Ramesh K. Shori

Prospects for Silicon Mid-IR Raman Lasers

This paper presents the case for the silicon Raman laser as a potential source for the technologically important midwave infrared (MWIR) region of the optical spectrum. The mid-IR application space is summarized, and the current practice based on the optical parametric oscillators and solid state Raman lasers is discussed. Relevant properties of silicon are compared with popular Raman crystals, and linear and nonlinear transmission measurements of silicon in the mid-IR are presented. It is shown that the absence of the nonlinear losses, which severely limit the performance of the recently demonstrated silicon lasers in the near IR, combined with unsurpassed crystal quality, high thermal conductivity and excellent optical damage threshold render silicon a very attractive Raman medium, even when compared to the very best Raman crystals. In addition, silicon photonic technology, offering integrated low-loss waveguides and microcavities, offers additional advantages over todays bulk crystal Raman laser technology. Using photonic crystal structures or microring resonators, the integrated cascaded microcavities can be employed to realize higher order Stokes emission, and hence to extend the wavelength coverage of the existing pump lasers. Exploiting these facts, the proposed technology can extend the utility of silicon photonics beyond data communication and into equally important applications in biochemical sensing and laser medicine

Discrete Cylindrical Vector Beam Generation from an Array of Optical Fibers

A novel method is presented for the beam shaping of far field intensity distributions of coherently combined fiber arrays. The fibers are arranged uniformly on the perimeter of a circle, and the linearly polarized beams of equal shape are superimposed such that the far field pattern represents an effective radially polarized vector beam, or discrete cylindrical vector (DCV) beam. The DCV beam is produced by three or more beams that each individually have a varying polarization vector. The beams are appropriately distributed in the near field such that the far field intensity distribution has a central null. This result is in contrast to the situation of parallel linearly polarized beams, where the intensity peaks on axis.

Generation of Q-switched Er:YAG laser pulses using evanescent wave absorption in ethanol

We report on a technique of passively Q switching an Er:YAG laser operating at 2.94 μm. The Q switch consists of a high refractive index prism having one total internal reflection surface in contact with an absorbing liquid. The initial losses were achieved via attenuated total reflection. Using the above Q switch, pulses with up to 85 mJ having 130–140 ns pulse width were generated. The output was linearly polarized and the spacial beam profile was near TEM00. The laser was operated at 2 Hz repetition rate.

Backspallation due to ablative recoil generated during Q-switched Er:YAG ablation of dental hard tissue

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the suitability of Q-switched Er:YAG radiation with a pulse duration of approximately 150 ns for caries ablation in dental enamel and dentin. The rate and efficiency of ablation were determined at various laser fluences via perforation of enamel and dentin thin slabs. Peripheral thermal and acoustic damage was evaluated using optical and electron microscopy. Enamel and dentin were ablated with extremely high precision without peripheral thermal damage using these short laser pulses. However, mechanical damage resulted from stress transients produced during the ablative process which caused fracture s in dentin and enamel on the back side of the perforated tissue samples. The thickness of the layer of spallated dentin increased linearly with deposited energy consistent with proposed models. The possibility of acoustic-mechanical damage may limit the maximum single pulse energy that may be deposited when using short pulsed Er:YAG lasers for hard tissue use. This work was supported by NIH/NIDR Grant R29DE12091.

Highly efficient ytterbium-doped phosphosilicate fiber lasers operating below 1020nm

Highly-efficient high-power fiber lasers operating at wavelength below 1020 nm are critical for tandem-pumping in >10 kW fiber lasers to provide high pump brightness and low thermal loading. Using an ytterbium-doped-phosphosilicate double-clad leakage-channel fiber with ~50 µm core and ~420 µm cladding, we have achieved ~70% optical-to-optical efficiency at 1018 nm. The much larger cladding than those in previous reports demonstrates the much lower required pump brightness, a key for efficient kW operation. The demonstrated 1018 nm fiber laser has ASE suppression of ~41 dB. This is higher than previous reports and further demonstrates the advantages of the fiber used. Limiting factors to efficiency are also systematically studied.

Ho:YAG Single Crystal Fiber: Fabrication and Optical Characterization

0.5% Holmium (Ho) doped YAG single crystal fiber (SCF) was fabricated using Laser Heated Pedestal Growth (LHPG) method and characterized for its optical absorption and emission properties involving transitions between the 5I8 and 5I7 energy levels. The results verified the absorption peaks suitable for in-band direct pumping at 1908 nm and 1932 nm with the emission occurring between 2050 and 2150 nm. Small signal gain measurements were also performed for demonstrating the fiber like characteristics of the SCF.

Impurity concentration and temperature dependence of the refractive indices of Er 3+ doped ceramic Y 2 O 3

The refractive indices and thermo-optic coefficients for varying concentrations of Er3+ doped polycrystalline yttria were measured at a variety of wavelengths and temperatures. A Lorenz oscillator model was employed to model the room temperature indices and thermo-optic coefficients were calculated based on temperature dependent index measurements from 0.45 to 1.064 microns. Some consequences relating to thermal lensing are discussed.

Lasing characteristics of Ho:YAG single crystal fiber

Lasing was demonstrated for the first time at 2.09 μm in 0.5% Holmium (Ho) doped YAG single crystal fiber (SCF) fabricated using the Laser Heated Pedestal Growth (LHPG) method. Output power of 23.5 W with 67.5% optical-to-optical slope efficiency is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest output power achieved at 2 µm from a SCF fabricated using LHPG. With continued improvement in the quality of the SCF and better thermal management, output power of few 100s W and higher, especially in the 2 µm spectral region, is realizable in the very near future.

Spectroscopic properties of Er-sesquoxides

The current effort reports on the spectroscopic properties (absorption, emission and fluorescence lifetime) as a function of varying Erbium concentration in Y₂O₃. Results show a non-linear behavior in the fluorescence lifetimes and the radiative-emission intensities for the ⁴I_11/2and the ⁴I_13/2 energy levels.

Guided-Mode Resonance Filters for Wavelength Selection in Mid-Infrared Fiber Lasers

A narrowband mid-infrared (mid-IR) guided-mode resonance filter (GMRF) is designed and fabricated using a Hafnium Dioxide film/quartz wafer material system. The fabricated GMRF is then integrated into an erbium (Er)-doped Zr-Ba-La-Al-Na (ZBLAN) fluoride glass fiber laser as a wavelength selective feedback element. The laser operated at 2782 nm with a line-width less than 2 nm demonstrates the viability of GMRFs for wavelength selection in the mid-IR.