Interferometric polarization-independent modulator in LiTaO3

Polarization-independent Mach-Zehnder modulators that utilize the off-diagonal r₅₁ electrooptic coefficient are produced in LiTaO₃. The waveguides are formed by Zn vapor diffusion. Extinction values of 85% at 0.633-μm wavelength are demonstrated for both transverse electric and transverse magnetic polarization using a single control voltage and thermal tuning. The relatively large voltage-length product values (VL⩾15 V-cm) attained in these devices are attributed to a weak overlap between optical and electrical field profiles. Electrode alignment and dielectric loading are critical factors for the optimization of device operation     

Absolute and relative nonlinear optical coefficients of KDP, KD*P,BaB2O4, LiIO3, MgO:LiNbO3,and KTP measured by phase-matched second-harmonic generation

Both absolute and relative nonlinear optical coefficients of six nonlinear materials measured by second-harmonic generation are discussed. A single-mode, injection-seeded, Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with spatially filtered output was used to generate the 1.064-μm fundamental radiation. The following results were obtained: d₃₆(KD*P)=0.38 pm/V, d₃₆(KD*P)=0.37 pm/V, |d₂₂(BaB ₂O₄)|=2.2 pm/V, d₃₁(LiIO₃ )=-4.1 pm/V, d₃₁(5%MgO:MgO LiNbO₃)=-4.7 pm/V, and d_eff(KTP)=3.2 pm/V. The accuracy of these measurements is estimated to be better than 10%     

A new organic electrooptic crystal:2,6-dibromo-N-methyl-4-nitroaniline (DBNMNA)

A new organic electrooptic crystal, 2,6-dibromo-N-methyl-4-nitroaniline, is reported. The crystal structure was determined by X-ray diffraction (orthorhombic, space group Fdd2, point group mm2, Z=16, a=11.745 Å, b=29.640 Å, c=10.807 Å). The refractive indexes were measured at several wavelengths between 500 and 1100 nm (at 632.8 nm, n_a=1.90, n_b=1.62, and n_c=1.48) and fit the data to a single oscillator Sellmeier equation. A report is presented on measurements of the linear electrooptic effect, yielding the combined coefficients n_a ³r₁₃-n_c³ r₃₃, as well as the first known measurements of the quadratic electrooptic effect in an organic crystal, yielding the coefficients r₄₂ and r₅₁ at 514.5, 632.8, and 810 nm. Good agreement is found between the observed dispersion in the electrooptic coefficients and that predicted by the simple two-level dispersion model     

Polarization-independent LiTaO3 guided-wave electroopticswitches

Polarization-independent LiTaO₃ optical switches that utilize the off-diagonal electrooptic coefficient r₅₁ are discussed. The waveguides are formed by Zn vapor diffusion. Interguide transfer efficiencies of 84 and 88% for TM and TE polarizations, respectively, have been obtained. Modulation efficiency of 99.8% for TM and 95% for TE have been demonstrated at nearly equal voltages by thermally tuning to 20°C. The relatively high voltage-length product (30-35 V-cm) attained in these initial devices at a 0.633-μm wavelength is attributed to a weak overlap between optical and electrical fields in the periodic electrode structure     

Nonlinear optical and electrooptical effects in 2-methyl-4-nitro N-methylaniline (MNMA) crystals

Single crystals of 2-methyl-4-nitro-N-methylaniline (MNMA) have been grown from the melt. The crystal structure was determined (orthorhombic, Pna2_I (2 mm), Z=4, a =17.788(6) Å, b=11.893(4) Å, c=3.907(2) Å). The refractive indexes n_a and n_c were measured between 500 and 700 nm [ n_a(633 nm)=2.148(10), n_c(633 nm)=1.520(3)]. The nonlinear optical susceptibilities coefficients r ₃₁=8 pm/V and r₃₃=7.5 pm/V were determined. Most optical properties can be explained in terms of molecular orientation and polarizability     

Maximum heat-sink temperature for CW operation of adouble-heterostructure semiconductor injection laser

Assuming that the temperature dependence of the threshold current for pulsed operation is known, an analytical expression for the maximum heat-sink temperature, T_hm, for CW operation of the laser can be derived. The maximum heat-sink temperature is expressed in terms of the characteristic temperature T₀, the room-temperature threshold current for pulsed operation I₀ , the equivalent effective thermal resistance &thetas;, and the equivalent effective series electrical resistance r of the device. It is shown that the values of T_hm can be enhanced by increasing the value of T₀ or by decreasing the values of I₀, &thetas;, and r     

High vibrational temperatures in optically-pumped CO2

A pulsed 4.3-μm CO₂ laser was used to optically pump mixtures of CO₂ and He, and create transient gain at 9 and 10 μm. A conventional continuous-wave CO₂ laser operating on both regular and sequence bands measures this transient gain, and determined the ν₃ (asymmetric stretching)-mode vibrational temperature T₃. The measured values of T ₃ are generally much higher than those attained in discharge-excited CO₂. It is shown that a Treanor distribution must be used to describe the populations in the ν₃ -mode when dilute mixtures of CO₂ in He are optically pumped to ν₃-mode temperatures of 3000 to 4000 K. Under these conditions the sequence-band gain coefficients are almost equal to those on the regular bands. The collisional relaxation of energy from the ν₃ mode shows evidence of fast V-T relaxation at high values of T₃, followed by a slower relaxation rate characteristic of the 00⁰1 population lifetime     

Thermal shifts of the spectral lines in the 4F3/2 to 4I11/2 manifold of anNd:YAG Laser

A report is presented of the thermal shifts of eleven of the twelve lines from the ⁴F_3/2 Stark energy levels to the ⁴I_11/2 energy levels in an Nd:YAG laser for a temperature change from 20-200°C. The thermal shift difference between the Stark sublevels R₁, R₂ in ⁴F_3/2 is found to be about -0.6±0.6 cm^-1/100°C. Within experimental uncertainty, all of the lasing lines either moved to longer wavelength or remained unchanged with increasing temperature     

Proton-exchanged optical waveguides in Z-cut LiNbO3 using phosphoric acid

Proton-exchanged Z-cut LiNbO₃ planar waveguides formed using phosphoric acid were characterized optically. The refractive index profile and the diffusion parameters were studied systematically. These waveguides have propagation losses of less than 1 dB/cm and exhibit properties that are different from those obtained using benzoic acid. The index profile is not a simple step function and can be modeled accurately by a polynomial expression. A maximum surface index increase of 0.145 was measured at a 0.633-μm wavelength. The diffusion constant D₀ and the activation energy Q for the proton-exchange process using this acid were found to be 6.43×10⁸ μm²/h and 82.91 kJ/mol, respectively. The annealing properties of these waveguides were also established, and the effects of annealing on surface index change and waveguide depth increase were found to follow a power-law relationship     

Recovery of second-order optical nonlinearity in annealedproton-exchanged LiNbOx

The second-order nonlinear coefficients measured in proton-exchanged LiNbO₃ as a function of annealing time are discussed. Measurements of reflected second-harmonic power indicate that the second-order nonlinear coefficient d₃₃ is reduced to 60% of the bulk value as a result of proton exchange in pure benzoic acid. It is also shown that annealing restores the d-coefficients to almost the original value of the virgin crystal. For example, recovery to ~90% of the bulk value was obtained for a sample with a 0.3-μm-bulk proton-exchanged layer, annealed for 10 h at 350°C     

Fabrication of planar optical waveguides in LiB3O5 by 2 MeV He+ ion implantation

The fabrication of planar optical waveguides in LiB₃O ₅ is discussed. Using 2-MeV ⁴He⁺ implantation with a dose of 1.5×10¹⁶ ions/cm² at 300 K, the refractive indexes of a 0.2-μm-thick layer 5.1 μm below the crystal surface are reduced to form optical barrier guides. For this ion dose the maximum change from the bulk values of refractive index at a wavelength of 0.488 μm are 1.5%, 5.25%, and 4% for n_x, n_y, and n_z, respectively. The refractive indexes of the guiding region change by less than 0.02% from the bulk values. The dose dependence of the optical barrier height has been measured. A threshold ion dose of about 0.75×10¹⁶ ions/cm² is required to form a refractive index barrier and ion doses higher than about 2.5×10¹⁶ ions/cm². saturate the refractive index decrease. Waveguide propagation losses for annealed single energy implants of dose 1.5×10¹⁶ ions/cm² are dominated by tunneling and are estimated to be ~8.9 dB/cm for the z-cut waveguides used. Multiple energy implants broaden the optical barrier, and losses of <4 dB/cm have been observed     

Capacitance allocation and its role in the performance ofdoubling-circuit pulsed gas lasers: its application to the N2laser

An investigation of the optical output for all possible combinations between the capacitances, C₁ and C ₂, in a doubling circuit N₂ laser is presented. It is shown that a maximum optical output appears when C ₁=C₂ for constant total capacitance. The maximum value increases when the total capacitance increases and the system approaches saturation for capacitance values higher than 20 nF each. This behavior of the optical energy is due to a similar behavior of the current, which becomes maximum when the best coupling of the two loops of the system is achieved through capacitance equality, and the oscillatory behavior of the system is minimized. When this equality is disturbed, either with weak (C₁>C₂ ) or strong (C₂<C₁) coupling of the system, the current and optical outputs decrease. In both cases, the undesirable oscillatory behavior of the system increases. The electric parameters R₁,L₁ of the spark-gap loop and R₂,L₂ of the laser channel loop are calculated     

A multiple-state memory cell based on the resonant tunneling diode

The device consists primarily of several molecular-beam-epitaxy (MBE-) grown GaAs/(AlGa)As resonant tunneling diodes connected in parallel. This device exhibits multiple peaks in the I-V characteristic. When a load resistor is connected, the circuit can be operated in a multiple stable mode. With this concept, implementation of three-state and four-state memory cells are made. In the three-state case the operating points at voltages V₀=0.27 V , V₁=0.42 V, and V₂=0.53 V represent the logic levels 0, 1, and 2. Similarly for the four-state memory cell the logic levels voltages are V₀=0.35 V, V₁=0.42 V, V₂=0.54 V, and V ₃=0.59 V. A suggestion of an integrated device structure using this concept is also presented     

Temperature sensitivity of phase-matched second-harmonic generationin LiIO3

Measurements were made of the temperature dependence (between 23 and 65°C) of the phase-matching angle &thetas;_pm for type I frequency doubling of 1064-nm laser light in lithium iodate (LiIO₃). The measured value of d&thetas;_pm/dT is -14.7±1 μrad/°C, which corresponds to a thermal sensitivity β_T =0.24±0.02 cm^-1/°C for this process. Also calculated is a value of d&thetas;_pm/dT using experimentally determined thermooptic data available in the literature. The calculated value of d&thetas;_pm/dT is -31±18 μrad/°C using literature values of n and dn/dT for LiIO₃. The extreme sensitivity of the calculated value of d&thetas;_pm/dT to small errors in the thermooptic coefficients may be the reason for this discrepancy     

Measurement of the characteristics of the optical-microwavedouble-resonance effect of the 87Rb D1line for application as an atomic frequency standard

The OMDR (optical-microwave double resonance) spectrum of ⁸⁷ Rb with the aim of using a frequency-stabilized GaAs semiconductor laser instead of an Rb lamp as a pumping source in a gas-cell-type Rb frequency standard. Natural isotope ⁸⁷Rb was sealed in a glass cell with buffer gases (Ar/N₂=1.2, total pressure=39 torr). The double resonance signal in the 5P_1/2(F=2)←5S_1/2( F=1) transition appearing at the resonance to the F=2←1 hyperfine transition of the 5S_1/2 state was detected. The optimum operational cell temperature was 56°C. The peak-to-peak frequency width of the atomic hyperfine resonance discriminator used to stabilize the microwave frequency shifts induced by detuning of the laser frequency, changes in the laser and microwave powers, and temperature drift of the cell were investigated     

On the semiconductor laser logarithmic gain-current densityrelation

The simplified relation, α=G₀ In (η _iJ/J₀), between material gain α and current density J is shown to be a very good shape approximation, for quantum wells and bulk materials, essentially independent of the type of recombination processes present. Simulations show that for a given material system, G₀ decreases by only about 30% from pure electron-hole-recombination-dominated to pure Auger-recombination-dominated. A generic quantum-well situation is explored to reveal the density of states and recombination coefficient dependence of G₀ and to formulate simple estimates for G₀. The results were tested against published data for eight quantum-well diode lasers. The predicted values of G ₀ were generally found to be in agreement with experiments only for the wider gap diodes. The discrepancies were attributed in part to carrier induced absorption, and it is shown that the formalism can be modified in selected cases to incorporate this without changing the basic form of the gain. A new expression which relates the temperature dependence of the measured parameters to the characteristic temperature, T₀, is provided     

Observation of a large number of new laser lines from12CD3F gas optically pumped with a continuouslytunable high-pressure pulsed CO2 laser

An observation is reported of a large number of new laser lines from ¹²CD₃F gas optically pumped with a continuously tunable high-pressure pulsed CO₂ laser. Making use of the coincidence of the 10 μm P and R branches of CO₂ with the v₃ and v₆ vibrational-rotational absorption bands of ¹²CD₃F, 180 laser lines were found in the wavenumber range between 8 and 55 cm^-1, all of them yet unknown; these lines are studied for characteristic properties of laser action. All laser lines are assigned as pure rotational transitions in the vibrational excited or ground states     

Quarter-micrometer gate ion-implanted GaAs MESFET's with an f1 of 126 GHz

The fabrication and characterization of a 0.25-μm-gate, ion-implanted GaAs MESFET with a maximum current-gain cutoff frequency f_t of 126 GHz is reported. Extrapolation of current gains from bias-dependent S-parameters at 70-100% of I _dss yields f₁'s of 108-126 GHz. It is projected that an f₁ of 320 GHz is achievable with 0.1-μm-gate GaAs MESFETs. This demonstration of f₁'s over 100 GHz with practical 0.25-μm gate length substantially advances the high-frequency operation limits of short-gate GaAs MESFETs     

Design of short high-power TE11-HE11 modeconverters in highly overmoded corrugated waveguides

A theoretical parametric study of TE₁₁ to HE₁₁ mode conversion in highly oversized, circumferentially corrugated circular waveguides with different inner diameters is presented for various frequencies in the range of 28 to 140 GHz. The depth of the annular slots is tapered gradually from one half to one quarter wavelength. Computer-aided optimization of converter length, shape of corrugations, and nonlinear slot depth variation has been achieved with a scattering matrix code employing the modal field matching techniques (modular analysis concept). Relatively short mode transducers with matched converter lengths are feasible. The optimum conversion lengths are L₁≈0.5λ_B (short converter) and L₂≈1.2λ_B (long converter), where λ_B is the beat wavelength of the TE₁₁ and TM₁₁ modes in the corresponding smooth-walled circular waveguide. The predicted performances of short and long mode transducers are practically identical. Experimental results taken at 70 GHz (i.d.=27.79 mm) are in excellent agreement with the theoretically predicted performance data. In all cases the HE₁₁ output mode purity is 99% to 99.5%. The maximum cross-polarization and input-reflection levels are below -29 dB and -50 dB, respectively     

Measurement of nonlinear coefficient and phase matchingcharacteristics of AgGaS2

The nonlinear optical characteristics of AgGaS₂ were investigated by measuring visible parametric fluorescence with a pump wavelength of 600 nm. A value of d₃₆ [AgGaS₂ ]=31±5×10^-12 m/V for the nonlinear coefficient was determined. The temperature dependence of phase matching up to 100°C was studied. A significant temperature effect, although much smaller than for LiNbO₃, was found and results in a change in the infrared difference frequency generated of ~0.6 cm^-1 -°C^-1