Gunnar Rustad

Modeling of laser-pumped Tm and Ho lasers accounting for upconversion and ground-state depletion

Models for numerical simulations of laser-pumped thulium- and thulium-holmium-doped lasers have been developed. In the models, upconversion losses and ground-state depletion in both thulium and holmium are accounted for, as well as spatial dependencies of the pump and resonator modes. The models apply to CW operation and to the build-up of population inversion prior to lasing in pulsed modes of operation. It is shown that upconversion losses in Tm:Ho:YAG significantly reduce the output from the laser in both CW and Q-switched mode. Simulations of CW lasers show good agreement with experimental results.

Midinfrared laser source with high power and beam quality

A simple scheme for generation of high power in the midinfrared is demonstrated. By using a 15 W thulium-doped fiber laser emitting at 1907 nm to pump a Q-switched Ho:YAG laser, we obtained 9.8 W at 2096 nm at a 20 kHz pulse repetition rate with excellent beam quality. The output of this laser was used to pump a doubly resonant zinc germanium phosphide based optical parametric oscillator, and we obtained 5.1 W average power in the 3-5 microm range with M2 approximately = 1.8.

High power and efficient long wave IR ZnGeP2 parametric oscillator

A high power, efficient, and tunable laser source in the 8-10 microm range, based on a ZnGeP(2) optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a hybrid 2.1 microm laser is demonstrated. The hybrid laser consists of a Q-switched Ho:YAG laser pumped by a 15 W CW thulium fiber laser. With 8.9 W of 2.1 microm pump power we obtained 0.95 W at 8 microm with an M(2)-value of 2.7 from an OPO with two walk-off compensating crystals.

Optical parametric master oscillator and power amplifier for efficient conversion of high-energy pulses with high beam quality

We describe a system for parametric conversion of high-energy,Q-switched laser pulses from 1.064 microm to 2.1 microm in KTiOPO(4). High beam quality and efficiency are obtained by use of a two-stage system: An optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a narrow beam with 8 mJ of energy, generates 1.9 mJ of signal energy for seeding an optical parametric amplifier (OPA). With 500 mJ pump energy, different OPA configurations produce up to 138 mJ signal energy with M(2) approximately 2.3.

Effect of idler absorption in pulsed optical parametric oscillators.

Absorption at the idler wavelength in an optical parametric oscillator (OPO) is often considered detrimental. We show through simulations that pulsed OPOs with significant idler absorption can perform better than OPOs with low idler absorption both in terms of conversion efficiency and beam quality. The main reason for this is reduced back conversion. We also show how the beam quality depends on the beam width and pump pulse length, and present scaling relations to use the example simulations for other pulsed nanosecond OPOs.

Low threshold laser-diode side-pumped Tm:YAG and Tm:Ho:YAG lasers

We report results from transverse laser-diode pumping of Tm:YAG and Tm:Ho:YAG rods. Using two 60-W quasicontinuous-wave laser-diode bars and a special dielectric coating structure on the barrel surface of the laser rod, laser operation was obtained at room temperature with threshold pump energies below 100 mJ and with output pulse energy above 10 mJ in free-running operation and 2 mJ in Q-switched operation. The Tm:Ho:YAG laser was more susceptible to a temperature increase in the material and performed significantly poorer in the Q-switched mode of operation than the Tm:YAG laser. This was predicted by a model accounting for up conversion and the dynamic equilibrium between the upper levels in thulium and holmium in Tm:Ho:YAG.

High-pulse-energy mid-infrared laser source based on optical parametric amplification in ZnGeP2

Nonlinear optical conversion of 1.064 µm pulses from a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser to the mid-infrared is demonstrated. The experimental setup is based on a two-stage master-oscillator/power-amplifier (MOPA) design with a KTiOPO4 based MOPA in the first stage and a KTiOAsO4/ZnGeP2 based MOPA in the second stage. The setup can be tuned to provide output at 8 µm or in the 3–5 µm wavelength region. We obtain more than 8 mJ at 8 µm, and up to 33 mJ at 3–5 µm. The measured beam quality factors are in the range M2=2–4 for both wavelength regions.

Efficient conversion from 1 to 2 µm by a KTP-based ring optical parametric oscillator

Conversion of Q -switched 1.064-microm Nd:YAG laser pulses to the 2-2.2-mu; m region with 46% efficiency is demonstrated with a KTP-based type 2 phase-matched optical parametric oscillator (OPO) with two pairs of walk-off compensating crystals in a ring resonator. With 10 mJ of pump energy, we obtain 2.5 mJ at the 2.06-microm signal and 2.1 mJ at the 2.2-microm idler, with a beam quality of M(2) approximately 1.4 . With a ZnGeP(2) -based OPO pumped by the signal from the KTP OPO we achieved 14% conversion efficiency from 1.064microm to the 3-5-microm range.

Importance of pump-beam group velocity for backconversion in optical parametric oscillators

We present numerical simulations that indicate that backconversion in optical parametric oscillators depends strongly on the group-velocity mismatch (GVM) between the pump and the signal beams. Small GVM tends to suppress modulation of the signal, and the resultant narrow signal spectrum can favor strong backconversion. Large GVM permits a wider spectrum, which in turn can reduce backconversion. Comparison of simulation results and experimental data supports our theory.

Standoff detection of biological agents using laser induced fluorescence—a comparison of 294 nm and 355 nm excitation wavelengths

Standoff detection measuring the fluorescence spectra of seven different biological agents excited by 294 nm as well as 355 nm wavelength laser pulses has been undertaken. The biological warfare agent simulants were released in a semi-closed aerosol chamber at 210 m standoff distance and excited by light at either of the two wavelengths using the same instrument. Significant differences in several of the agents’ fluorescence response were seen at the two wavelengths. The anthrax simulants’ fluorescence responses were almost an order of magnitude stronger at the shorter wavelength excitation. However, most importantly, the fluorescence spectra were significantly more dissimilar at 294 nm than at 355 nm excitation with ~7 nm spectral resolution. This indicates that classification of the substances should be possible with a lower error rate for standoff detection using 294 nm rather than 355 nm excitation wavelength, or even better, utilizing both.