半导体泵浦射流型亚稳态氩激光国际首次出光

Demonstration of a diode pumped metastable argon laser in a plasma jet

半导体泵浦亚稳态惰性原子激光是高能光泵浦气体激光领域具有潜力的新方案。已有报道均在约束的放电空间内产生亚稳态原子,功率放大受到多因素制约。为突破现有方案的局限,采用大气压等离子体射流方式在羽流区域产生高浓度亚稳态氩原子(1014 cm^(−3)量级),将放电和激光区域空间分离,利用811 nm窄线宽半导体激光器作为泵浦源,基于泵浦、激光和气流相互垂直的结构实现912 nm激光输出,有效拓展了该型激光体系的功率定标放大能力。

Diode pumped metastable rare gas laser(DPRGL)is a potential candidate for single aperture scaled extremely high energy lasers.In the current studies,the metastable atoms were generated in confined discharge gaps,which limited the high power output.In this paper,a DPRGL in a plasma jet is firstly proposed and demonstrated.A high concentration of metastable argon atoms(about 1014 cm^(−3))is produced in the plume of an atmospheric plasma jet,which separates the discharge and gain regions.By using a 811 nm linewidth narrowed diode laser as pumping source,based on a“pump,laser and flow”mutually orthogonal configuration,the system realizes 912 nm laser output.The plasma jet type DPRGLs have the potential to break through the limitations of the existing schemes,and significantly improve the power scaling ability.