The influence of directly modulated DFB LD sub-mode oscillation onlong-span transmission system

Error-rate floors have been observed in several long-span transmission experiments at 500 Mb/s, using 1.5-μm distributed-feedback laser diodes (DFB LDs) and 1.3-μm zero dispersion optical fibers. It is proposed that for the threshold gain difference between main and submode (for DFB LDs), Δα is a good parameter to specify the submode oscillation characteristics. It is experimentally and theoretically confirmed that the threshold gain difference Δα must be greater than 5-6 cm^-1, to avoid the error rate floor at 500 Mb/s. It was also confirmed that λ/4 phase-shifted DFB LDs can easily satisfy this condition     

Theoretical design optimization of multiple-quantum-wellelectroabsorption waveguide modulators

Optical on-off modulators require low insertion loss, high contrast ratio (CR), small drive power and large bandwidth or bit-rate. A systematic approach to optimize the total performance of these modulators based on the quantum-confined Stark effect is presented here. The approach consists of minimizing the power/bandwidth ratio while satisfying a given CR and insertion loss. Our design consists of a large-core multimode passive waveguide with a thin buried active layer. The passive waveguide is designed to yield a high coupling efficiency to conventional single-mode fibers. The quantum well material structure is designed to maximize Δα/ΔF², while maintaining a sufficiently large Δα/α₀, where Δα is the absorption change, α₀ is the residual absorption at zero bias, and ΔF is the swing of the applied electric field. Our theoretical model shows that i) wider quantum wells give larger Δα/ΔF², and ii) the bandwidth/power ratio as high as 4 GHz/mW can be achieved simultaneously with small insertion loss, For example, with a drive voltage of 3 V, an RC limited bandwidth as high as 60 GHz is predicted, while a contrast ratio of 20 dB and a total insertion loss of 4.5 dB may also be obtained     

Optical power limiting and stabilization based on a novel polymercompound

Optical power limiting and stabilization based on the two-photon absorption (TPA) mechanism is performed in a polymer solution excited by ~810 nm and ~7-ns laser pulses. The solute is a novel polymer, a poly(2,5-dialkoxy-p-phenylene ethynylene) derivative (EBO-OPPE). Using 1-cm path-length EHO-OPPE solution in chloroform of d₀=0.03 mol of repeat unit/liter as the nonlinear absorptive medium, the dynamic transmission changes from T=0.92 to 0.28 when the input intensity of the ~810-nm laser beam is increased from I₀=15 to 600 MW/cm² . The measured nonlinear absorption coefficient is 14.5 cm/GW. Optical power stabilization is demonstrated at an average input intensity level of I₀≈400 MW/cm² with a Δ≈±25% peak-power fluctuation of the laser pulse. After passing through the nonlinear medium, the output peak-power fluctuation is reduced to Δ≈±8%. The spectral-width effect of the input laser beam on the nonlinear absorption of the EHO-OPPE solution is investigated. For three different spectral structures of the input laser beam (single narrow spectral line, multiple spectral lines, and broad spectral band), measured values of TPA cross section for EHO-OPPE are σ₂=66, 80, and 101×10^-20 cm⁴/GW, respectively. This means that EHO-OPPE is one of the best known nonlinear absorptive materials for power limiting purposes     

Large electroabsorption effect in GaInAs/InP multiple quantum well(MQW) optical modulator grown by OMVPE

To make short, high-speed electroabsorption modulators, it is necessary to use a material and device structure that displays a large change in absorption coefficient, Δα. The authors report a device with Δα=7800 cm^-1, which provides an on/off ratio of 44:1 at λ=1.6 μm with a drive voltage of 10 V     

Influence of the active zone diameter, on the UV-ion Ne-CuBr laserperformance

An active-zone-diameter scanning of an ultraviolet (UV) Cu⁺ laser excited in a nanosecond, pulsed longitudinal Ne-CuBr discharge with an excitation pulse repetition frequency of 19.5-25 kHz is carried out. The discharge conditions for achieving a maximum average output power on the UV lines-248.6, 252.9, 260.0, and 270.3 nm are found for each active zone diameter. A record average output power of 1.3 W is obtained for multiline operation. The specific average output power is 57 mW/cm³ at an active volume of 23 cm³. The highest peak pulse power and average laser power on the 248.6-nm laser line for the UV Cu⁺ lasers are also measured-3.25 and 0.85 W, respectively. A simplified kinetic model, which describes the discharge afterglow processes, is made     

2-kHz repetition rate XeF laser

High-repetition-rate laser action, up to 2 kHz, has been demonstrated in XeF molecules at 351 and 353 nm by using a blowdown fast transverse-flow system and a four-circuit, thyratron-switched, low inductance pulse generator. For a typical run, the transverse flow was uniform, and the average flow velocity was 25 m/s across a discharge region of1.4 times 0.4 times 30cm³. The gas mixture used was He:Xe:NF3= 100:1.5:0.5, and the total pressure was varied from 600-1200 torr. For single-pulse operation, the maximum laser output energy was 22 mJ/pulse, and the electric efficiency was 0.4 percent. For a 2-kHz repetition rate, the average laser output energy was approximately 12 mJ/pulse with 50 percent variations. Hence, an average output power of 24 W was obtained.     

Generation of short pulses of coherent electromagnetic radiation ina free-electron laser amplifier

Theoretical and experimental studies of the evolution of a frequency-chirped pulse under the influence of both phase and gain dispersion effects induced by the free-electron laser interaction are presented. For the experimental parameters used (electron beam voltage V=150 kV, wiggler periodicity l_w=3.5 cm, gain ~10 dB, input pulse width Δt~200 ns, frequency w ₀/2π=10 GHz, and frequency chirp α/2π~5 MHz/ns), pulses of a few nanoseconds were generated after an interaction length of 2.30 m, in good agreement with theoretical expectations     

High average and high peak brightness slab laser

A high average and high peak brightness Nd:YAG MOPA laser system composed of a laser-diode-pumped Nd:YAG master oscillator, flash-lamp-pumped slab power amplifiers and a phase conjugated mirror was developed. The system demonstrates an average output power of 235 W at a repetition rate of 320 Hz and a peak power of 30 MW at a pulse duration of 24 ns with M²=1.5. Both an average brightness of 7×10⁹ W/cm²·sr and a peak brightness of 1×10¹⁵ W/cm2·sr are achieved simultaneously. The system design rules that we confirmed suggest that by replacing lamp pumping in the amplifier with laser-diode pumping, an average output power of ~1 kW can be obtained at ~1 kHz with a higher average brightness of ~3×10¹⁰ W/cm²·sr and a higher peak brightness of ~3×10¹⁵ W/cm²·sr     

Maximum likelihood DOA estimation and asymptotic Cramer-Rao boundsfor additive unknown colored noise

This paper is devoted to the maximum likelihood estimation of multiple sources in the presence of unknown noise. With the spatial noise covariance modeled as a function of certain unknown parameters, e.g., an autoregressive (AR) model, a direct and systematic way is developed to find the exact maximum likelihood (ML) estimates of all parameters associated with the direction finding problem, including the direction-of-arrival (DOA) angles Θ, the noise parameters α, the signal covariance Φ_s, and the noise power σ². We show that the estimates of the linear part of the parameter set Φ_s and σ² can be separated from the nonlinear parts Θ and α. Thus, the estimates of Φ_s and σ² become explicit functions of Θ and α. This results in a significant reduction in the dimensionality of the nonlinear optimization problem. Asymptotic analysis is performed on the estimates of Θ and α, and compact formulas are obtained for the Cramer-Rao bounds (CRB's). Finally, a Newton-type algorithm is designed to solve the nonlinear optimization problem, and simulations show that the asymptotic CRB agrees well with the results from Monte Carlo trials, even for small numbers of snapshots     

Linewidth enhancement factor in strained quantum well lasers

The linewidth enhancement factor α of strained quantum-well lasers is analyzed by the k-p perturbation method using the effective-mass approximation. It is found that the α factor in a strained In_0.80Ga_0.20As/InP quantum-well (QW) laser with 1.9% biaxial compression is less than 1.5. For a strained QW laser with p-type modulation doping (MD) of 5×10 ¹⁸ cm^-3, the α factor is as small as 0.8. It is also demonstrated that the spectral linewidth and wavelength chirping in the strained MD QW laser are significantly less than those in conventional bulk and QW lasers     

Hg0.56 Cd0.44 Te 1.6- to 2.5-μm avalanchephotodiode and noise study far from resonant impact ionization

An investigation was made on the avalanche multiplication and impact ionization processes in p-n^--n⁺ junctions formed in Hg_0.56Cd_0.44Te solid solutions. Photocurrent multiplication was determined at 300 K in planar p-n^- -n⁺ structures characterized by a breakdown voltage of 30 V. The experimental results were used to calculate the electron, α, and hole, β, ionization coefficients. It was found that α is greater than β because Δ, the spin-orbit splitting energy, is higher than the bandgap energy. These experimental results were in satisfactory agreement with multiplication noise measurements using separate electron and hole injection     

Emission cross sections and spectroscopy of Ho3+ laserchannels in KGd(WO4)2 single crystal

The spectroscopic properties of Ho³⁺ laser channels in KGd(WO₄)₂ crystals have been investigated using optical absorption, photoluminescence, and lifetime measurements. The radiative lifetimes of Ho³⁺ have been calculated through a Judd-Ofelt (JO) formalism using 300-K optical absorption results. The JO parameters obtained were Ω₂=15.35×10^-20 cm², Ω ₄=3.79×10^-20 cm², Ω₆ =1.69×10^-20 cm². The 7-300-K lifetimes obtained in diluted (8·10¹⁸ cm^-3) KGW:0.1% Ho samples are: τ(⁵F₃)≈0.9 μs, τ( ⁵S₂)=19-3.6 μs, and τ(⁵F₅ )≈1.1 μs. For Ho concentrations below 1.5×10²⁰ cm^-3, multiphonon emission is the main source of non radiative losses, and the temperature independent multiphonon probability in KGW is found to follow the energy gap law τ_ph ^-1(0)=βexp(-αΔE), where β=1.4×10^-7 s^-1, and α=1.4×10³ cm. Above this holmium concentration, energy transfer between Ho impurities also contributes to the losses. The spectral distributions of the Ho³⁺ emission cross section σ_EM for several laser channels are calculated in σ- and π-polarized configurations. The peak a σ_EM values achieved for transitions to the ⁵I₈ level are ≈2×10^-20 cm² in the σ-polarized configuration, and three main lasing peaks at 2.02, 2.05, and 2.07 μm are envisaged inside the ⁵I₇→⁵I₈ channel     

Electroabsorption properties of InGaAs/InAlAs multiple quantum wellstructures at 1.5 μm

The electroabsorption properties of InGaAs/InAlAs MQW structures are characterised in terms of Δα, Δα/F and Δα/α₀, where Δα is the electroabsorption, α₀ is the residual absorption coefficient under zero bias, and F is the applied electric field. The limitations of these structures for 1.5 μm modulators are primarily due to the relatively small Δα/F values as a result of the small well width. The results are compared with the literature     

Average-power scaling of self-heated Sr+ afterglowrecombination lasers

The performance of a large-bore (25-mm) self-heated Sr⁺ (430.5-nm) recombination laser with longitudinal excitation is discussed in relation to the prospects for scaling average output power to the 5-10-W regime. Average-power scaling is found to be limited in large-bore laser tubes by slow interpulse thermal relaxation in the laser gas mixture with strong radial gradients in species' densities and temperatures at only modest pulse repetition frequencies, leading to premature termination of the population inversion on the tube axis. Proposals for circumventing these limitations in order to permit generation of multiwatt average laser output power at 430.5 nm from Sr ⁺ are discussed     

Amplitude and phase modulation in a 4 μm-thick GaAs/AlGaAsmultiple quantum well modulator

The experimental results of a 4 μm-thick GaAs/AlGaAs MQW modulator show an ~10:1 on/off ratio with an applied voltage of 20 V (Δα~6×10³/cm at E~50 kV/cm) and ~0.4 πrad of phase shift with an applied voltage of 10 V (Δn~0.04 at E~25 kV/cm). Such high electro-optical modulations have previously been reported only in MQW optical waveguide modulators     

The results of lasing linewidth narrowing on VEPP-3 storage ringoptical klystron

Lasing in the visible and ultraviolet ranges was reached in the optical klystron installed on a VEPP-3 storage ring (see N. A. Vinokurov et al., 1977) with minimum relative linewidth Δλ/λ = 10^-4. In order to decrease the linewidth the authors performed the experiments reported here. The optical cavity on VEPP-3 storage ring optical klystron was updated to install intracavity selective elements. The authors used the simplest selective element-a glass plate with parallel planes as a natural interferometer. With a 1.2 mm thick glass plate installed inside the optical cavity, lasing has been reached with a very narrow linewidth. The minimum relative lasing linewidth, 2.7×10^-6 (λ=6250 Å, Δλ=0.017 Å), was 30 times narrower than the minimum one without the plate (Δλ=0.6 Å). The average power was the same in both cases     

On the figures of merit for electroabsorption waveguide modulators

ΓΔα/F and Δα/α₀ (where Δα is the absorption change, α₀ is the residual absorption, F is the applied electric field, and Γ is the optical confinement factor in the waveguide) have been separately proposed as the relevant figure of merit for electroabsorption waveguide modulators. Using a quantitative and systematic argument, the authors show that they are both necessary and important to the total performance of the modulator     

Transverse-discharge copper-vapor laser

A novel transverse-discharge copper-vapor laser has been developed using a flat-plate Blumlein pulse-forming circuit. This copper-vapor laser system generates a current pulse with a fast rise time (<10 ns) and laser-specific energy density of 22 μJ/cm³even under a highly contaminated condition. An 8 ns long laser pulse is generated in an approximately1 times 1 times 20cm³volume, producing a specific power density of 2.8 kW/cm³. The results of the preliminary measurements of the laser parameters are presented.     

Monte Carlo simulation of gain compression effects in GRINSCHquantum well laser structures

Gain compression is widely acknowledged to be a serious limitation to the ultimate modulation bandwidth of a semiconductor laser. We have developed a numerical technique to study the gain compression effects in graded-index separate confinement heterostructure (GRINSCH) quantum well laser structures, This technique is based on the combination of the Monte Carlo simulation of the carrier dynamics in the device while under intense stimulated photon emission, and the calculation of the optical gain using a 4×4 k·p Hamiltonian. From the simulated results, we calculated a gain compression coefficient ϵ=1.1×10^-17 cm³ for a linearly graded quantum well laser structure having a 50 Å In_0.2Ga_0.8As well. We find good agreement between our results and published experiments. We have also demonstrated that our calculation method is capable of simulating the gain dynamics in the laser structure, such as those studied with femtosecond pump-probe experimental techniques     

Subnanosecond multi-gigawatt CO2 laser

A semiconductor switching technique has been utilized to produce 30-300 ps variable duration CO₂ laser pulses of 0.5-MW peak power. Eight passes through a 1.2-m long, UV-preionized, 3-atm TE CO₂ amplifier raise the output laser peak power to the 10¹⁰ W level. Sampling the amplifier gain in linear and saturated regimes using CO₂ laser radiation ranging from CW to 30 ps pulse length permits comparison with computer modeling of picosecond CO₂ pulse amplification. The potential for further peak power scaling of picosecond molecular lasers is discussed