Laser action from Ho3+, Er3+, and Tm3+in YAlO3

Laser action has been observed for the following rare-earth ions in YAlO3:Ho³⁺(sensitized with Er³⁺and Tm³⁺), Er³⁺, and Tm³⁺(sensitized with Er³⁺) at wavelengths of 2.123, 0.851, and 1.861 μm, respectively. Measurements of spectroscopic properties, fluorescence kinetics, and laser performance of these ions in YAlO3are reported.     

Characteristics of room-temperature 2.3-µm laser emission from tm3+in YAG and YAlO3

The relaxation of low-lying excited states of Tm³⁺ions doped in YAG, YAlO3, and Y2O3due to photon and phonon emission is studied theoretically. Stimulated emission cross sections (integrated over frequency), fluorescence lifetimes, and radiative quantum efficiencies are calculated and their implications for laser operation on the 2.3-μm³F4→³H5line of Tm³⁺are discussed. The calculations, based on a few phenomenological parameters which have been determined by others, are easily generalizable to other host materials and other rare-earth (RE) ions. Room-temperature pulsed laser emission from Tm³⁺ions near 2.3 μm was observed on one line in Tm:Cr:YAG, and on four lines in Tm:Cr:YAlO3. Lower oscillation thresholds were generally obtained in the YAlO3 rods, consistent with the theory presented. A threshold of 31 J was obtained with a Tm:Cr:YAlO3rod at 2.274 μm. In the free-running pulsed mode, peak power levels up to several hundred watts and total output energies up to 12 mJ/pulse were observed. Other general, observed operating characteristics are discussed.     

8B7--Energy transfer and CW laser action in Ho3+:Er2O3

Er2O3: Ho³⁺is an unusual laser material in that the host crystal itself provides the dominant pumping mechanism by means of energy transfer. The additional pumping bands due to Er³⁺and the consequent efficient transfer of energy to the Ho³⁺laser ion lead to relatively low threshold laser operation: 5 joules pulsed and 200W CW for a 12mm long crystal at 77°K. The emission waveleng this 2.121μ, a region of good atmospheric transmission. Additional laser experiments were carried out at 145°K. Excitation and fluorescence spectra are discussed.     

Analysis of laser emission in Ho3+-doped materials

The oscillator strengths, transition rates, and branching ratios associated with known and potential laser transitions in trivalent holmium are discussed. Recently reported laser transitions between the⁵F5and⁵I5energy manifolds are found to have an abnormally low average oscillator strength, and an alternative explanation of the laser observation is suggested.     

Yb~(3 )-Ho~(3 )双掺杂ZBLAN玻璃中Ho~(3 )的上转换发光

室温下用ＬＤ（０．９７μｍ）作为激发源，测出不同双掺浓度（Ｙｂ３＋－Ｈｏ３＋）玻璃Ｙｂ３＋敏化Ｈｏ３＋离子的可见上转换发光光谱，给出了单掺和双掺玻璃中的Ｙｂ３＋荧光寿命。双掺玻璃中Ｙｂ３＋荧光寿命明显降低，Ｙｂ３＋对Ｈｏ３＋离子的敏化上转换发光是非常有效的，并讨论了敏化机理。     

Pulsed laser action in LiYF4:Er3+, Ho3+at 77°K

Pulsed laser action at 77°K has been demonstrated in LiYF4:Er³⁺, Ho³⁺with an emission wavelength of 2.066 μ. The laser transition is the⁵I_{7} rightarrow⁵I8in trivalent holmium, and there is evidence of energy transfer from erbium to holmium. The fluorescent lifetime is approximately 20 ms, and the pulsed threshold is 40 joules.     

Additional CW far infrared laser lines from CO2laser pumped cis 1,2 C2H2F2

Six new CW far infrared laser lines are reported for the cis 1, 2 C2H2F2molecule optically pumped by a CO2laser. Of these, two have high conversion efficiencies in the 1-2 percent range.     

Stimulated emission at 2.04 µm in Ho3+-doped ErVO4and YVO4

We have observed both CW and pulsed laser operation in Ho³⁺-doped ErVO4and YVO4at 2.0416 μm and 2.0412 μm, respectively. Both laser emissions are linearly polarized. For this preliminary experiment the crystals were cooled to liquid nitrogen temperature and pumped in two configurations using an argon-ion laser and a xenon flashlamp.     

8.8 W diode-cladding-pumped Tm3+,Ho3+-dopedfluoride fibre laser

A maximum output power of 8.8 W was generated from a diode pumped Tm³⁺,Ho³⁺-doped ZBLAN glass fibre laser. The laser operated with a maximum slope efficiency of 36% with respect to the incident pump power. The wavelength was measured to be 2056 nm and some instability was observed in the output     

Pulsed discharge initiated chemical lasers -- Part II: HF laser emission from NF3and N2F4systems

A transverse, multiple-arc pulsed discharge has produced laser emission in NF3and N2F4mixed with H2, CH4, C2H6, HCl, HBr, and natural gas.P_{10}, P_{21}, P_{32}, and P43HF transitions were observed. The peak powers measured ranged from ∼8.5 to 25 kW with typical pulsewidths ofsim0.3 mus.     

Far-infrared laser emission by microwave-infrared-far-infrared three-photon interaction in NH3

We report low threshold Raman and hyper-Raman far-infrared laser emission associated with the¹⁴NH3,nu_{2}, sQ(5, 4)infrared transition. Using a circular metallic waveguide FIR resonator, which also acts as a microwave resonator, threshold pump powers were 50 W CO2-laser radiation and 150 W CO2, 15 W microwave for Raman and hyper-Raman emission, respectively. The hyper-Raman process is suitable to generate frequency-tunable FIR radiation.     

Ho3+/Yb3+共掺碲酸盐玻璃的上转换发光及能量传递机理

用高温熔融法制备了Ho3+单掺和Ho3+/Yb3+共掺、组分为TeO2-ZnO-Na2O的碲酸盐玻璃,应用Judd-Ofelt(JO)理论计算分析了玻璃的强度参数Ωt(t=2,4,6)、自发辐射跃迁几率A、荧光分支比β和荧光辐射寿命τrad等各项光谱参数。通过测量上转换光谱,着重研究了Yb3+掺杂对于Ho3+上转换发光性能的影响,分析了Yb3+/Yb3+以及Yb3+/Ho3+间的能量传递过程。结果显示,975nm泵浦下Ho3+的上转换发光主要来自于Yb3+/Yb3+间的共振能量传递以及基于单声子和双声子辅助的Yb3+/Ho3+间的能量传递过程,并计算得到了声子贡献比和能量传递微观参数。同时,计算分析了Ho3+:5 I7→5 I8能级跃迁的吸收截面、受激发射截面和增益系数。研究表明,Yb3+/Ho3+共掺TeO2-ZnO-Na2O玻璃可以作为上转换激光器和2.0μm波段固体激光器的潜在增益基质。     

Laser emission from miniaturized NdAl3(BO3)4crystals with directly applied mirrors

Laser emission from NdAl3(BO3)4crystals of various thickness with directly applied laser mirrors was investigated on a polarization-dependent basis and time-resolved spectra were recorded. CW monomode operation with an output power of 5 mW was attained. Though NAB (NdAl3(BO3)4should be electrooptic (space groupR32), no electrooptic effect was observed by determining the mode shift from the influence of an electric field during laser operation.     

A laser augmented reaction: SF6+ SiH4→S*2+ SiF4+ HF + H2· retention of isotopic selectivity during detonation

A single unfocused pulse of a free running CO2laser, area ∼ 8 cm², initiates an explosive reaction between SF6and SiH4. This occurs at a minimum energy of 4 J [full width at half maximum (FWHM)sim 1.5 /mus] of which about one half is absorbed in an 8 cm long cell; total pressure 12 torr; 0.65 <p(SiH4)/p(SF6) < 1.8. The spectral and temporal distributions of the emitted chemiluminescence depend sensitively on the fuel to oxidizer ratio, and on the pulse energy; we investigated the range 4 → 20 J. The principal emission is due to S2(B^{3}Sigma-_{u} rightarrow X^{3}Sigma-_{g}). Transitionsupsilon' (0-4) rightarrow upsilon" (2-15)were recorded. In the³Sigma-_{u}state, vibrational temperatures range from 3000-13000 K. The luminosity peaks sharply at (SiH4)/(SF6) = 1.0 ± 0.05. On each side of the maximum of the emission versus composition curve [at (SiH4)/(SF6) ≈ 0.95 and 1.22, for a 12 J pulse] the residual SF6(0.2-0.5 percent of initial amount) is enriched in³⁴SF6; the observed fractionation factors at these two compositions are 8 ± 2. The separation between the two sharply peaked optimum compositions appears to increase with increasing pulse energy. Preliminary results with other fuels suggest that the concurrent absorption of CO2laser radiation by the fuel, as well as a highly exothermic reaction, are pre-requisite for fine tuning of composition, injected power, and total pressure for optimum isotope fractionation.     

Tuning of a Tm3+:Ho3+: silica fiber laser at2 μm

Thermal tuning of a Tm³⁺:Ho³⁺:SiO₂ glass fiber laser was investigated. As a function of fiber length and temperature, the emission wavelength can be varied between 1960 and 2032 nm. The bandwidth of the laser emission is about 2 mm. Besides the wavelength also the change of threshold and slope efficiency with temperature and fiber length and the fiber absorption were measured     

The photoionization cross sections of the Rg*2[3Σ+u] excimer states for Ne*2, Ar*2, and Kr*2

Based on the recently determined Rydberg series of the³Sigma+_{u}excimer states of Ne*2, Ar*2and Kr*2, the photoionization cross sections of these molecules are calculated using a single-channel quantum defect method. These cross sections are found to differ considerably from those of the asymptotic metastable atomic Rg*(ns^{3}P_{2}) states, but are in good agreement with recently reported experiments at isolated wavelengths. The implications of these results for VUV and XUV lasers are discussed.     

Operation of an HF (SF6+ H2) TE laser at 10-kHz pulse repetition rates

A flowing HF transverse excitation (TE) discharge laser has been operated at 10⁴pps for up to 10⁹pulses. Preliminary testing at 100 pps produced 350-μJ/pulse output with reduced outputs at higher pulse rates.