High-power and narrow-linewidth nanosecond pulsed intracavity crystalline Raman laser operating at 1.7 µm.

We report on a high-power and narrow-linewidth nanosecond pulsed intracavity crystalline Raman laser at 1.7 µm. Driven by an acousto-optically Q-switched 1314 nm two-crystal Nd:YLF laser, the highly efficient cascaded YVO4 Raman laser at 1715nm was obtained within the well-designed L-shaped resonator. Thanks to the absence of spatial hole burning in the stimulated Raman scattering process, significant spectral purification of second-Stokes radiation was observed by incorporating a fused silica etalon in the high-Q fundamental cavity. Under the repetition rate of 4 kHz, the highest average output power for single longitudinal mode operation was up to 2.2 W with the aid of precision vibration isolation and precision temperature controlling, corresponding to the pulse duration of ∼2.8 ns and the spectral linewidth of ∼330 MHz. Further increasing the launched pump power, the second-Stokes laser tended toward be always multimode, and the maximum average output power amounted to 4.8 W with the peak power of ∼0.8 MW and the spectral linewidth of ∼0.08 nm. The second-Stokes emission was near diffraction limited with M2 < 1.4 across the whole pump power range.

Ten-watt-level all-solid-state eye-safe intracavity Raman laser.

We demonstrate the first ten-watt-level eye-safe intracavity crystalline Raman laser, to the best of our knowledge. The efficient high-power eye-safe Raman laser is intracavity-pumped by an acousto-optically Q-switched 1314 nm two-crystal Nd:YLF laser. Benefiting from the unique bi-axial properties of KGW crystal, two sets of eye-safe dual-wavelength Raman lasers operating at 1461, 1645 nm and 1490, 1721nm are achieved by rotating the Raman crystal. Under the launched pump power of 84.9 W and the repetition rate of 4 kHz, the maximum first-Stokes output powers of 7.9 W at 1461 nm and 8.2 W at 1490 nm are acquired with the second-Stokes output powers of 1.4 W at 1645 nm and 1.5 W at 1721nm, respectively, leading to the eye-safe dual-wavelength Raman output powers of up to 9.3 and 9.7 W. Meanwhile, the pulse durations at the wavelengths of 1461, 1490, 1645, 1721nm are determined to be 4.8, 5.5, 4.3, and 3.6 ns, respectively, which give rise to the peak powers approaching about 410, 370, 80, 100 kW. These Stokes emissions are found to be near diffraction limited with M2 < 1.6 across the entire output power range.

Nanosecond pulsed deep-red Raman laser based on the Nd:YLF dual-crystal configuration.

A highly powerful nanosecond pulsed deep-red laser was demonstrated by intracavity second-harmonic generation of an actively Q-switched Nd:YLF dual-crystal-based KGW Raman laser in a critically phase-matched lithium triborate (LBO) crystal. The first-Stokes fields at 1461 and 1490 nm driven by the 1314 nm fundamental laser were firstly produced by accessing the Raman shifts of 768 and 901 cm-1 in the KGW crystal, respectively, and thereafter converted to the deep-red emission lines at 731 and 745 nm by finely tuning the phase-matching angle of the LBO crystal and carefully realigning the resonator. Integrating the benefits of the Nd:YLF dual-crystal configuration and the meticulously designed L-shaped resonator, this deep-red laser system delivered the maximum average output powers of 5.2 and 7.6 W with the optical power conversion efficiencies approaching 6.3% and 9.2% under the optimal pulse repetition frequency of 4 kHz, respectively. The pulse durations of 6.7 and 5.5 ns were acquired with the peak powers up to approximately 190 and 350 kW, respectively, and the resultant beam qualities were determined to be near-diffraction-limited with M2 ≈ 1.5.

High-repetition-rate and high-beam-quality all-solid-state nanosecond pulsed deep-red Raman laser.

We report on a high-repetition-rate and high-beam-quality all-solid-state nanosecond pulsed deep-red laser source by intracavity second harmonic generation of the actively Q-switched Nd:YVO4/KGW Raman laser. The polarization of the 1342 nm fundamental laser was aligned with the Ng and Nm axes of KGW crystal for accessing the eye-safe Raman lasers at 1496 and 1526 nm, respectively. With the aid of the elaborately designed V-shaped resonator and the composite Nd:YVO4 crystal, excellent mode matching and good thermal diffusion have been confirmed. Under an optimal pulse repetition frequency of 25 kHz, the average output powers of the Raman lasers at 1496 and 1526 nm were measured to be 3.7 and 4.9 W with the superior beam quality factor of M2 = 1.2, respectively. Subsequently, by incorporating a bismuth borate (BIBO) crystal, the deep-red laser source was able to lase separately two different spectral lines at 748 and 763 nm, yielding the maximum average output powers of 2.5 and 3.2 W with the pulse durations of 15.6 and 11.3 ns, respectively. The resulting beam quality was determined to be near-diffraction-limited with M2 = 1.28.

High beam quality yellow laser at 588†nm by an intracavity frequency-doubled composite Nd:YVO4 Raman laser.

High beam quality 588 nm radiation was realized based on a frequency-doubled crystalline Raman laser. The bonding crystal of YVO4/Nd:YVO4/YVO4 was used as the laser gain medium, which can accelerate the thermal diffusion. The intracavity Raman conversion and the second harmonic generation were realized by a YVO4 crystal and an LBO crystal, respectively. Under an incident pump power of 49.2 W and a pulse repetition frequency of 50 kHz, the 588 nm power of 2.85 W was obtained with a pulse duration of 3 ns, corresponding to a diode-to-yellow laser conversion efficiency of 5.75% and a slope efficiency of 7.6%. Meanwhile, a single pulse's pulse energy and peak power were 57 µJ and 19 kW, respectively. The severe thermal effects of the self-Raman structure were overcome in the V-shaped cavity, which has excellent mode matching, and combined with the self-cleaning effect of `Raman scattering, the beam quality factor M2 was effectively improved, which was measured optimally to be Mx 2 = 1.207, and My 2 = 1.200, with the incident pump power being 49.2 W.

High-power diode-end-pumped 1314†nm laser based on the multi-segmented Nd:YLF crystal.

We demonstrate the first multi-segmented Nd:YLF laser, to the best of our knowledge. The multi-segmented crystal was designed to straightforwardly aim for the minimum thermal stress without sacrificing the overall laser efficiency, with the influence of the pump beam waist position considered in particular. Integrating the enhanced thermo-mechanical resistance of multi-segmented crystal and the alleviated heat load of low quantum defect pumping, this end-pumped 1314 nm Nd:YLF laser system delivered a maximum continuous-wave output power of up to 35.5 W under a pump power of 105 W, corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 33.8%. Furthermore, by incorporating an acousto-optic modulator, an active Q-switching oscillator was accomplished, yielding a maximum average output power of 22.9 W at a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 20 kHz and a largest pulse energy of 13.6 mJ at a PRF of 1 kHz.

Wavelength-versatile deep-red laser source by intracavity frequency converted Raman laser.

We demonstrate an efficient wavelength-selectable output in the attractive deep-red spectral region from an intracavity frequency converted Nd:YLF/KGW Raman laser. Driven by an acousto-optic Q-switched 1314 nm Nd:YLF laser, two first-Stokes waves at 1461 and 1490 nm were generated owing to the bi-axial properties of KGW crystal. By incorporating intracavity sum-frequency generation and second-harmonic generation with an angle-tuned bismuth borate (BIBO) crystal, four discrete deep-red laser emission lines were yielded at the wavelengths of 692, 698, 731, and 745 nm. Under the incident pump power of 50 W and the repetition rate of 4 kHz, the maximum average output powers of 2.4, 2.7, 3.3, and 3.6 W were attained with the pulse durations of 3.4, 3.2, 4.3, and 3.7 ns, respectively, corresponding to the peak powers up to 177, 209, 190, and 245 kW. The results indicate that the Nd:YLF/KGW Raman laser combined with an angle-adjusted BIBO crystal provides a reliable and convenient approach to achieve the selectable multi-wavelength deep-red laser with short pulse duration and high peak power.

High-performance diode-end-pumped Nd:YLF laser operating at 1314†nm.

A stable, efficient, and powerful 1314 nm Nd:YLF laser inband-pumped by a wavelength-locked narrowband 880 nm laser diode is demonstrated. The influence of mode-to-pump ratio on the performance of the diode-end-pumped Nd:YLF laser has been systematically investigated by taking into account the thermal effect and the energy transfer upconversion effect. For the optimum mode-to-pump ratio of 0.84, the maximum continuous wave output power of 21.9 W was extracted under the pump power of 70 W, which corresponded to the optical power efficiency of 31.3% and the beam quality of M2 ≈ 1.6. The resultant output power stability was determined to be 0.059% (RMS) within 1 h. In addition, by increasing the mode-to-pump ratio to 1.0, the near-diffraction-limited beam (M2 ≈ 1.3) was achieved with the output power of 17.0 W and the optical power efficiency of 24.3%.

Power and energy scaling of an acousto-optically Q switched Raman deep-red laser.

An efficient high-power nanosecond pulsed deep-red laser at 745 nm is produced by intracavity frequency-doubling an acousto-optically Q switched Nd:YLF/KGW Raman laser using a lithium triborate (LBO) crystal. The critically phase-matched type-I LBO crystal with an optimized length of 25 mm is adopted to enable efficient second-harmonic generation and to suppress unwanted cascaded Stokes fields. Under a repetition rate of 4 kHz, the maximum average output power of 4.1 W is obtained with the launched pump power of 50 W, resulting in an overall optical power conversion efficiency of 8.2%. The average beam quality factor is determined to be M2 = 1.46. The pulse energy is scaled up to 3.3 mJ at the repetition rate of 1 kHz, corresponding to a pulse width of 4.2 ns and a peak power of up to 0.8 MW. Moreover, we theoretically investigate the dependence of the conversion efficiency on the walk-off angle as well as the fundamental and first-Stokes losses, which will guide further optimization of experimental devices.

Nanosecond pulsed single longitudinal mode diamond Raman laser in the 1.6†µm spectral region.

We demonstrate the first nanosecond pulsed single longitudinal mode (SLM) intracavity-pumped diamond Raman laser, to the best of our knowledge. The eye-safe coherent source at 1634 nm, which was converted from the actively Q-switched 1342 nm Nd:YVO4 laser, yielded 4.35 W of multimode average output power with a pulse duration of 6 ns and peak power of 29 kW. By exploiting the spatial hole burning free gain mechanism in the Raman media, stable SLM operation was observed at low output power (0.46 W) for the free-running case. Furthermore, by incorporating an etalon in the fundamental standing-wave cavity, the spectral linewidth of the fundamental field was suppressed substantially below the diamond Raman gain linewidth and slightly less than the free spectral range of the mm-scale Raman resonator. Thereby, a much higher SLM output power of 1.63 W was obtained with a pulse duration of ∼9 ns and a spectral linewidth of ∼77 MHz.

Ultrahigh-level enhancement on nonlinear optical susceptibility of cubic quantum dots achieved by THz laser and electric field.

Multi-physics coupling, composed of an intense THz laser and electric field, serves as a new approach to realize the ultrahigh-level enhancement on third-harmonic generation (THG) of cubic quantum dots (CQDs). The exchange of quantum states caused by anticrossing of intersubbands is demonstrated by the Floquet method and finite difference method with the increasing laser-dressed parameter and electric field. The results show that the rearrangement of the quantum states excites the THG coefficient of CQDs four orders of magnitude higher than that achieved with a single physical field. The optimal polarization direction of incident light that maximizes the THG exhibits strong stability along the z axis at high laser-dressed parameter and electric field.

Intra-cavity diamond Raman laser at 1634 nm.

We demonstrated an eye-safe diamond Raman laser intra-cavity pumped by the 1.3 µm fundamental field for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The first-Stokes laser at 1634 nm was converted from the 1342 nm fundamental laser, which was produced by an in-band pumped double-end diffusion-bonded a-cut Nd:YVO4 crystal. Under an incident pump power of 21.2 W and an optimal pulse repetition frequency of 25 kHz, the maximum average output power of 2.0 W was obtained with the pulse duration of 5.7 ns and the peak power of 14 kW. The first-Stokes emission was found to be near diffraction limited (M2 ≈ 1.3) and to have a narrow linewidth (∼0.05 nm FWHM; instrument limited).

Nanosecond pulsed deep-red laser source by intracavity frequency-doubled crystalline Raman laser.

We demonstrated a deep-red laser source by intracavity frequency-doubled crystalline Raman laser for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The actively Q-switched 1314 nm Nd:LiYF4 laser was first converted to the eye-safe Raman laser using a KGd(WO4)2 (KGW) crystal, which was subsequently frequency-doubled in a bismuth borate crystal. Benefiting from the KGW bi-axial properties, the deep-red laser source was able to lase separately at two different spectral lines at 730 and 745 nm. Under an optimal repetition rate of 4 kHz, the maximum average powers of 1.7 and 2.0 W were attained with good beam quality of M2≈1.7. The corresponding pulse durations were determined to be 3.0 and 2.8 ns with the peak powers up to approximately 140 and 180 kW, respectively.

Shape effect on the electronic state and nonlinear optical properties in the regulable Y-shaped quantum dots under applied electric field.

The electronic state and nonlinear optical properties in the Y-shaped quantum dots has been theoretically investigated by adjusting the shape with the applied electric field. Within the effective-mass approximation, the energy levels and the wave functions of the system are obtained by means of the finite difference method. The results show that both the strength or the in-plane orientation of external electric field and the shape of regulable Y-shaped quantum dots have a significant influence on the electronic state, optical absorption coefficients and the refractive index changes.

Single-longitudinal-mode cascaded crystalline Raman laser at 1.7 µm.

A single-longitudinal-mode crystalline Raman laser in the 1.7 µm wave band was reported for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The YVO4 Raman laser, which was intracavity-pumped by an actively Q-switched 1314 nm Nd:YLF laser, demonstrated the cascaded Stokes oscillation at 1715 nm. By inserting an etalon in the fundamental resonator, linewidth narrowing and power scaling of the second-Stokes laser were realized based on the spatial-hole-burning-free Raman gain. With an optimal pulse repetition frequency of 4 kHz, the maximum single-longitudinal-mode average output power of 1.8 W was acquired with the spectrum linewidth of ∼340MHz. Further increasing the incident pump power, the second-Stokes laser transitioned to multimode regime, and the maximum average output power reached 2.7 W with the peak power as high as ∼380kW.

High-peak-power narrowband eye-safe intracavity Raman laser.

We demonstrated a narrowband eye-safe intracavity Raman laser by incorporating a fused silica etalon into the fundamental resonator. The KGd(WO4)2 (KGW) Raman laser was pumped by an actively Q-switched Nd:YLF laser at 1314 nm. Thanks to the KGW bi-axial properties, two distinct eye-safe Raman lasers operating at 1461 and 1490 nm were obtained separately by rotation of the KGW crystal. At an optimized pulse repetition frequency of 4 kHz, the maximum average output powers of 3.6 and 4.0 W were achieved with the peak powers up to approximately 330 and 480 kW, respectively. The eye-safe Stokes emissions were narrow linewidth (∼0.05 nm FWHM; measurement limited) and near diffraction limited (M2 < 1.4). The powerful narrowband eye-safe Raman lasers are of interest for applications as diverse as laser range finding, scanning lidar and remote sensing.

Spectroscopy and diode-pumped laser operation of transparent Tm:Lu3Al5O12 ceramics produced by solid-state sintering.

A transparent Tm:Lu3Al5O12 ceramic is fabricated by solid-state reactive sintering at 1830 °C for 30 h using commercial α-Al2O3 and Lu2O3/Tm2O3 powders and sintering aids - MgO and TEOS. The ceramic belongs to the cubic system and exhibits a close-packed structure (mean grain size: 21 µm). The in-line transmission at ∼1 µm is 82.6%, close to the theoretical limit. The spectroscopic properties of the ceramic are studied in detail. The maximum stimulated-emission cross-section is 2.37×10-21 cm2 at 1749nm and the radiative lifetime of the 3F4 state is about 10 ms. The modified Judd-Ofelt theory accounting for configuration interaction is applied to determine the transition probabilities of Tm3+, yielding the intensity parameters Ω2 = 2.507, Ω4 = 1.236, Ω6 = 1.340 [10-20 cm2] and α = 0.196×10-4 cm. The effect of excited configurations on lower-lying interconnected states with the same J quantum number is discussed. First laser operation is achieved under diode-pumping at 792 nm. A 4 at.% Tm:Lu3Al5O12 ceramic laser generated 3.12 W at 2022-2035nm with a slope efficiency of 60.2%. The ceramic is promising for multi-watt lasers at >2 µm.

High-peak-power eye-safe orthogonally-polarized dual-wavelength Nd:YLF/KGW Raman laser.

An actively Q-switched eye-safe orthogonally-polarized dual-wavelength intracavity Raman laser was demonstrated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The gain balanced dual-wavelength operation at 1314 and 1321 nm within an in-band pumped Nd:YLF laser was realized by slightly titling the cavity mirrors. Owing to the KGW bi-axial properties, two sets of simultaneous orthogonally-polarized dual-wavelength Raman lasers at 1470, 1490 nm and 1461, 1499 nm were achieved by simply rotating the KGW crystal for 90°, respectively. With an incident pump power of 30 W and an optimized pulse repetition frequency of 5 kHz, the maximum dual-wavelength Raman output powers of 2.6 and 2.4 W were obtained with the pulse widths of 5.8 and 6.3 ns, respectively, corresponding to the peak powers up to 89.7 and 76.5 kW.

Spectroscopy and high-power laser operation of a monoclinic Yb3+:MgWO4 crystal.

Monoclinic (wolframite-type) monotungstate crystals are promising for rare-earth doping. We report polarized room- and low-temperature spectroscopy and efficient high-power laser operation of such a ${{\rm Yb}^{3 + }}{:}\,{{\rm MgWO}_4}$Yb3+:MgWO4 crystal featuring high stimulated emission cross section (${\sigma _{\rm SE}}\; = \;{6}.{2}\; \times \;{{10}^{ - 20}}\;{{\rm cm}^2}$σSE=6.2×10-20cm2 at 1056.7 nm for light polarization ${\rm E}\;||\;{N_m}$E||Nm), large Stark splitting of the ground state (${765}\;{{\rm cm}^{ - 1}}$765cm-1), large gain bandwidth (26.1 nm for ${\rm E}\;||\;{N_g}$E||Ng), and strong Raman response (most intense mode at ${916}\;{{\rm cm}^{ - 1}}$916cm-1). A diode-pumped ${{\rm Yb}^{3 + }}{:}\,{{\rm MgWO}_4}$Yb3+:MgWO4 laser generated 18.2 W at ${\sim}{1056}\;{\rm nm}$∼1056nm with a slope efficiency of ${\sim}{89}\% $∼89% and a linearly polarized laser output.

Efficient high-power orthogonally-polarized dual-wavelength Nd:YLF laser at 1314 and 1321†nm.

We demonstrate an 806 nm laser diode end-pumped continuous-wave (CW) and actively Q-switched (AQS) orthogonally-polarized dual-wavelength Nd:YLF laser operating at 1314 and 1321 nm. Benefitting from the small difference of the stimulated emission cross sections at 1314 and 1321 nm in Nd:YLF crystal, the power equalized emissions at both wavelengths were achieved by simply titling the output coupler. A maximum CW output power of 9.2 W was obtained with the incident pump power of 32.5 W, giving an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of approximately 28% and a slope efficiency of approximately 33%. Furthermore, active Q-switching was realized by inserting a Brewster-cut acousto optic modulator. For an incident pump power of 30 W, this oscillator delivered an average power of 6.5 W at a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 20 kHz, and a pulse energy of 2.6 mJ with a peak power of approximately 72 kW at a PRF of 1 kHz.