Design of surface emitting distributed feedback quantum cascade laser with single-lobe far-field pattern and high outcoupling efficiency

A 7.8-μm surface emitting second-order distributed feedback quantum cascade laser （DFB QCL） structure with metallized surface grating is studied. The modal property of this structure is described by utilizing coupled-mode theory where the coupling coefficients are derived from exact Floquet-Bloch solutions of infinite periodic structure. Based on this theory, the influence of waveguide structure and grating topography as well as device length on the laser performance is numerically investigated. The optimized surface emitting second-order DFB QCL structure design exhibits a high surface outcoupling efficiency of 22% and a low threshold gain of 10 cm-1. Using a π phase-shift in the centre of the grating, a high-quality single-lobe far-field radiation pattern is obtained.

An Integratable Distributed Bragg Reflector Laser by Low-Energy Ion Implantation Induced Quantum Well Intermixing

An integratable distributed Bragg reflector laser is fabricated by low energy ion implantation induced quantum well intermixing.A 4 6nm quasi continuous wavelength tuning range is achieved by controlling phase current and grating current simultaneously,and side mode suppression ratio maintains over 30dB throughout the tuning range except a few mode jump points.

High-Power Distributed Feedback Laser Diodes Emitting at 820nm

By etching a second-order grating directly into the Al-free optical waveguide region of a ridgewaveguide（RW） AlGaInAs/AlGaAs distributed feedback（DFB） laser diode,a front facet output power of 30mW is obtained at about 820nm with a single longitudinal mode. The Al-free grating surface permits the re-growth of a high-quality cladding layer that yields excellent device performance. The threshold current of these laser diodes is 57mA,and the slope efficiency is about 0.32mW/mA.

2-μm single longitudinal mode GaSb-based laterally coupled distributed feedback laser with regrowth-free shallow-etched gratings by interference lithography

We report a type-I Ga Sb-based laterally coupled distributed-feedback（LC-DFB） laser with shallow-etched gratings operating a continuous wave at room temperature without re-growth process. Second-order Bragg gratings are fabricated alongside the ridge waveguide by interference lithography. Index-coupled LC-DFB laser with a cavity of 1500 μm achieves single longitudinal mode continuous-wave operation at 20℃ with side mode suppression ratio（SMSR） as high as 24 dB.The maximum single mode continuous-wave output power is about 10 mW at room temperature（uncoated facet）. A low threshold current density of 230 A/cm^2 is achieved with differential quantum efficiency estimated to be 93 mW/A. The laser shows a good wavelength stability against drive current and working temperature.

Dual-wavelength distributed Bragg reflector semiconductor laser based on a composite resonant cavity

We report a monolithic integrated dual-wavelength laser diode based on a distributed Bragg reflector （DBR） composite resonant cavity. The device consists of three sections, a DBR grating section, a passive phase section, and an active gain section. The gain section facet is cleaved to work as a laser cavity mirror. The other laser mirror is the DBR grating, which also functions as a wavelength filter and can control the number of wavelengths involved in the laser action. The reflection bandwidth of the DBR grating is fabricated to have an appropriate value to make the device work at the dual-wavelength lasing state. We adopt the quantum well intermixing （QWI） technique to provide low-absorption loss grating and passive phase section in the fabrication process. By tuning the injection currents on the DBR and the gain sections, the device can generate 0.596 nm-spaced dual-wavelength lasing at room temperature.

Analysis of the far spatial coherent suppressed single peak field distribution of a rectangular wave-guide laser

A theory of the far spatial coherent-suppressed single-peak field distribution of a rectangular wave-guide CO2 laser is presented. The theoretical analysis shows that a rectangular wave-guide laser can have an output intensity distribution in far field similar to that produced from a wave-guide array laser, which is in agreement with the experimental result. A single-peak mode output is obtained within 5 metres. The experimental far-field spread angle in the bigger-Fresnel number direction is 0.63 mrad, compared to the calculated one, 0.6 mrad, and when the length of the laser resonator is changed, a double-peak or multi-peak in far-field distribution of the laser is obtained.

Influences of semiconductor laser on fibre-optic distributed disturbance sensor based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer

This paper investigates the influences of a semiconductor laser with narrow linewidth on a fibre-optic distributed disturbance sensor based on Mach-Zehnder interferometer. It establishes an effective numerical model to describe the noises and linewidth of a semiconductor laser, taking into account their correlations. Simulation shows that frequency noise has great influences on location errors and their relationship is numerically investigated. Accordingly, there is need to determine the linewidth of the laser less than a threshold and obtain the least location errors. Furthermore, experiments are performed by a sensor prototype using three semiconductor lasers with different linewidths, respectively, with polarization maintaining optical fibres and couplers to eliminate the polarization induced noises and fading. The agreement of simulation with experimental results means that the proposed numerical model can make a comprehensive description of the noise behaviour of a semiconductor laser. The conclusion is useful for choosing a laser source for fibre-optic distributed disturbance sensor to achieve optimized location accuracy. What is more, the proposed numerical model can be widely used for analysing influences of semiconductor lasers on other sensing, communication and optical signal processing systems.

Model heat source using actual distribution of laser power density for simulation of laser processing

The model of heat source(MHS) which reflects the thermal interaction between materials and laser during processing determines the accuracy of simulation results. To acquire desirable simulations results, although various modifications of heat sources in the aspect of absorption process of laser by materials have been purposed, the distribution of laser power density(DLPD) in MHS is still modeled theoretically. However, in the actual situations of laser processing, the DLPD is definitely different from the ideal models. So, it is indispensable to build MHS using actual DLPD to improve the accuracy of simulation results. Besides, an automatic modeling method will be benefit to simplify the tedious pre-processing of simulations. This paper presents a modeling method and corresponding algorithm to model heat source using measured DLPD. This algorithm automatically processes original data to get modeling parameters and provides a step MHS combining with absorption models. Simulations and experiments of heat transfer in steel plates irradiated by laser prove the mothed and the step MHS. Moreover, the investigations of laser induced thermal-crack propagation in glass highlight the signification of modeling heat source based on actual DLPD and demonstrate the enormous application of this method in the simulation of laser processing.

Ultra-high spectral purity laser derived from weak external distributed perturbation

Ultra-high spectral purity lasers are of considerable research interests in numerous fields such as coherent optical communication,microwave photonics,distributed optical fiber sensing,gravitational wave detection,optical clock,and so on.Herein,to deeply purify laser spectrum with compact size under normal condition,we propose a novel and practical idea to effectively suppress the spontaneous radiation of the laser cavity through weak external distributed perturbation.Subsequently,a laser configuration consisting of a main lasing cavity and an external distributed feedback cavity is proposed.The feedback signal with continuous spatio-temporal phase transition controlled by a distributed feedback structure is injected into the main cavity,which can deeply suppress the coupling rate from the spontaneous radiation to the stimulated emission and extremely purify the laser spectrum.Eventually,an ultra-narrow linewidth on-chip laser system with a side mode suppression ratio greater than 80 dB,an output linewidth of 10 Hz,and a relative intensity noise less than-150 dB/Hz is successfully obtained under normal conditions.The proposed concept in this work provides a new perspective for extreme regulation of laser parameters by using weak external distributed perturbation,which can be valid for various gain-type lasers with wide wavelength bands.

Four distributed feedback laser array integrated with multimode-interference and semiconductor optical amplifier

Monolithic integration of four 1.55-μm-range InGaAsP/InP distributed feedback （DFB） lasers using varied ridge width with a 4 x 1-multimode-interference （MMI） optical combiner and a semiconductor optical amplifier （SOA） is demon- strated. The average output power and the threshold current are 1.8 mW and 35 mA, respectively, when the injection current of the SOA is 100 mA, with a side mode suppression ratio （SMSR） exceeding 40 dB. The four channels have a 1-nm average channel spacing and can operate separately or simultaneously.

A new approach to retrieve leaf normal distribution using terrestrial laser scanners

Leaf normal distribution is an important structural characteristic of the forest canopy. Although terrestrial laser scanners（TLS） have potential for estimating canopy structural parameters, distinguishing between leaves and nonphotosynthetic structures to retrieve the leaf normal has been challenging. We used here an approach to accurately retrieve the leaf normals of camphorwood（Cinnamomum camphora） using TLS point cloud data.First, nonphotosynthetic structures were filtered by using the curvature threshold of each point. Then, the point cloud data were segmented by a voxel method and clustered by a Gaussian mixture model in each voxel. Finally, the normal vector of each cluster was computed by principal component analysis to obtain the leaf normal distribution. We collected leaf inclination angles and estimated the distribution, which we compared with the retrieved leaf normal distribution. The correlation coefficient between measurements and obtained results was 0.96, indicating a good coincidence.

Study on the Two-Dimensional Density Distribution for Gas Plasmas Driven by Laser Pulse

We perform an experimental study of two-dimensional（2D） electron density profiles of the laser-induced plasma plumes in air by ordinarily laboratorial interferometry. The electron density distributions measured show a feature of hollow core. To illustrate the feature, we present a theoretical investigation by using dynamics analysis. In the simulation, the propagation of laser pulse with the evolution of electron density is utilized to evaluate ionization of air target for the plasma-formation stage. In the plasma-expansion stage, a simple adiabatic fluid dynamics is used to calculate the evolution of plasma outward expansion. The simulations show good agreements with experimental results, and demonstrate an effective way of determining 2D density profiles of the laser-induced plasma plume in gas.

Analysis of gain distribution in cladding-pumped thulium-doped fiber laser and optical feedback inhibition problem in fiber-bulk laser system

The steady-state gain distribution in cladding pumped thulium-doped fiber laser（TDFL） is analytically and numerically solved based on the rate equations including loss coefficients and cross relaxation effect. With the gain curve, a problem, which is named optical feedback inhibition（OFI） and always occurs in tandem TDFL-Ho：YAG laser system, is analyzed quantitatively. The actual characteristics of output spectra and power basically prove the conclusion of theoretical analysis. Then a simple mirror-deflected L-shaped cavity is employed to restrain the external feedback and simplify the structure of fiber-bulk Ho：YAG laser. Finally, 25 W of 2097-nm laser power and 51.2% of optical-to-optical conversion efficiency are obtained, and the beam quality factor is less than 1.43 obtained by knife-edge method.

Histopathological confirmation of similar intramucosal distribution of fluorescein in both intravenous administration and local mucosal application for probebased confocal laser endomicroscopy of the normal stomach

Probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy(p CLE) is capable of acquiring in vivo magnified cross-section images of the gastric mucosa. Intravenous injection of fluorescein sodium is used for confocal imaging. However, it is still under debate if local administration of the dye to the mucosa is also effective for confocal imaging as it is not yet clear if topical application also reveals the intramucosal distribution of fluorescein. The objective of this study was to evaluate the intramucosal distribution of fluorescein sodium after topical application and to compare the distribution to the conventional intravenous injection used for confocal imaging. p CLE of the stomach uninfected with Helicobacter pylori was performed in a healthy male employing intravenous administration and local mucosal application of fluorescein. The mucosa of the lower gastric body was biopsied 1 min and 5 min after intravenous administration or local mucosal application of fluorescein, and the distribution of fluorescein in the biopsy samples was examined histologically. Green fluorescence was already observed in the cytoplasm of fundic glandular cells in the biopsied deep mucosa 1 min after local mucosal application of fluorescein. It was also observed in the foveolar lumen and inter-foveolar lamina propria, although it was noted at only a few sites. In the tissue biopsied 5 min after the local mucosal application of fluorescein, green fluorescence was more frequently noted in the cytoplasm of fundic glandular cells than in that 1 min after the local mucosal application of fluorescein, although obvious green fluorescence was not identified in the foveolar lumen or inter-foveolar lamina propria. The distribution of intravenously administered fluorescein in the cytoplasm of fundic glandular cells was also clearly observed similarly to that after local mucosal application of fluorescein. Green fluorescence in more cells was observed in many cells 5 min after intravenous administration compared with that after 1 min. The presence of fluorescein in the mucosa was observed within a short time after local mucosal application of fluorescein, suggesting that pC LE images similarly to those after intravenous fluorescein administration can be acquired by local mucosal application of fluorescein.

A LASER INTERFEROMETRIC MEASUREMENT OF THE TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION IN CONVECTIVE THERMAL TRANSFER BOUNDARY LAYERS

By means of a double mirror interferometry a two-dimensional temperature distribution measurement in convective thermal boundary layers is presented. When the cold air flows along a hot plate model, the interferometric fringe inside the boundary layer will bend. According to the displacement of the fringe and the relation between temperature and index of refraction, a two-dimensional temperature profile is obtained. All is accomplished by optical device with the help of micro-computer without any contact with the flow field.

Imprints of molecular orbitals using photoelectron angular distribution by strong laser pulses of circular polarization

We theoretically investigate the strong-field ionization of H＋2 molecules in four different electronic states by calculating photoelectron angular distributions in circularly polarized fields. We find that the structure of photoelectron angular distribution depends on the molecular orbital as well as the energy of the photoelectron. The location of main lobes changes with the symmetric property of the molecular orbital. Generally, for molecules with bonding electronic states, the photoelectron’s angular distribution shows a rotation of π/2 with respect to the molecular axis, while for molecules with antibonding electronic states, no rotation occurs. We use an interference scenario to interpret these phenomena. We also find that, due to the interference effect, a new pair of jets appears in the waist of the main lobes, and the main lobes or jets of the photoelectron’s angular distribution are split into two parts if the photoelectron energy is sufficiently high.

Analysis of random laser scattering pulse signals with lognormal distribution

The statistical distribution of natural phenomena is of great significance in studying the laws of nature. In order to study the statistical characteristics of a random pulse signal, a random process model is proposed theoretically for better studying of the random law of measured results. Moreover, a simple random pulse signal generation and testing system is designed for studying the counting distributions of three typical objects including particles suspended in the air, standard particles, and background noise. Both normal and lognormal distribution fittings are used for analyzing the experimental results and testified by chi-square distribution fit test and correlation coefficient for comparison. In addition, the statistical laws of three typical objects and the relations between them are discussed in detail. The relation is also the non-integral dimension fractal relation of statistical distributions of different random laser scattering pulse signal groups.

Comparison of two kinds of active layers for high-power narrow-stripe distributed feedback laser diodes

Usually GaAs/AlGaAs is utilized as an active layer material in laser diodes operating in the spectral range of 800- 850 nm. In this work, in addition to a traditional unstrained GaAs/AlGaAs distributed feedback （DFB） laser diode, a compressively strained InGaAlAs/AlGaAs DFB laser diode is numerically investigated in characteristic. The simulation results show that the compressively strained DFB laser diode has a lower transparency carrier density, higher gain, lower Auger recombination rate, and higher stimulated recombination rate, which lead to better a device performance, than the traditional unstrained GaAs/AlGaAs DFB laser diode.

Theoretical modelling of the effect of photon lifetime on the output dynamics of Er-doped distributed feedback fibre lasers

By employing a simple model of describing three-level lasers, we have theoretically investigated the effect of photon lifetime on the output dynamics of Er-doped distributed feedback fibre lasers. And based on the theoretical analysis we have proposed a promising method to suppress self-pulsing behaviour in the fibre lasers.

Modeling of resistance characteristics of a continuously-graded distributed Bragg reflector in a 980-nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser

The resistance characteristics of a continuously-graded distributed Bragg reflector（DBR） in a 980-nm verticalcavity surface-emitting laser（VCSEL） are modeled in detail.The junction resistances between the layers of both the p-and n-DBR mirrors are analysed by combining the thermionic emission model and the finite difference method.In the meantime,the intrinsic resistance of the DBR material system is calculated to make a comparison with the junction resistance.The minimal values of series resistances of the graded p-and n-type DBR mirrors and the lateral temperature-dependent resistance variation are calculated and discussed.The result indicates the potential to optimize the design of the DBR reflectors of the 980-nm VCSELs.