtained. The conversion efficiency is almost doubled throughout the whole tunable region compared with a conventional OPG pumped at the same power density, indicating that the total conversion efficiency of femtosecond optical parametric amplifier system can be raised significantly by use of this new four-pass OPG to generate the seed.

Passively Q-Switched Nd,Cr:YAG Laser Simultaneous Dual-Wavelength Operation at 946 nm and 1.3 μm*

A diode-end-pumped Q-switched high-efficiency Nd,Cr:YAG laser with simultaneous dual-wavelength emission at 946nm and 1.3 μm is demonstrated. The maximum output power of 1.93 W with simultaneous dual-wavelength operation is achieved at an absorbed pump power of 13.32 W and an absorbed slope efficiency of 15.15%. The maximum optical-optical efficiency is 14.49% with pulse widths of 16.38 ns at 946 nm and 26.65 ns at 1.3 μm. A maximum total repetition rate of 43.25 kHz is obtained.

Generation of broadly tunable picosecond mid-infrared laser and sensitive detection of a mid-infrared signal by parametric frequency up-conversion in MgO:LiNbO3 optical parametric amplifiers

Picosecond optical parametric generation and amplification in the near-infrared region within 1.361–1.656 μm and the mid-infrared region within 2.976–4.875 μm is constructed on the basis of bulk MgO:LiNbO3 crystals pumped at 1.064 μm. The maximum pulse energy reaches 1.3 mJ at 1.464 μm and 0.47 mJ at 3.894 μm, corresponding to a pump-to-idler photon conversion efficiency of 25%. By seeding the hard-to-measure mid-infrared radiation as the idler in the optical parametric amplification and measuring the amplified and frequency up-converted signal in the near-infrared or even visible region, one can measure very week mid-infrared radiation with ordinary detectors, which are insensitive to mid-infrared radiation, with a very high gain. A maximum gain factor of about 7 × 107 is achieved at the mid-infrared wavelength of 3.374 μm and the corresponding energy detection limit is as low as about 390 aJ per pulse.

Ultrasensitive detection of amplified spontaneous emission at 710 nm by means of picosecond collinear optical parametric amplification near degeneracy

We report the experimental results on improving the detection of an ultraweak optical signal using a 355 nm pumped picosecond collinear optical parametric amplification (OPA). The OPA is seeded by the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) generated in a solution of pyridine-1 dye in ethanol. The gain factor of this amplifier is determined as ~1.5×10(8), and the detection limit is ~1.25 aJ per pulse, corresponding to five photons at 710 nm within the 15 ps pulse width of the pump beam. This is achieved by reducing superfluorescence background noise by means of signal/idler double seeding near degeneracy, amplification under a slightly phase-mismatched condition, and space filtering with increasing observation distance up to 3.2 m. Compared with previous reports, the detection limit is significantly enhanced. The pulse shape of the ASE is also measured with OPA, and it agrees well with that measured by an ultrafast oscilloscope.