Zhaoshuo Tian

Optically pumped terahertz lasers with high pulse repetition frequency: theory and design

Optically pumped terahertz (THz) lasers with high pulse repetition frequency are designed. Such a laser includes two parts: the optically pumping laser and the THz laser. The structures of the laser are described and analyzed. The rate equations for the pulsed THz laser are given. The kinetic process and laser pulse waveform for this kind of laser are numerically calculated based on the theory of rate equations. The theoretical results give a helpful guide to the research of such lasers.

Tunable electro-optically Q-switched rf excited partial Z-fold CO2 waveguide laser with two channels

A tunable electro-optically Q-switched rf-excited partial Z-fold CO 2 waveguide laser with two channels has been designed. Q-switched pulses were obtained from the partial Z-fold channel. The peak power is 730 W, and the pulse width is 150 ns. Cw laser output was obtained from the other channel, which can be tuned by a grating. A stable pulse heterodyne waveform and its Fourier transform (frequency spectrum) were also observed.

Study of frequency stabilization for electro-optical Q-switched radio-frequency-excited waveguide CO2 laser using build-up time method.

An electro-optical Q-switched RF-excited Z-fold CO(2) waveguide laser was designed, which can output a Q-switched laser and a cavity-dumped laser synchronously. The build-up time method is presented to stabilize the laser frequency. A closed-loop control system was designed to keep the laser oscillating at the peak of the gain curve by measuring the pulse build-up time continuously and controlling the cavity length. In the experiment, the variations for the pulse build-up time and cavity-dumped laser output power with time were recorded in a period of time. The frequency fluctuation is less than ±16 MHz.

Theoretical and experimental investigations on measuring underwater temperature by the coherent Brillouin scattering method.

In this paper, a new method of measuring a water-stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) frequency shift by optical coherent detection is presented, in order to remote-sense the underwater temperature of the ocean. A single longitudinal mode, passively Q-switched pulsed Nd:YAG laser is used as the light source, the water SBS beam is used as the signal beam, and a portion of the incident laser beam is used as the local oscillator. The heterodyne is detected by a high-speed photodetector, and the heterodyne frequency is the Brillouin frequency shift. Therefore, the underwater temperature can be determined according to the relationship between the Brillouin frequency shift and the water temperature. To test and verify its practicability, the heterodyne waveforms at different water temperatures are recorded in the laboratory with a wide-band oscilloscope, and the Brillouin frequency shifts are deduced by a Fourier transform. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical analysis. This work provides the foundation for the development of a water temperature measurement system based on coherent Brillouin scattering.

Research on laser wavelength measurement with rotating Fabry–Perot mirror

Abstract. A method using rotating Fabry–Perot (FP) mirror to measure CO2 laser wavelength was developed. The variation of FP transmittance changing with laser incident angle was calculated theoretically and the variation curve was given. The calculation illustrates that the variation of FP reflectance with incident angle 0 to 30 deg has little effect on the transmittance of FP. In the experiments, the CO2 laser transmittance variation of FP was measured at a wavelength of 9.27 μm. To improve the measurement precision of the laser wavelength, the method using the centrosymmetric peaks of FP transmittance curve in the range from −20 to +20  deg of laser incident angle was proposed. The precision of the measurement is about 0.01 μm. The experiment result is consistent with theoretical analysis, which demonstrates the feasibility of the laser wavelength measurement using rotating FP method.

Study of Offset Frequency Locking and Active Frequency Stabilization for Two RF-Excited Waveguide CO 2 Laser With Common Ground Electrode

In this paper, we designed the offset frequency locking and active frequency stabilization system for the continuous-wave (CW) and electro-optical Q-switched RF-excited waveguide CO2 lasers to provide an ideal light source for coherent radar. The CW laser is used as a local laser, and the pulsed laser is used as a main laser, which can produce Q-switched and cavity-dumped laser synchronously. A closed-loop laser frequency control system was used to stabilize the Q-switched laser at the gain curve center frequency and to lock the two lasers at a selected heterodyne frequency. The system includes two parts: 1) pulsed laser frequency stabilization and 2) offset frequency locking. The frequency stabilization part can keep the Q-switched laser oscillating at the peak of the gain curve by measuring the pulse build-up time continuously and controlling the cavity length. The offset frequency locking circuits keep the heterodyne frequency around the selected frequency by measuring the frequency of the beat signals and controlling the CW laser cavity length. In the experiment, the long-term frequency shift of the pulse laser was measured to be less than ±16 MHz and the offset frequency fluctuation was less than ±2 MHz when the frequency control system was in a closed-loop operation.

Fabrication of a D-shaped fiber by femtosecond laser-induced water breakdown for carbon nanotubes’ evanescent field interaction mode-locking of a double-clad fiber laser

A D-shaped fiber was fabricated by femtosecond laser-induced water breakdown for a fiber laser mode-locked by the evanescent field interaction of carbon nanotubes. Then a mode-locked double-clad fiber laser was constructed using the D-shaped fiber with carbon nanotubes as a saturable absorber and an ytterbium-doped double-clad fiber pumped by a 915 nm fiber coupled multimode laser diode as an amplifying medium. Stable mode-locked operation at 1.07 μm was achieved with a full width at half maximum of 18.1 nm. The output pulses had a repetition rate of 5.76 MHz with a pulse duration of 136.2 fs. The energy per pulse was 52.5 nJ and the slope efficiency was about 11%.

Theoretical and experimental research on laser-beam homogenization based on metal gauze

Method of homogenization of CO2 laser heating by means of metal gauze is researched theoretically and experimentally. Distribution of light-field of expanded beam passing through metal gauze was numerically calculated with diffractive optical theory and the conclusion is that method is effective, with comparing the results to the situation without metal gauze. Experimentally, using the 30W DC discharge laser as source and enlarging beam by concave lens, with and without metal gauze, beam intensity distributions in thermal paper were compared, meanwhile the experiments based on thermal imager were performed. The experimental result was compatible with theoretical calculation, and all these show that the homogeneity of CO2 laser heating could be enhanced by metal gauze.

Study on high power ultraviolet laser oil detection system

Laser Induce Fluorescence (LIF) is a widely used new telemetry technology. It obtains information about oil spill and oil film thickness by analyzing the characteristics of stimulated fluorescence and has an important application in the field of rapid analysis of water composition. A set of LIF detection system for marine oil pollution is designed in this paper, which uses 355nm high-energy pulsed laser as the excitation light source. A high-sensitivity image intensifier is used in the detector. The upper machine sends a digital signal through a serial port to achieve nanoseconds range-gated width control for image intensifier. The target fluorescence spectrum image is displayed on the image intensifier by adjusting the delay time and the width of the pulse signal. The spectral image is coupled to CCD by lens imaging to achieve spectral display and data analysis function by computer. The system is used to detect the surface of the floating oil film in the distance of 25m to obtain the fluorescence spectra of different oil products respectively. The fluorescence spectra of oil products are obvious. The experimental results show that the system can realize high-precision long-range fluorescence detection and reflect the fluorescence characteristics of the target accurately, with broad application prospects in marine oil pollution identification and oil film thickness detection.

Research on the underwater target imaging based on the streak tube laser lidar

A high frame rate streak tube imaging lidar (STIL) for real-time 3D imaging of underwater targets is presented in this paper. The system uses 532nm pulse laser as the light source, the maximum repetition rate is 120Hz, and the pulse width is 8ns. LabVIEW platform is used in the system, the system control, synchronous image acquisition, 3D data processing and display are realized through PC. 3D imaging experiment of underwater target is carried out in a flume with attenuation coefficient of 0.2, and the images of different depth and different material targets are obtained, the imaging frame rate is 100Hz, and the maximum detection depth is 31m. For an underwater target with a distance of 22m, the high resolution 3D image real-time acquisition is realized with range resolution of 1cm and space resolution of 0.3cm, the spatial relationship of the targets can be clearly identified by the image. The experimental results show that STIL has a good application prospect in underwater terrain detection, underwater search and rescue, and other fields.