Optical design of a novel near-infrared phase contrast imaging(NI-PCI)diagnostic on the HL-2A tokamak

The optical design of near-infrared phase contrast imaging(NI-PCI)diagnosis on HL-2A is introduced in this paper.This scheme benefits from the great progress of near-infrared laser technology and is a broadening of traditional phase contrast technology.This diagnostic can work as a keen tool to measure plasma wavenumber spectra by inferring string-integrated plasma density fluctuations.Design of both the front optical path which is the path before the laser transmitting into the tokamak plasma and the rear optics which is the path after the laser passing through the plasma is detailed.The 1550 nm laser is chosen as the probe beam and highprecision optical components are designed to fit the laser beam,in which a phase plate with a 194-nm-deep silver groove is the key.Compared with the conventional 10.6μm laser-based PCI system on HL-2A,NI-PCI significantly overcomes the unwanted phase scintillation effect and promotes the measurement capability of high-wavenumber turbulence with an increased maximal measurable wavenumber from 15 cm^(-1)to 32.6 cm^(-1).

Research on Infrared Emissivity and Laser Reflectivity of Sn_(1−x)Er_(x)O_(2)Micro/Nanofibers Based on First-Principles

Sn_(1−x)Er_(x)O_(2)(x=0%,8%,16%,24%)micro/nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning combined with heat treatment using erbium nitrate,stannous chloride and polyvinylpyrrolidone(PVP)as raw materials.The target products were characterized by thermogravimetric analyzer,X-ray diffrotometer,fourier transform infrared spectrometer,scanning electron microscope,spectrophotometer and infrared emissivity tester,and the effects of Er^(3+)doping on its infrared and laser emissivity were studied.At the same time,the Sn_(1−x)Er_(x)O_(2)(x=0%,16%)doping models were constructed based on the first principles of density functional theory,and the related optoelectronic properties such as their energy band structure,density of states,reflectivity and dielectric constant were analyzed,and further explained the mechanism of Er^(3+)doping on SnO_(2)infrared emissivity and laser absorption from the point of electronic structure.The results showed that after calcination at 600℃,single rutile type SnO_(2)was formed,and the crystal structure was not changed by doping Er^(3+).The calcined products showed good fiber morphology,and the average fiber diameter was 402 nm.The infrared emissivity and resistivity of the samples both decreased first and then increased with the increase of Er^(3+)doping amount.When x=16%,the infrared emis-sivity of the sample was at least 0.71;and Er^(3+)doping can effectively reduce the reflectivity of SnO_(2)at 1.06μm and 1.55μm,when x=16%,its reflectivity at 1.06μm and 1.55μm are 50.5%and 40%,respectively,when x=24%,the reflectivity at 1.06μm and 1.55μm wavelengths are 47.3%and 42.1%,respectively.At the same time,the change of carrier concentration and electron transition before and after Er^(3+)doping were described by first-principle calculation,and the regulation mechanism of infrared emissivity and laser reflectivity was explained.This study provides a certain experimental and theoretical basis for the development of a single-type,light-weight and easily prepared infrared and laser compatible-stealth material.

Suppression of transmembrane sodium currents on the freshly isolated hippocampal neuron cell with continuous infrared light

Physiotherapeutic effects of infrared lasers have been proved in clinic.These infrared-based regulations of the bioelectrical activities can roughly be classied into enhancement and suppression of action potential(AP),which are described by sodium(Na)and potassium(K)transmembrane current equations,named as Hodgkin and Huxley(HH)-model.The enhancement effect is able to evoke or strengthen the AP when infrared light is applied.Its corresponding mechanism is commonly ascribed to the changes of the cell membrane capacitance,which is transiently increased in response to the infrared radiation.The distinctive feature of the suppression effect is to inhibit or reduce the AP by the designed protocols of infrared radiation.However,its mechanism presents more complexity than that in enhancement cases.HH-model describes how the Na current determines the initial phase of AP.So,the enhancement and suppression of AP can be also ascribed to the regulations of the corresponding Na currents.Here,a continuous infrared light at the wavelength of 980 nm(CIS-980)was employed to stimulate a freshly isolated hippocampal neuron in vitro and a suppression effect on the Na currents of the neuron cell was observed.Both Na and K currents,which are named as whole cell currents,were simultaneously recorded with the cell membrane capacitance current by using a patch clamp combined with infrared irradiation.The results demonstrated that the CIS-980 was able to reversibly increase the capacitance currents,completely suppressed Na currents,but little changed K currents,which forms the steady outward whole cell currents and plays a major role on the AP repolarization.A conrmation experiment was designed and carried out by synchronizing tens of milliseconds of infrared stimulation on the same kinds of hippocampal neuron cells.After the blocked K channel,a reduction of Na current amplitude was still recorded.This proved that infrared suppression of Na current was irrelevant to K channel.A membrane capacitance mediation process was preliminarily proposed to explain the Na channel suppression process.

Phase transformation and nanograting structure on TiO2 rutile single crystal induced by infrared femtosecond laser

In this paper, TitaiJum dioxide （TiO2） rutile single crystal was irradiated by infrared femtosecond laser pulses with repetition rate of 250 kHz. For a P-polarized femtosecond laser, the periodic nanograting structure on the ablation crater surface was formed . The periodicity is much less than the laser wavelength. The direction of nanograting alignment depends on the polarization laser beam. Micro-Raman spectra show that the intensity of Eg Raman vibrating mode of rutile phase increases and that of Alg Raman vibrating mode decreases apparently within the ablation crater. With the increase of irradiation time and laser average power, the Raman vibrating modes of anatase phase emerged. Rutile phase of TiO2 single crystal is partly transformed into anatase phase.

Infrared laser-induced fast photovoltaic effect observed in orthorhombic tin oxide film

The SnO_2/SnO with an orthorhombic structure is a material known to be stable at high pressures and temperatures and expected to have new optical and electrical properties. The authors report a new finding of the infrared laser induced a fast photovoltaic effect arising from orthorhombic tin oxide film with an indirect band gap（~2.4 e V） which is deposited by pulsed laser deposition. The rising time of the photovoltaic signal is about 3 ns with a peak value of 4.48 mV under the pulsed laser beam with energy density 0.015 m J/mm^2. The relation between the photovoltages and laser positions along the line between two electrodes of the film is also exhibited. A possible mechanism is put forward to explain this phenomenon.All data and analyses demonstrate that the orthorhombic tin oxide with an indirect band gap could be used as a candidate for an infrared photodetector which can be operated at high pressures and temperatures.

Tunable phase-stabilized infrared parametric laser source

This paper reports that the tunable self-phase-stabilized infrared laser pulses have been generated from a two- stage optical parametric amplifier. With an 800 nm pump source, the output idler pulses are tunable from 1.3 μm to 2.3 μm, and the maximum output energy of the idler pulses is higher than I mJ at 1.6 μm by using 6 mJ pump laser. A carrier-envelope phase fluctuation of -0.15 rad （rms） for the idler pulses is measured for longer than one hour by using a home build f-to-2f interferometer.

PRODUCTION OF VINYL CHLORIDE IN THE INFRARED LASER INDUCED PHOTOSENSITIZED CHAIN REACTION OF 1,2-DICHLOROETHANE

The chain reaction of 1,2-dichloroethane was initiated by photosensitization of SF_6 under the selective excitation using a cw CO_2 laser.Vinyl chloride with high purity was produced in the reaction process.The initiation of the photosensitized chain reaction depends on the irradiated laser frequency.The mechanism of intermolecular resonant transfer of vibrational energy has been discussed.

Femtosecond infrared optical vortex lasers based on optical parametric amplification

Infrared femtosecond optical vortices open up many new research fields,such as optical micro–nano manipulation,time-resolved nonlocal spectroscopy in solids,vortex secondary radiation and particle generations.In this article,we demonstrate a femtosecond optical vortex laser system based on a two-stage optical parametric amplifier.In our experiment,1.45µm vortex signal pulses with energy of 190µJ and 1.8µm vortex idler pulses with energy of 158µJ have been obtained,and the pulse durations are 51 and 48 fs,respectively.Both the energy fluctuations of the signal and idler pulses are less than 0.5%(root mean square),and the spectral fluctuations are less than 1.5%within 1 hour.This type of highly stable femtosecond optical vortex laser has a wide range of applications for vortex strong-field physics.

Femtosecond pulse laser-induced self-organized nanostructures on the surface of ZnO crystal

This paper reports self-organized nanostructures observed on the surface of ZnO crystal after irradiation by a focused beam of a femtosecond Ti：sapphire laser with a repetition rate of 250kHz. For a linearly polarized femtosecond laser, the periodic nanograting structure on the ablation crater surface was promoted. The period of self-organization structures is about 180 nm. The grating orientation is adjusted by the laser polarization direction. A long range Bragglike grating is formed by moving the sample at a speed of 10μm/s. For a circularly polarized laser beam, uniform spherical nanoparticles were formed as a result of Coulomb explosion during the interaction of near-infrared laser with ZnO crystal.

Improvement of laser damage thresholds of fused silica by ultrasonic-assisted hydrofluoric acid etching

Polished fused silica samples were etched for different durations by using hydrofluoric（HF） acid solution with HF concentrations in an ultrasonic field. Surface and subsurface polishing residues and molecular structure parameters before and after the etching process were characterized by using a fluorescence microscope and infrared（IR） spectrometer, respectively. The laser induced damage thresholds（LIDTs） of the samples were measured by using pulsed nanosecond laser with wavelength of 355 nm. The results showed that surface and subsurface polishing residues can be effectively reduced by the acid etching process, and the LIDTs of fused silica are significantly improved. The etching effects increased with the increase of the HF concentration from 5 wt.% to 40 wt.%. The amount of polishing residues decreased with the increase of the etching duration and then kept stable. Simultaneously, with the increase of the etching time, the mechanical strength and molecular structure were improved.

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.

Detection of Photoacoustic Signals from Blood in Dental Pulp

Photoacoustic waves from hemoglobin solutions in dental roots are detected by using a 1064-nm laser and an ultrasonic soft probe based on a composite transducer on the tooth surface. The high-frequency ultrasonic waves are detected from a tooth with a hemoglobin solution in the pulp cavity due to the large heat transfer coefficient and absorption coefficient of hemoglobin. The spectral intensities of frequency components higher than 1 MHz show good correlation with the hemoglobin solution concentrations, and maps of frequency spectra calculated by taking short-time Fourier transforms clearly exhibit the effect of absorbance in dental pulp.

On-line measurement of temperature and water vapor in CH_4 /air premixed flame using near-infrared diode laser

We establish a single diode laser sensor system to obtain temperature and water concentration in CH4/air premixed flame.Line-of-sight properties are analyzed,but line-of-sight results are not path average values for temperature measurements.The measurements are performed on a flat burner based on scannedwavelength direct absorption spectroscopy using two adjacent water lines at 7153.75 and 7154.35 cm 1.Real-time results are acquired using a data acquisition card with a Labview data processing program.The standard uncertainties of the temperature and water concentration measurements are 2.3% and 5.1%,respectively.

Generation of high-order harmonic continuum with two-hump-structure infrared laser pulse

We experimentally investigate the high-order harmonic generation in argon gas cell driven by a multi-cycle broadband infrared laser pulse from a tunable optical-parametric-amplifier （OPA） source. The generation of high-order harmonic continuum with the cut-off photon energy up to 110 eV is observed by tuning the chirp of the 800-nm laser pulse which pumps OPA source. The generation of harmonic continuum is understood in terms of the two-hump structure of the OPA output spectrum and the optimal relative phase of the two humps. The demonstrated scheme is of importance for the generation of extreme ultraviolet （XUV） continuum at higher photon energy region.

High-power long-wave infrared laser based on polarization beam coupling technique

We demonstrated a high-power long-wave infrared laser based on a polarization beam coupling technique.An average output power at 8.3µm of 7.0 W was achieved at a maximum available pump power of 107.6 W,corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion of 6.5%.The coupling efficiency of the polarization coupling system was calculated to be approximately 97.2%.With idler single resonance operation,a good beam quality factor of^1.8 combined with an output wavelength of 8.3µm was obtained at the maximum output power.

High energy optically pumped NH_3 terahertz laser with simple cavity

A high energy pulsed terahertz（THz） laser is studied experimentally.The laser cavity simply consists of a quartz glass waveguide,a coated GaAs input window,and a crystal quartz output window.NH3 is filled in the cavity as gain medium,and pumped by an 8-J line-tunable transversely excited atmospheric（TEA） CO_2 laser.When 9R（16） transition acts as the pump line,55.6-mJ THz radiation（90μm） is obtained at 730-Pa NH_3 pressure.The corresponding conversion efficiency is 13.54%.Energy and optimal pressure of amplified spontaneous emission and laser oscillation are compared.

Evaporative cooling of ^(87)Rb atoms into Bose-Einstein condensate in an optical dipole trap

We create a Bose-Einstein condensate （BEC） of 87Rb atoms by runaway evaporative cooling in an optical trap. Two crossed infrared laser beams with a wavelength of 1064 nm are used to form an optical dipole trap. After precooling the atom samples in a quadrupole-Ioffe configuration （QUIC） trap under 1.5 #K by radio-frequency （RF） evaporative cooling, the samples are transferred into the center of the glass cell, then loaded into the optical dipole trap with 800 ms. The pure condensate with up to 1.5× 10^5 atoms is obtained over 1.17 s by lowering the power of the trap beams.

Room temperature continuous wave operation of quantum cascade laser atλ~9.4μm

Continuous wave（CW） operation of long wave infrared（LWIR） quantum cascade lasers（QCLs） is achieved up to a temperature of 303 K. For room temperature CW operation, the wafer with 35 stages was processed into buried heterostructure lasers. For a 2-mm-long and 10-μm-wide laser with high-reflectivity（HR） coating on the rear facet, CW output power of 45 m W at 283 K and 9 m W at 303 K is obtained. The lasing wavelength is around 9.4 μm locating in the LWIR spectrum range.

Thermal analysis in high power GaAs-based laser diodes

The thermal characteristics of 808 nm Al Ga As/Ga As laser diodes（LDs） are analyzed via electrical transient measurements and infrared thermography. The temperature rise and thermal resistance are measured at various input currents and powers. From the electrical transient measurements, it is found that there is a significant reduction in thermal resistance with increasing power because of the device power conversion efficiency. The component thermal resistance that was obtained from the structure function showed that the total thermal resistance is mainly composed of the thermal resistance of the sub-mount rather than that of the LD chip, and the thermal resistance of the sub-mount decreases with increasing current. The temperature rise values are also measured by infrared thermography and are calibrated based on a reference image, with results that are lower than those determined by electrical transient measurements. The difference in the results is caused by the limited spatial resolution of the measurements and by the signal being captured from the facet rather than from the junction of the laser diode.

Test of a fine pitch SOI pixel detector with laser beam

A silicon pixel detector with fine pitch size of 19 μm × 19 μm, developed based on SOI （silicon-on- insulator） technology, was tested under the illumination of infrared laser pulses. As an alternative method for particle beam tests, the laser pulses were tuned to very short duration and small transverse profile to sinmlate the tracks of MIPs （minimum ionization particles） in silicon. Hit cluster sizes were measured with focused laser pulses propagating through the SOI detector perpendicular to its surface and most of the induced charge was found to be collected inside the seed pixel. For the first time, the signal amplitude as a function of the applied bias voltage was measured for this SOI detector, deepening understanding of its depletion characteristics.