Gigahertz frequency hopping in an optical phase-locked loop for Raman lasers

Raman lasers are essential in atomic physics,and the development of portable devices has posed requirements for time-division multiplexing of Raman lasers.We demonstrate an innovative gigahertz frequency hopping approach of a slave Raman laser within an optical phase-locked loop(OPLL),which finds practical application in an atomic gravimeter,where the OPLL frequently switches between near-resonance lasers and significantly detuned Raman lasers.The method merges the advantages of rapid and extensive frequency hopping with the OPLL’s inherent low phase noise,and exhibits a versatile range of applications in compact laser systems,promising advancements in portable instruments.

Efficient Diode-End-Pumped Actively Q-Switched Nd:YLF/SrWO4 Raman Laser

An efficient diode-end-pumped actively Q-switched Nd：YLF/SrW04 Raman laser is demonstrated. The fun- damental wave is 1047.0nm and the corresponding first-Stocks wave is 1158.7nm. With a pumping power of 10.5 W, the average output power of 2.2 W at 1158.7nm is obtained, with the corresponding optical conversion efficiency of 20.9%. At a repetition rate of 6 kHz, the pulse width of the Raman laser is 8. 7ns and the peak power is calculated to be 42.1 kW. The beam quality factors M2 in horizontal and vertical directions are 1.3 and 1.5, respectively.

Efficient Diode-Pumped Actively Q-Switched Ceramic Nd:YAG/YVO4 Raman Laser Operating at 1657 nm

A diode-pumped actively Q-switched Raman laser is demonstrated, with YV04 employed as Raman active medium, based on a ceramic Nd：YAG laser operating at 1444nm. The first-stokes Raman generation at 1657nm is achieved. A maximum output power of as high as 612mW is obtained under a pump power of 20. 7 W and at a pulse repetition frequency rate of 20kHz, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 3%.

Multi-wavelength continuous-wave Nd:YVO4 self-Raman laser under in-band pumping

Multi-wavelength continuous-wave self-Raman laser with an a-cut composite YVO4/Nd:YVO4/YVO4 crystal pumped by an 879-nm wavelength-locked laser diode is demonstrated for the first time.Multi-wavelength Raman lasers at 1168.4,1176,1178.7,and 1201.6 nm are achieved by the first Stokes shift of the multi-wavelength fundamental lasers at 1064,1066.7,1073.6,1084,and 1085.6 nm with two Raman shifts of 890 and 816 cm^-1.A maximum Raman output power of 2.56 W is achieved through the use of a 20-mm-long composite crystal,with a corresponding optical conversion efficiency of 9.8%.The polarization directions of different fundamental and Raman lasers are investigated and found to be orthogonalπandσpolarizations.These orthogonally polarized multi-wavelength lasers with small wavelength separation pave the way to the development of a potential laser source for application in spectral analysis,laser radar and THz generation.

Eye-safe intra-cavity diamond cascaded Raman laser with high peak-power and narrow linewidth

The 1.4–1.8μm eye-safe lasers have been widely used in the fields of laser medicine and laser detection and ranging.The diamond Raman lasers are capable of delivering excellent characteristics,such as good beam quality concomitantly with high output power.The intra-cavity diamond Raman lasers have the advantages of compactness and low Raman thresholds compared to the external-cavity Raman lasers.However,to date,the intra-cavity diamond cascaded Raman lasers in the spectral region of the eye-safe laser have an output power of only a few hundred milliwatts.A 1485 nm Nd:YVO_4/diamond intra-cavity cascaded Raman laser is reported in this paper.The mode matching and stability of the cavity were optimally designed by a V-shaped folded cavity,which yielded an average output power of up to 2.2 W at a pulse repetition frequency of 50 kHz with a diode to second-Stokes conversion efficiency of 8.1%.Meanwhile,the pulse width of the second-Stokes laser was drastically reduced from 60 ns of the fundamental laser to 1.1 ns,which resulted in a high peak power of 40 kW.The device also exhibited single longitudinal mode with a narrow spectral width of<0.02 nm.

A continuous-wave Nd:YVO_(4)-KGW intracavity Raman laser with over 34% diode-to-Stokes optical efficiency

We demonstrate a continuous-wave(CW)Nd:YVO_(4)-potassium gadolinium tungstate(KGW)intracavity Raman laser with a diode-to-Stokes optical efficiency of 34.2%.By optimizing the cavity arrangement and reducing the cavity losses,8.47 W Stokes output at 1177 nm was obtained under an incident 878.6 nm diode pump power of 24.8 W.The influence of cavity losses on the power and efficiency of the CW Raman laser,as well as the potential for further optimization,was investigated based on the numerical model.The observation of thermally-induced output rollover was well explained by the calculation of the thermal lensing and cavity stability,indicating that the end-face curvature played an important role when the end-face of the crystal was highly reflective coated to make the cavity.A 10.9 W Stokes output under 40.9 W incident pump was also demonstrated with a cavity arrangement less sensitive to the end-face curvature,which is the highest output power of CW intracavity Raman lasers reported.

High-power free-running single-longitudinal-mode diamond Raman laser enabled by suppressing parasitic stimulated Brillouin scattering

A continuous-wave(CW)single-longitudinal-mode(SLM)Raman laser at 1240 nm with power of up to 20.6 W was demonstrated in a free-running diamond Raman oscillator without any axial-mode selection elements.The SLM operation was achieved due to the spatial-hole-burning free nature of Raman gain and was maintained at the highest available pump power by suppressing the parasitic stimulated Brillouin scattering(SBS).A folded-cavity design was employed for reducing the perturbing effect of resonances at the pump frequency.At a pump power of 69 W,the maximum Stokes output reached 20.6 W,corresponding to a 30%optical-to-optical conversion efficiency from 1064to 1240 nm.The result shows that parasitic SBS is the main physical process disturbing the SLM operation of Raman oscillator at higher power.In addition,for the first time,the spectral linewidth of a CW SLM diamond Raman laser was resolved using the long-delayed self-heterodyne interferometric method,which is 105 kHz at 20 W.

Transverse mode interaction-induced Raman laser switching dynamics in a silica rod microresonator

We investigate the mechanisms to realize the Raman laser switching in a silica rod microresonator with mode-interactionassisted excitation.The laser switching can be triggered between two whispering gallery modes[WGMs]with either the same or distinct mode families,depending on the pumping conditions.The experimental observations are in excellent agreement with a theoretical analysis based on coupled-mode equations with intermodal interaction terms involved.Additionally,we also demonstrate switching of a single-mode Raman laser and a wideband spectral tuning range up to~32.67 nm by selective excitation of distinct mode sequences.The results contribute to the understanding of Raman lasing formation dynamics via interaction with transverse mode sequences and may extend the microcavity-based Raman microlasers to potential areas in switchable light sources,optical memories,and high sensitivity sensors.

Diamond Raman laser:a promising high-beam-quality and low-thermal-effect laser

Stimulated Raman-scattering-based lasers provide an effective way to achieve wavelength conversion.However,thermally induced beam degradation is a notorious obstacle to power scaling and it also limits the applicable range where high output beam quality is needed.Considerable research efforts have been devoted to developing Raman materials,with diamond being a promising candidate to acquire wavelength-versatile,high-power,and high-quality output beam owing to its excellent thermal properties,high Raman gain coefficient,and wide transmission range.The diamond Raman resonator is usually designed as an external-cavity pumped structure,which can easily eliminate the negative thermal effects of intracavity laser crystals.Diamond Raman converters also provide an approach to improve the beam quality owing to the Raman cleanup effect.This review outlines the research status of diamond Raman lasers,including beam quality optimization,Raman conversion,thermal effects,and prospects for future development directions.

First-Stokes and second-Stokes multi-wavelength continuous-wave operation in Nd:YVO4/BaWO4 Raman laser under in-band pumping

A continuous-wave Nd:YVO4/BaWO4 Raman laser generating simultaneous multi-wavelength first-Stokes and second-Stokes emissions is demonstrated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. Investigations concerning different pump spot sizes and crystal lengths were conducted to improve the thermal effect and pump absorption. Three first-Stokes lasers at 1103.6, 1175.9, and 1180.7 nm and two second-Stokes lasers at 1145.7 and 1228.9 nm are obtained simultaneously using the Raman shifts of 925 cm-1 and 332 cm-1 in BaWO4 and 890 cm-1 in YVO4. At the incident pump power of 23.1 W, 1.24 W maximum Raman output power is achieved,corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 5.4%. We also present a theoretical analysis of the competition between different Stokes lines.

High-power linearly-polarized tunable Raman fiber laser

In this study, we demonstrate an all-fiber high-power linearly-polarized tunable Raman fiber laser system. An in- house high-power tunable fiber laser was employed as the pump source. A fiber loop mirror （FLM） serving as a high reflectivity mirror and a flat-cut endface serving as an output coupler were adopted to provide broadband feedback. A piece of 59-m commercial passive fiber was used as the Raman gain medium. The Raman laser had a 27.6 nm tuning range from 1112 nm to 1139.6 nm and a maximum output power of 125.3 W, which corresponds to a conversion efficiency of 79.4%. The polarization extinction ratio （PER） at all operational wavelengths was measured to be over 21 dB. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on a hundred-watt level linearly-polarized tunable Raman fiber laser.

Raman crystal lasers in the visible and near-infrared

Raman lasers based on potassium gadolinium tungstate and lead tungstate crystals pumped by a≈120 ps Nd: YAG laser at 1.064/μm were developed. High reflection mirrors for the Stokes wavelength have been used to generate near-infrared and eye safe spectral region of 1.15 - 1.32/μm. Second harmonic generation of the generated Raman lasers was observed. Eifficient multiple Stokes and anti-Stokes picosecond generation in 64 crystals have been shown to exhibit stimulated Raman scattering on about 700 lines covering the whole visible and near-infrared spectrum. All stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) wavelengths in the visible and near-infrared spectrum are identified and attributed to the SRS-active vibration modes of these crystals.

Modelling of passively Q-switched lasers with intracavity Raman conversion

We present a model of passively Q-switched Raman lasers by utilizing the rate equations. The intracavity fun-damental photon density, Raman photon density and the initial population-inversion density of the gain medium are assumed to be of Gaussian spatial distributions. These rate equations are normalized by introducing some synthetic parameters and solved numerically, and a group of general curves are generated. Prom these curves we can understand the dependence of the Raman laser pulse characteristics on the parameters about the pumping, the gain medium, the Raman medium and the resonator. An illustrative calculation for a passively Q-switched Nd^3＋：GdVO4 self-Raman laser is presented to demonstrate the usage of the curves and related formulas.

1400-1500 nm,Different Material-doped Raman Fiber Lasers Pumped by Nd∶YVO_4 Laser

Different material-doped Raman fiber lasers with very high efficiency operating in continuous-wave are presented.With 1 W Nd∶YVO 4 laser pumping at wavelength of 1 342 nm, single mode output power of above 500 mW (optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 50%) is simulated in the range of 1 400-1 500 nm.Using high-germanium,high-phosphate and high-borate silicate fibers as the gain medium,laser output at wavelengths of 1 420,1 450,1 480 and 1 495 nm can be achieved with different geometries,which are just as pumping C-band and L-band distributed Raman fiber amplifiers.

High-brightness all-fiber Raman lasers directly pumped by multimode laser diodes

High-brightness fiber laser sources usually utilize active rare-earth-doped fibers cladding-pumped by multimode laser diodes(LDs), but they operate in limited wavelength ranges. Singlemode-passive-fiber based Raman lasers are able to operate at almost any wavelength being pumped by high-power fiber lasers. One of the interesting possibilities is to directly pump graded-index(GRIN) multimode passive fibers by available high-power multimode LDs at 915–940 nm,thus achieving high-power Raman lasing in the wavelength range of 950–1000 nm, which is problematic for rare-earthdoped fiber lasers. Here we review the latest results on the development of all-fiber high-brightness LD-pumped sources based on GRIN fiber with in-fiber Bragg gratings(FBGs). The mode-selection properties of FBGs inscribed by fs pulses supported by the Raman clean-up effect result in efficient conversion of multimode pump into a high-quality output beam at 9 xx nm. GRIN fibers with core diameters 62.5, 85 and 100 μm are compared. Further scaling capabilities and potential applications of such sources are discussed.

A Raman laser system for multi-wavelength satellite laser ranging

In order to develop a laser system for multi-wavelength satellite laser ranging, the joint group of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory and the Czech Technical University has studied the conversion efficiency of the Raman-shifting beam and its spatial characteristics. We adopted a 0.53 μm laser with pulse width of 35 ps and peak energy of 35 mJ, the second harmonic of a Nd:YAG actively and passively mode-locked laser, to pump a one-meter-long Raman tube which is full of H2 with high pressure at the Prague-based laboratory. We get the first Stokes laser (0.68 μm): 7 mJ (single pulse) with beam divergence of 40″ (arcsecond) and spatial wobbling of less than 4″; and the first anti-Stokes laser (0.43 μm): 2 mJ (single pulse) with divergence of 56″ and spatial wobbling of less than 4″. The emitting beam from the Raman cell also includes 0.53 μm: 10 mJ (single pulse) with divergence of 40″ and spatial wobbling of less than 7″. According to the radar link equation and based on the above obtained multi-wavelength’s energy, we can estimate the detection probabilities for three colors respectively. It is shown by the result that the developed multi-wavelength Raman laser system has the capability of satellite ranging. The Raman laser system will be installed at the laser station in Shanghai Astronomical Observatory to research the multi-wavelength satellite laser ranging.

Q-Switched Raman Fiber Laser with Molybdenum Disulfide-Based Passive Saturable Absorber

We demonstrate a Q-switched Raman fiber laser using molybdenum disulfide （MoS2） as a saturable absorber （SA）. The SA is assembled by depositing a mechanically exfoliated MoS2 onto a fiber ferrule facet before it is matched with another clean ferrule via a connector. It is inserted in a Raman fiber laser cavity with a total cavity length of about 8kin to generate a Q-switching pulse train operating at 1560.2nm. A 7.7-kin-long dispersion compensating fiber with 584 ps.nm-i km-1 of dispersion is used as a nonlinear gain medium. As the pump power is increased from 395 m W to 422 m W, the repetition rate of the Q-switching pulses can be increased from 132.7 to 137.4 kHz while the pulse width is concurrently decreased from 3.35μs to 3.03μs. The maximum pulse energy of 54.3 nJ is obtained at the maximum pump power of 422 roW. These results show that the mechanically exfoliated MoS2 SA has a great potential to be used for pulse generation in Raman fiber laser systems.

Fabrication of narrow pulse passively Q-switched self-stimulated Raman laser with c-cut Nd:GdVO_4

Combining the self-stimulated Raman scattering technology and saturable absorber of Cr^(4+):YAG, a 1.17 μm c-cut Nd:GdVO_4 picosecond Q-switched laser is demonstrated in this paper. With an incident pump power of 10 W, the Q-switched laser with average power of 430 mW for 1.17 μm, pulse width of 270 ps, repetition rate of 13 kHz and the first order Stokes conversion efficiency of 4.3% is obtained. The Q-switched pulse width can be the narrowest in our research. In addition, the yellow laser at 0.58 μm is also achieved by using the LiB_3O_5 frequency doubling crystal.

Mid-Infrared Raman Fiber Lasers

As mid-infrared （MIR） lasers show numerous applications in the field of defense, medical, materials processing, and optical communications. Investigation on MIR Raman fiber lasers （RFL） increasingly becomes a hot topic. Compared with traditional silica fiber, fluoride and chalcogenide glass fibers possess higher nonlinear coefficients and excellent MIR transmittances. In this article, the latest development of the MIR RFL using fluoride and chalcogenide glass fibers as gain media are introduced, respectively. This review article mainly focuses on the development of MIR RFLs in aspects of output wavelength, output power and optical efficiency. The prospect of MIR RFLs is also discussed.

STUDY ON THE MICROSTRUCTURE AND PROPERTY OF PET FIBER BY LASER RAMAN MICROSCOPE

In this paper, the microstructure change of one step-draw PET fiber has been studied byvarious methods, such as, Laser Raman Microscope, Wide-angle X-ray, Density-gradient andPolarizing Microscope. The computer has been used to resolve overlapped bands in the Ramanspectra. Then the band changes have been correlated with trans, gauche and stressed trans-conformations indicated by a conformational index. Based on these indices, the relationshipbetween the conformation change of glycol units in the fiber structure and the macromechanicalproperties of fiber is expounded.