A NOVEL SWEPT LASER SOURCE BASED ON COMBINED TUNABLE FILTERS FOR OCT

A novel broad tunable bandwidth and narrow instantaneous line-width linear swept laser source using combined tunable filters working at 1,300 nm center wavelength is proposed.The combined filters consist of a fiber Fabry
Perot tunable filter and a tunable filter based on diffractive grating with scanning polygon mirror.In contrast to traditional method using single tunable filter,the trade-off between bandwidth and instantaneous line-width is alleviated.Parallel implementation of two semiconductor optical amplifiers with different wavelength range is adopted in the laser resonator for broadband light amplification.The Fourier domain mode locking swept laser source with combined tunable filters offers broadband tunable range with narrow instantaneous line-width,which is especially benefiting for high-quality optical frequency domain imaging.The proposed Fourier domain mode locking swept laser source provides a tuning range of 160 nm with instantaneous line-width of about 0.01nm at sweeping rate of 15 kHz,a finesse of 16,000 is thus achieved.

Development of a Broadly Tunable Mid-Infrared Laser Source for Highly Sensitive Multiple Trace Gas Detection

A room-temperature broadly tunable mid-infrared difference frequency laser source for highly sensitive trace gas detection has been developed recently in our laboratory. The mid-infrared laser system is based on quasi-phase-matched （QPM） difference frequency generation （DFG） in a multigrating, temperature-controlled periodically poled LiNbO3 （PPLN） crystal and employs two near-infrared diode lasers as pump sources. The mid-infrared coherent radiation generated is tunable from 3.2 μm to 3.7μm with an output power of about 100 μW. By changing one of the pump laser head with another wavelength range, we can readily obtain other needed mid-infrared wavelength range cover. The performance of the mid-infrared laser system and its application to highly sensitive spectroscopic detection of CH4, HCl, CH2O, and NO2 has been carried out. A multi-reflection White cell was used in the experiment gaining ppb-level sensitivity. The DFG laser system has the features of compact, room-temperature operation, narrow line-width, and broadly continuous tunable range for potential applications in industry and environmental monitoring.

Feasibility study of the photonuclear reaction cross section of medical radioisotopes using a laser Compton scattering gamma source

In recent years,the gap between the supply and demand of medical radioisotopes has increased,necessitating new methods for producing medical radioisotopes.Photonuclear reactions based on gamma sources have unique advantages in terms of producing high specific activity and innovative medical radioisotopes.However,the lack of experimental data on reaction cross sections for photonuclear reactions of medical radioisotopes of interest has severely limited the development and production of photonuclear transmutation medical radioisotopes.In this study,the entire process of the generation,decay,and measurement of medical radioisotopes was simulated using online gamma activation and offline gamma measurements combined with a shielding gamma-ray spectrometer.Based on a quasi-monochromatic gamma beam from the Shanghai Laser Electron Gamma Source(SLEGS),the feasibility of this measurement of production cross section for surveyed medi-cal radioisotopes was simulated,and specific solutions for measuring medical radioisotopes with ultra-low production cross sections were provided.The feasibility of this method for high-precision measurements of the reaction cross section of medical radioisotopes was demonstrated.

Improvement of bandwidth in a 100 kHz swept laser source with phase controllable signal driving

Swept source optical coherence tomography(SS-OCT)is a new noninvasive technique for assessing tissue.Although it hasadvantages,such as being label-free,noninvasive,and with high resolution,it also has drawbacks:there has been no indepth research into identifying the driving of swept source.Based on preliminary research,we demonstrate a novel drivingmodulation method of a fiber Fabry–Perot tunable filter ranging phase adjustable as a tool for making bandwidth compensation of a swept laser source.This novel method is analyzed in detail;a swept laser source with a sweep rate of100.5 kHz over a range of 152.25 nm and at a center wavelength of 1335.45 nm is demonstrated.

High-power sub-picosecond all-fiber laser source at 1.56 μm

We demonstrate an all-fiber, high-power, and high stability ultrafast laser source operating at 1563 nm. A highly stable, self-starting carbon nanotube（CNT） mode-locked femtosecond fiber laser is used as the seed source. The amplifier stage uses a fiber chirped pulse amplification configuration. The main power amplifier is based on a cladding-pumped Er–Yb co-doped fiber with 10 μm active single-mode core diameter. The laser source provides 3.4 W average output power at 75 MHz repetition rate. The pulses are compressed to 765 fs by a low-loss transmission grating pair. The robust, compact, and high-power 1560 nm fiber laser source can be used for eye surgery and solar cell micromachining.

High-power sub-picosecond all-fiber laser source at 1.56 μm-corrigendum

The authors would like to apologize for some mistakes in the article and wish to make the corrections described below：1） Designate Youjian Song （宋有建） as the corresponding author of this article. His Email address is yjsong^tju.edu.cn.

Numerical simulation of super-continuum laser propagation in turbulent atmosphere

Considering the atmospheric extinction and turbulence effects,we investigate the propagation performances of supercontinuum laser sources in atmospheric turbulence statistically by using the numerical simulation method,and the differences in propagation properties between the super-continuum(SC)laser and its pump laser are also analyzed.It is found that the propagation characteristics of super-continuum laser are almost similar to those of the pump laser.The degradation of source coherence degree may cause the relative beam spreading and scintillation indexes to decrease at different propagation distances or different turbulence strengths.The root-mean-square value of beam wandering is insensitive to the variation of source correlation length,and less aperture averaging occurs when the laser source becomes less coherent.Additionally,from the point of view of beam wandering,the SC laser has no advantage over the pump laser.Although the pump laser can bring about a bigger aperture average,the SC laser has a lower scintillation which may be due to the multiple wavelength homogenization effects on intensity fluctuations.This would be the most important virtue of the SC laser that can be utilized to improve the performance of laser engineering.

Numerical Investigation of Laser Surface Hardening of AISI 4340 Using 3D FEM Model for Thermal Analysis of Different Laser Scanning Patterns

Laser surface hardening is becoming one of the most successful heat treatment processes for improving wear and fatigue properties of steel parts. In this process, the heating system parameters and the material properties have important effects on the achieved hardened surface characteristics. The control of these variables using predictive modeling strategies leads to the desired surface properties without following the fastidious trial and error method. However, when the dimensions of the surface to be treated are larger than the cross section of the laser beam, various laser scanning patterns can be used. Due to their effects on the hardened surface properties, the attributes of the selected scanning patterns become significant variables in the process. This paper presents numerical and experimental investigations of four scanning patterns for laser surface hardening of AISI 4340 steel. The investigations are based on exhaustive modelling and simulation efforts carried out using a 3D finite element thermal analysis and structured experimental study according to Taguchi method. The temperature distribution and the hardness profile attributes are used to evaluate the effects of heating parameters and patterns design parameters on the hardened surface characteristics. This is very useful for integrating the scanning patterns’ features in an efficient predictive modeling approach. A structured experimental design combined to improved statistical analysis tools is used to assess the 3D model performance. The experiments are performed on a 3 kW Nd:Yag laser system. The modeling results exhibit a great agreement between the predicted and measured values for the hardened surface characteristics. The model evaluation reveals also its ability to provide not only accurate and robust predictions of the temperature distribution and the hardness profile as well an in-depth analysis of the effects of the process parameters.

Tuning the velocity and flux of a low-velocity intense source of cold atomic beam

We investigate experimentally and numerically the quantitative dependence of characteristics of a low-velocity intensity source（LVIS） of atomic beam on light parameters, especially the polarization of cooling laser along the atomic beam axis（pushing beam）. By changing the polarization of the pushing beam, the longitudinal mean velocity of a rubidium atomic beam can be tuned continuously from 10 to 20 m/s and the flux can range from 3 × 10^-8 to 1 × 10^-9 atoms/s, corresponding to the maximum sensitivity of the velocity with respect to the polarization angle of 20（m/s）/rad and the mean sensitivity of flux of 1.2 × 10^-9（atoms/s）/rad. The mechanism is explained with a Monte-Carlo based numerical simulation method, which shows a qualitative agreement with the experimental result. This is also a demonstration of a method enabling the fast and continuous modulation of a low-velocity intense source of cold atomic beam on the velocity or flux,which can be used in many fields, like the development of a cold atomic beam interferometer and atom lithography.

Continued Study on Hohlraum Radiation Source with Approximately Constant Radiation Temperature

An experiment was performed on the Shenguang III prototype laser facility to continue the study on hohlraum radiation source with approximately constant radiation temperature using a continuously shaped laser pulse.A radiation source with a flattop temperature of about130 e V that lasted about 5 ns was obtained.The previous analytical iteration method based on power balance and self-similar solution of ablation was modified taking into account the plasma movements and it was used to design the laser pulse shape for experiment.A comparison between experimental results and simulation is presented and better agreement was achieved using the modified method.Further improvements are discussed.

Optically pumped wavelength-tunable lasing from a GaN beam cavity with an integrated Joule heater pivoted on Si

Dynamically tunable laser sources are highly promising for realizing visionary concepts of integrated photonic circuits and other applications. In this paper, a Ga N-based laser with an integrated PN junction heater on Si is fabricated.The photoluminescence properties of the Ga N beam cavity are controlled by temperature, and the Joule heater provides electrically driven regulation of temperature. These two features of the cavity make it possible to realize convenient tuning of the lasing properties. The multi-functional Ga N beam cavity achieves optically pumped lasing with a single mode near 362.4 nm with a high Q-factor of 1394. The temperature of this device increases by 0–5℃ under the Joule heating effect. Then, electrical control of the lasing mode is demonstrated. The lasing resonant peak shows a continuous redshift of about 0.5 nm and the device also exhibits dynamic switching of its lasing mode. The lasing modulation can be ascribed to temperature-induced reduction of the bandgap. Our work may be of benefit for external optical modulation in future chip-based optoelectronic devices.

Combined optical fiber interferometric sensors for the detection of acoustic emission

A type of combined optical fiber interferometric acoustic emission sensor is proposed. The sensor can be independent on the laser source and make light interference by matching the lengths of two arms,so it can be used to monitor the health of large structure. Theoretical analyses indicate that the system can be equivalent to the Michelson interferometer with two optical fiber loop reflectors,and its sensitivity has been remarkably increased because of the decrease of the losses of light energy. PZT is powered by DC regulator to control the operating point of the system,so the system can accurately detect feeble vibration which is generated by ultrasonic waves propagating on the surface of solid. The amplitude and the frequency of feeble vibration signal are obtained by detecting the output light intensity of interferometer and using Fourier transform technique. The results indicate that the system can be used to detect the acoustic emission signals by the frequency characteristics.

An experiment to estimate the revolution of DC motor

In this paper we have reported a simple and cost effective lab level experiment to determine the revolution of DC motor at various voltages.This experiment is designed on the basis of laser light pulses observed in cathode ray oscilloscope(CRO)output through an aperture.These output waveforms are directly related with the revolution of DC motor.A laser light beam was allowed to pass through a slot attached with the shaft of DC motor.The outcoming light is in the form of light pulses that falls on the photodetector which was connected to CRO.The frequency of light pulses is the function of applied voltage to DC motor.The CRO output was measured at different voltages.The visual waveforms on CRO interpret the different values of revolutions per minute(rpm)at different values of voltages given to DC motor.Analysis was made to determine the voltage depended revolution.

Collinear Velocity-map Photoelectron Imaging Spectrometer for Cluster Anions

We describe a collinear velocity-map photoelectron imaging spectrometer, which combines a Wiley-McLaren time-of-flight mass analyzer with a dual-valve laser vaporization source for investigating size-selected cluster and reaction intermediate anions. To generate the reaction anions conveniently, two pulsed valves and a reaction channel are employed instead of premixing carrier gas. The collinear photoelectron imaging spectrometer adopts modified velocity-map electrostatic lens, and provides kinetic energy resolution better than 3%. The performance of the instrument is demonstrated on the photodetachment of Si4^- at 532 and 355 nm, and SiaC^- at 532 nm, respectively. In both cases, photoelectron spectra and anisotropy parameters are obtained from the images. For Si4^-, the spectra show two well- resolved vibrational progressions which correspond to the ground state and the first excited state of the neutral Si4 with peak spacing of 330 and 312 cm^-1, respectively. Preliminary results suggest that the apparatus is a powerful tool for characterizing the electronic structure and photodetachment dynamics of cluster anions.

Progress in particle-beam-driven inertial fusion research: Activities in Japan

Research activities in Japan relevant to particle beam inertial fusion are briefly reviewed.These activities can be ascended to the 1980s.During the past three decades,significant progress in particle beam fusion,pulsed power systems,accelerator schemes for intense beams,target physics,and high-energy-density physics research has been made by a number of research groups at universities and accelerator facilities in Japan.High-flux ions have been extracted from laser ablation plasmas.Controllability of the ion velocity distribution in the plasma by an axial magnetic and/or electric field has realized a stable high-flux low-emittance beam injector.Beam dynamics have been studied both theoretically and experimentally.The efforts have been concentrated on the beam behavior during the final compression stage of intense beam accelerators.A novel accelerator scheme based on a repetitive induction modulator has been proposed as a cost-effective particle-beam driver scheme.Beam-plasma interaction and pulse-powered plasma experiments have been investigated as relevant studies of particle beam inertial fusion.An irradiation method to mitigate the instability in imploding target has been proposed using oscillating heavy-ion beams.The new irradiation method has reopened the exploration of direct drive scheme of particle beam fusion.

Charge state distribution analysis of Al and Pb ions from the laser ion source at IMP

A prototype laser ion source that could demonstrate the possibility of producing intense pulsed high charge state ion beams has been established with a commercial Nd：YAG laser （E =3 J, 1064 rim, ~ 10 ns） to produce laser plasma for the research of Laser Ion Source （LIS）. At the laser ion source test bench, high purity （99.998%） aluminum and lead targets have been tested for laser plasma experiment. An Electrostatic Ion Analyzer （EIA） and Electron Multiply Tube （EMT） detector were used to analyze the charge state and energy distribution of the ions produced by the laser ion source. The maximum charge states of A112＋ and Pb7＋ were achieved. The results will be presented and discussed in this paper.

Ultrasonic displacement field generated by laser pulse line source

Applying the Fourier transform to the wave equations of elastic medium at its surface a laser pulse line source is acted, the integral representations of solutions are obtained. Displacement waveforms are calculated numerically by using double FFT. The calculated results include the displacements of the elastic half space of Aluminum medium, and epicenter and off-epicenter of an Aluminum plate. The two exciting sources of thermoelastic and ablating generation are considered respectively. The experiment was made on the Aluminum medium with a Nd:YAG laser and the normal displacement signals are detected by a laser interferometer. The numerical results are quite in agreement with experiments.

Conceptional design of the laser ion source based hadrontherapy facility

A laser ion source （LIS）, which can provide a carbon beam with highly stripped state （C^6＋） and high intensity （several tens mA）, would significantly change the overall design of the hadrontherapy facility. The proposed LIS based hadrontherapy facility has the advantages of short linac length, simple injection scheme, and small synchrotron size. With the experience from the DPIS and HITFiL projects that have been conducted in IMP, a conceptional design of the LIS based hadrontherapy facility will be presented, with special attention given to APF type IH DTL design and simulation.

Fast Tunable Wavelength Sources Based on the Laser Diode Array

We report a demonstration of a fast wavelength tunable source (TWS) based on the laser diode array coupled to the arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer. The switching and optical characteristics of TWS make it a candidate for implementing the wavelength-division space switch fabric for an optical packet/burst switching.

1.3 μm InGaAsN/ GaAs Lasers Grown by MOCVD Using TBAs and DMHy Sources

We have demonstrated InGaAsN/ GaAs single quantum well (SQW) lasers grown by MOCVD using TBAs and DMHy sources. For un-buffer-strained InGaAsN/GaAs system, our SQW lasers of 1.3μm range is among the best in terms of transparency and threshold current density.