Tamping the movement of the laser absorption cutoff position using gold foam hohlraum

In indirect-driven laser fusion experiments,the movement of the laser absorption layer will distort the radiation uniformity on the capsule.The gold foam has advantages in symmetry control and lowering wall plasma blowoff when used in an inertial confinement fusion(ICF)hohlraum.This work investigates the motion of the laser absorption cutoff position using lowdensity foam gold walls.It is found that the motion of the laser absorption cutoff position can be significantly mitigated through optimal initial low density,tailored to a specific laser shape.For a short square laser pulse,the laser absorption cutoff position remains almost stationary at an initial density of approximately 0.6 g cm^(-3).For a long-shaped laser pulse,the minimal motion of the laser absorption cutoff position is observed at an initial density of about 0.1 g cm^(-3).This approach allows for the adjustment of the symmetry of the hohlraum radiation source.The insights gained from this study serve as a crucial reference for optimizing the hohlraum wall density.

Influence of laser intensity in second-harmonic detection with tunable diode laser multi-pass absorption spectroscopy

Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy （TDLAS） has been widely employed in atmospheric trace gases detection. The ratio of the second-harmonic signal to the intensity of laser beam incident to the multi-pass cell is proved to be proportional to the product of the path length and the gas concentration under any condition. A new calibration method based on this relation in TDLAS system for the measurement of trace gas concentration is proposed for the first time. The detection limit and the sensitivity of the system are below 110 and 31ppbv （parts-per-billion in volume）, respectively.

Development of 2D Temperature and Concentration Measurement Method Using Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy

Exhaust gas temperature is an important factor in NOx, THC and PM emissions of engines. Especially 2D temperature and concentration distribution plays an important role for the engine efficiency. A thermocouple is intrinsically a point temperature measurement method and noncontact 2D temperature distribution cannot be attained by thermocouples. Recently, as a measurement technique with high sensitivity and high response, laser diagnostics has been developed and applied to the actual engine combustions. With these engineering developments, transient phenomena such as start-ups and load changes in engines have been gradually elucidated in various conditions. In this study, the theoretical and experimental research has been conducted in order to develop the noncontact and fast response 2D temperature and concentration distribution measurement method. The method is based on a Computed Tomography （CT） method using absorption spectra of water vapor at 1388 nm. It has been demonstrated that the method has been successfully applied to engine exhausts to measure 2D temperature distributions.

The relation between composition in laser absorption region and ambient pressure

In this paper, the compositions in a laser absorption region can be determined from the experiment of laser impulse coupling. When the ambient pressure varies from 9325 to 33325Pa, the compositions are vapour and plasma; while from 35325 to 101325Pa, they are ambient air and plasma. By analysing the relation between the degree of compression and the ambient pressure, the compositions can be determined and the variation of plasma can be explained.

Measurements of argon metastable density using the tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy in Ar and Ar/O2

Densities of Ar metastable states 1s5 and 1s3 are measured by using the tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy（TDLAS） in Ar and Ar/O2 mixture dual-frequency capacitively coupled plasma（DF-CCP）. We investigate the effects of high-frequency（HF, 60 MHz） power, low-frequency（LF, 2 MHz） power, and working pressure on the density of Ar metastable states for three different gas components（0%, 5%, and 10% oxygen mixed in argon）. The dependence of Ar metastable state density on the oxygen content is also studied at different working pressures. It is found that densities of Ar metastable states in discharges with different gas components exhibit different behaviors as HF power increases. With the increase of HF power, the metastable density increases rapidly at the initial stage, and then tends to be saturated at a higher HF power. With a small fraction（5% or 10%） of oxygen added in argon plasma, a similar change of the Ar metastable density with HF power can be observed, but the metastable density is saturated at a higher HF power than in the pure argon discharge. In the DF-CCP, the metastable density is found to be higher than in a single frequency discharge, and has weak dependence on LF power. As working pressure increases, the metastable state density first increases and then decreases,and the pressure value, at which the density maximum occurs, decreases with oxygen content increasing. Besides, adding a small fraction of oxygen into argon plasma will significantly dwindle the metastable state density as a result of quenching loss by oxygen molecules.

Absorption of ultrashort intense lasers in laser–solid interactions

With the advent of ultrashort high intensity laser pulses, laser absorption during the laser–solid interactions has received significant attention over the last two decades since it is related to a variety of applications of high intensity lasers,including the hot electron production for fast ignition of fusion targets, table-top bright X-ray and gamma-ray sources,ion acceleration, compact neutron sources, and generally the creation of high energy density matters. Normally, some absorption mechanisms found for nanosecond long laser pulses also appear for ultrashort laser pulses. The peculiar aspects with ultrashort laser pulses are that their absorption depends significantly on the preplasma condition and the initial target structures. Meanwhile, relativistic nonlinearity and ponderomotive force associated with the laser pulses lead to new mechanisms or phenomena, which are usually not found with nanosecond long pulses. In this paper, we present an overview of the recent progress on the major absorption mechanisms in intense laser–solid interactions, where emphasis is paid to our related theory and simulation studies.

Low temperature laser absorption spectra of methane in the near-infrared at 1.65 μm for lower state energy determination

Direct absorption spectra of the 2v3 band of methane （CH4） from 6038 to 6050 cm 1 were studied at different low temperatures using a newly developed cryogenic cell in combination with a distributed feedback （DFB） diode laser. The cryogenic cell can operate at any stabilized temperature ranging from room temperature down to 100 K with temperature fluctuation less than =t=1 K within 1 hour. In the present work, the CH4 spectra in the range of 6038-6050 cm-1 were recorded at 296, 266, 248, 223, 198, and 176 K. The lower state energy Ett and the rotational assignment of the angular momentum J were determined by a ＂2-low-temperature spectra method＂ using the spectra recorded at 198 and 176 K. The results were compared with the data from the GOSAT and the recently reported results from Campargue and co-workers using two spectra measured at room temperature and 81 K. We demonstrated that the use of a 2-low-temperature spectra method permits one to complete the Ett and J values missed in the previous studies.

Dynamic thermal modeling and parameter identification for a monolithic laser diode module

We improved the thermal equivalent-circuit model of the laser diode module（LDM） to evaluate its thermal dynamic properties and calculate the junction temperature of the laser diode with a high accuracy.The thermal parameters and the transient junction temperature of the LDM are modeled and obtained according to the temperature of the thermistor integrated in the module.Our improved thermal model is verified indirectly by monitoring the emission wavelength of the laser diode against gas absorption lines,and several thermal parameters are obtained with the temperature uncertainty of 0.01 K in the thermal dynamic process.

Laser absorption spectroscopy for high temperature H_2O time-history measurement at 2.55 μm during oxidation of hydrogen

Concentration time-histories of H20 were measured behind reflected shock waves during hydrogen combustion. Experiments were conducted at temperatures of 1117-1282 K, the equivalence ratios of 0.5 and 0.25, and a pressure at 2 atm using a mixture of H2/O2 highly diluted with argon. H2O was monitored using tunable mid-infrared diode laser absorption at 2.55 μm （3920.09 cm-1）. These time-histories provide kinetic targets to test and refine reaction mechanisms for hydrogen. Comparisons were made with the predictions of four detailed kinetic mechanisms published in the last four years. Such comparisons of H2O concentration profiles indicate that the AramcoMech 2.0 mechanism yields the best agreement with the experimental data, while CRECK, San Diego, and HP-Mech mechanisms show significantly poor predictions. Reaction pathway analysis for hydrogen oxidation indicates that the reaction H ＋ OH ＋ M = H20 ＋ M is the key reaction for controlling the H2O formation by hydrogen oxidation. It is inferred that the discrepancy of the conversion percentage from H to H20 among these four mechanisms induces the difference of performance on H2O time-history predictions. This work demonstrates the potential of time-history measurement for validation of large reaction mechanisms.

Far-Infrared Laser Diagnostics in EAST

Structure, improvements and experiment results of a vertical three-channel far- in- frared （FIR） hydrogen cyanide （HCN） laser interferometer, operated routinely in EAST to measure the electron density profile, are presented. Moreover, a five-channel deuterium cyanide （DCN） laser interferometer was developed successfully. Some key issues confronted in development, including the economization of working gas and the solution to atmospheric absorption, are resolved and described in detail.

Temperature-dependent Kinetics on Laser Induced Photolysis of Aqueous CS_2-HONO Solutions

A laser photolysis/transient absorption technique has been employed to investigate the photolysis kinetics of aqueous CS2-HONO solutions at 355 nm. Spectral analysis shows that CS2OH will react with HONO to form CS2OH-HONO. Temperature dependent rate coefficients for the reaction are reported for the first time. The following Arrhenius expressions adequately summarize the kinetic data obtained over the temperature range 273-313 K （units are L·mol^-1·s^-1）： In k = （31.6±0.6）-{（4.1±0.2）×10^3/T}, and the activation energy in unit of kJ.molA is 32.47 with the temperature accuracy 0.2 K.

Application of Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy with Optical Hollow Fiber to Engine Exhaust Gas Measurement

In recent years, tighter regulation has been already enforced on harmful substances such as NOx, CO, and particles. Considering the above situation, it is important to monitor controlling factors of engine systems in order to improve efficiencies of their operations. As to car engines, an increasing concern in environmental issues such as air pollution, global warming and petroleum depletion has helped drive researches into various ways. Laser diagnostics has been applied to measure species concentration in the actual industrial fields. However there are several challenges to proceed in applying laser diagnostics to practical application. Especially stability of the measurement system is one of the most difficult issues. The purpose of this research is the development of a prompt measurement technique which can be applicable to various engine conditions. The Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy （TDLAS） using the hollow fiber has been developed to satisfy above requirements. By using a hollow fiber, misalignment of an optical axis and vulnerability of measurement environment such as vibration can be greatly reduced with sensitive and fast response features. It was demonstrated that this method can be applicable to measure gas compositions in engine exhaust with a range of millisecond response time. A sensitive method using tunable UV diode laser absorption spectroscopy was also discussed to detect NOx in exhausts.

Spectroscopy system based on a single quantum cascade laser for simultaneous detection of CO and CO_2

A quantum cascade laser（QCL） based system for simultaneous detection of CO and CO_2 is developed.The QCL can scan over two neighboring CO（2055.40 cm^（-1）） and CO_2（2055.16 cm^（-1）） lines with a single current scan.The wavelength modulation spectroscopy（ f = 20 k Hz） is utilized to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio.A white cell with an effective optical path length of 74 m is used.The calibration of the sensor is performed and minimum detection limits of 1.3 ppb（1 × 10^（-9））for CO and 0.44 ppm（1 × 10^（-6）） for CO_2 are achieved.

Simulation of Intermediate State Absorption Enhancement in Rare-Earth Ions by Polarization Modulated Femtosecond Laser Field

We extend the third perturbation theory to study the polarization control behavior of the intermediate state absorption in Nd^（3＋）ions. The results show that coherent interference can occur between the single-photon and three-photon excitation pathways, and depends on the central frequency of the femtosecond laser field. Moreover,single-photon and three-photon absorptions have different polarization control efficiencies, and the relative weight of three-photon absorption in the whole excitation processes can increase with increasing the laser intensity.Therefore, the enhancement or suppression of the intermediate state absorption can be realized and manipulated by properly designing the intensity and central frequency of the polarization modulated femtosecond laser field.This research can not only enrich theoretical research methods for the up-conversion luminescence manipulation of rare-earth ions, but also can provide a clear physical picture for understanding and controlling multi-photon absorption in a multiple energy level system.

Coherent Features of Resonance-Mediated Two-Photon Absorption Enhancement by Varying the Energy Level Structure,Laser Spectrum Bandwidth and Central Frequency

The femtosecond pulse shaping technique has been shown to be an effective method to control the multi-photon absorption by the light–matter interaction. Previous studies mainly focused on the quantum coherent control of the multi-photon absorption by the phase, amplitude and polarization modulation, but the coherent features of the multi-photon absorption depending on the energy level structure, the laser spectrum bandwidth and laser central frequency still lack in-depth systematic research. In this work, we further explore the coherent features of the resonance-mediated two-photon absorption in a rubidium atom by varying the energy level structure, spectrum bandwidth and central frequency of the femtosecond laser field. The theoretical results show that the change of the intermediate state detuning can effectively influence the enhancement of the near-resonant part, which further affects the transform-limited （TL）-normalized final state population maximum. Moreover, as the laser spectrum bandwidth increases, the TL-normalized final state population maximum can be effectively enhanced due to the increase of the enhancement in the near-resonant part, but the TL-normalized final state population maximum is constant by varying the laser central frequency. These studies can provide a clear physical picture for understanding the coherent features of the resonance-mediated two-photon absorption, and can also provide a theoretical guidance for the future applications.

Calibration-free wavelength modulation spectroscopy for gas concentration measurements under low-absorbance conditions

We derive the expressions of the first and second harmonic signals on the basis of absorption spectral and lock-in theories, and determine the gas concentration according to the ratio of second and first harmonic signals. It is found that the X and Y components of the harmonic signals are influenced by the phase shift between the detection and reference signal, and the phase shift can be any value in a range from 0 to 2π, which is different from the results obtained previously. Meanwhile, an additional item caused by the residual amplitude modulation will make a great contribution to the second harmonic signal, and may not be neglected under low absorbance conditions. Theoretical analysis indicates that subtracting back-ground signal from the second harmonic signal can remove the influence of this item, and can improve the measurement accuracy of gas concentration. On this basis, we select the transition of CO2 at 6527.64 cm-1 to analyse the approximation errors during the derivation by numerical simulation and then measure the CO2 concentration under low absorbance conditions, with absorbance varying from 1‰ to 6‰.

Application of α-β-γ filtering to real-time atmosphere methane concentration measurement

A real time α-β-γ filtering technique is applied to the monitoring of atmosphere CH4 based on a tunable diode laser spectrum system operating at 1.654μm. This technique is developed for improving the sensitivity and precision of CH4 concentration measurement with slow concentration change. The effectiveness of this technique is evaluated by performing CH4 concentration measurement and using it to monitor the varying methane level in the atmosphere. It was proved that signal noise ratio enhancement factor is 4.25. The comparison between this filter and moving average is also included in this article. It indicates the advantage of the α-β-γ real time filter.

In situ measurement on nonuniform velocity distributionin external detonation exhaust flow by analysis ofspectrum features using TDLAS

Instantaneous and precise velocity sensing is a critical part of research on detonation mechanism and flow evolution.This paper presents a novel multi-projection tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy solution,to provide a real-time and reliable measurement of velocity distribution in detonation exhaust flow with obvious nonuniformity.Relations are established between overlapped spectrums along probing beams and Gauss velocity distribution phantom according to the frequency shifts and tiny variations in components of light-of-sight absorbance profiles at low frequencies analyzed by the fast Fourier transform.With simulated optical measurement using H2O feature at 7185.6 cm-1 carried out on a phantom generated using a simulation of two-phase detonation by a two-fluid model,this method demonstrates a satisfying performance on recovery of velocity distribution profiles in supersonic flow even with a noise equivalent absorbance up to 2×10^(-3).This method is applied to the analysis of rapidly decreasing velocity during a complete working cycle in the external flow field of an air-gasoline detonation tube operating at 25 Hz,and results show the velocity in the core flow field would be much larger than the arithmetic average from traditional tunable diode laser doppler velocimetry.This proposed velocity distribution sensor would reconstruct nonuniform velocity distribution of high-speed flow in low cost and simple operations,which broadens the possibility for applications in research on the formation and propagation of external flow filed of detonation tube.

Analysis of relative wavelength response characterization and its effects on scanned-WMS gas sensing

Our recently proposed three-step method showed the promising potential to improve the accuracy of relative wavelength response(RWR) characterization in the wavelength-modulation spectroscopy(WMS) over the commonly used summation method.A detailed comparison of the three-step method and the summation method,for the wavelength-scanned WMS gas-sensing,was performed with different laser parameters(modulation indexes and scan indexes) and gas properties(pressures and concentrations).Simulation results show that the accuracy of the predicted gas parameters is strongly limited by the RWR characterization with large modulation index and high gas pressure conditions.Both fitting residuals of RWR and errors of predicted gas parameters from the recently proposed three-step method are nearly 2 orders of magnitude smaller than those from the summation method.In addition,the three-step method is further improved by introducing a coupling term for the 2^(nd) harmonic amplitude.Experiments with CO_(2) absorption transition at 6976.2026 cm^(-1) were conducted and validated the simulation analysis.The modified-three-step method presents an improved accuracy in RWR description with at least 5% smaller fitting residual for all conditions compared with the three-step method,although the deviation of the deduced CO_(2) concentrations between these two methods does not exceed 0.2%.

Measurement of nonuniform temperature distribution by combining line-of-sight TDLAS with regularization methods

Regularization methods were combined with line-of-sight tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy(TDLAS)to measure nonuniform temperature distribution.Relying on measurements of 12 absorption transitions of water vapor from 1300 nm to 1350 nm,the temperature probability distribution of nonuniform temperature distribution,for which a parabolic temperature profile is selected as an example in this paper,was retrieved by making the use of regularization methods.To examine the effectiveness of regularization methods,truncated singular value decomposition(TSVD),Tikhonov regularization and a revised Tikhonov regularization method were implemented to retrieve the temperature probability distribution.The results derived by using the three regularization methods were compared with that by using constrained linear least-square fitting.The results show that regularization methods not only generate closer temperature probability distributions to the original,but also are less sensitive to measurement noise.Particularly,the revised Tikhonov regularization method generate solutions in better agreement with the original ones than those obtained by using TSVD and Tikhonov regularization methods.The results obtained in this work can enrich the temperature distribution information,which is expected to play a more important role in combustion diagnosis.