Accuracy design of ultra-low residual reflection coatings for laser optics

Refractive index inhomogeneity is one of the important characteristics of optical coating material, which is one of the key factors to produce loss to the ultra-low residual reflection coatings except using the refractive index inhomogeneity to obtain gradient-index coating. In the normal structure of antireflection coatings for center wavelength at 532 nm, the physical thicknesses of layer H and layer L are 22.18 nm and 118.86 nm, respectively. The residual reflectance caused by refractive index inhomogeneity（the degree of inhomogeneous is between -0.2 and 0.2） is about 200 ppm, and the minimum reflectivity wavelength is between 528.2 nm and 535.2 nm. A new numerical method adding the refractive index inhomogeneity to the spectra calculation was proposed to design the laser antireflection coatings, which can achieve the design of antireflection coatings with ppm residual reflection by adjusting physical thickness of the couple layers. When the degree of refractive index inhomogeneity of the layer H and layer L is-0.08 and 0.05 respectively, the residual reflectance increase from zero to 0.0769% at 532 nm. According to the above accuracy numerical method, if layer H physical thickness increases by 1.30 nm and layer L decrease by 4.50 nm, residual reflectance of thin film will achieve to 2.06 ppm. When the degree of refractive index inhomogeneity of the layer H and layer L is 0.08 and -0.05 respectively, the residual reflectance increase from zero to 0.0784% at 532 nm. The residual reflectance of designed thin film can be reduced to 0.8 ppm by decreasing the layer H of 1.55 nm while increasing the layer L of 4.94 nm.

Experimental research on dual polarized laser optical feedback microscope

The principle of laser optical feedback microscope was presented and demonstrated. Three methods to advance the vertical resolution of laser optical feedback microscope were experimentally studied. The first one is to detect the two polarized lights’ intensities separately with a Wollaston prism instead of to detect the whole light’s intensity. The second is that both of the two orthogonally polarized lights of a birefringent dual frequency laser are fed back. The third one is that only one of the orthogonally polarized lights is fed back. The experimental results show that the modes competition between orthogonally polarized lights can be used to improve the vertical resolution of laser optical feedback microscope effectively.

Laser parameters affecting the asymmetric radiation of the electron in tightly focused intense laser pulses

The nonlinear radiation of the electron is a distinctive feature of the action of tightly focused linearly polarized lasers.In this paper,from the perspective of radiation symmetry,the effect of laser parameters on the electron radiation power in the time domain is studied systematically.An asymmetric bimodal structure is found in the time domain in the direction of the maximum radiation.For this special structure,an explanation is given based on the electron dynamics perspective.The structure is compared with the symmetric bimodal structure in the classical theory.The increase in laser intensity,while significantly increasing the radiated power of the electron,exacerbates the asymmetry of the electron radiation.The variation in the initial phase of the laser leads to a periodic variation in the electron motion,which results in a periodic extension of the electron spatial radiation with a period ofπ.Moreover,the existence of jump points with a phase difference ofπin the range of 0-2πis found.The increase in pulse width reduces the radiated power,extends the radiation range,and alleviates the radiation asymmetry.The results in this paper contribute to the study of electron radiation characteristics in intense laser fields.

Chaos synchronization in injection-locked semiconductor lasers with optical feedback

Based on the rate equations, we have investigated three types of chaos synchronizations in injection-locked semiconductor lasers with optical feedback. Numerical simulation shows that the synchronization can be realized by the symmetric or asymmetric laser systems. Also, the influence of parameter mismatches on chaos synchronization is investigated, and the results imply that these two lasers can achieve good synchronization, with smaller tolerance of parameter mismatch existing.

Optical feedback characteristics in a dual-frequency laser during laser cavity tuning

The optical feedback characteristics in a Zeeman-birefringence dual-frequency laser are studied during the laser cavity tuning in three different kinds of optical feedback conditions： （i） only //-light is fed back; （ii） only ⊥-light is fed back; （iii） both lights are fed back. A compact displacement sensor is designed using the experimental result that there is a nearly 90 degrees phase delay between the two lights＇ cosine optical feedback signals when both lights are fed back into the laser cavity. The priority order that the two lights＇ intensity curves appear can be used for direction discrimination. The resolution of the displacement sensor is at least 79 rim, and the sensor can discriminate the target＇s moving direction easily.

Adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy in fundus imaging, a review and update

Adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy（AOSLO） has been a promising technique in funds imaging with growing popularity. This review firstly gives a brief history of adaptive optics（AO） and AO-SLO. Then it compares AO-SLO with conventional imaging methods（fundus fluorescein angiography, fundus autofluorescence, indocyanine green angiography and optical coherence tomography） and other AO techniques（adaptive optics flood-illumination ophthalmoscopy and adaptive optics optical coherence tomography）. Furthermore, an update of current research situation in AO-SLO is made based on different fundus structures as photoreceptors（cones and rods）, fundus vessels, retinal pigment epithelium layer, retinal nerve fiber layer, ganglion cell layer and lamina cribrosa. Finally, this review indicates possible research directions of AO-SLO in future.

Generation of Continuous-Wave 194 nm Laser for Mercury Ion Optical Frequency Standard

A 194-nm cw laser is an essential part in the mercury ion optical frequency standard. We report the generation of over 2mW continuous-wave radiation at 194nm in a beta barium borate crystal using a simple sum frequency mixing （SFM） system. One source beams at 718nm is resonantly enhanced with a cavity and the other at 266mn makes a single pass. Considering the walk-off effect in SFM, the source beam waists are designed to be elliptical, thus the conversion efficiency can be promoted. The 266-nm beam produced by frequency doubling of 532-nm laser is shaped close to the diffraction limit to achieve better mode matching.

Tunable and broadband microwave frequency combs based on a semiconductor laser with incoherent optical feedback

Based on a semiconductor laser （SL） with incoherent optical feedback, a novel all-optical scheme for generating tunable and broadband microwave frequency combs （MFCs） is proposed and investigated numerically. The results show that, under suitable operation parameters, the SL with incoherent optical feedback can be driven to operate at a regular pulsing state, and the generated MFCs have bandwidths broader than 40 GHz within a 10 dB amplitude variation. For a fixed bias current, the line spacing （or repetition frequency） of the MFCs can be easily tuned by varying the feedback delay time and the feedback strength, and the tuning range of the line spacing increases with the increase in the bias current. The linewidth of the MFCs is sensitive to the variation of the feedback delay time and the feedback strength, and a linewidth of tens of KHz can be achieved through finely adjusting the feedback delay time and the feedback strength. In addition, mappings of amplitude variation, repetition frequency, and linewidth of MFCs in the parameter space of the feedback delay time and the feedback strength are presented.

Theoretical Design of a Wedged Output Coupler Coated by Capacitive Strip-Grating for Optically Pumped Terahertz Lasers

An output coupler for optically pumped terahertz laser consisting of capacitive strip-grating and wedged high- resistivity silicon substrate is designed theoretically and its transmittance performance is also discussed. The etalon effects frequently occurring in previous experiments are effectively suppressed, and thus a fiat and accurate transmittance spectrum is obtained in a narrow wavenumber interval of 2 cm^-1 near a particular center wavenumber. Furthermore the transmittance sensitivity to the slight shift of substrate thickness is also completely eliminated. The wedged output coupler is easy to fabricate and its substrate may be used repeatedly to meet various transmittance requirements.

Dual-Wavelength Bad Cavity Laser as Potential Active Optical Frequency Standard

We experimentally realize the dual-wavelength bad cavity laser for the first time. As the Cs cell temperature is kept between 118℃ and 144℃, both the 1359nm and 147Ohm lasing outputs of dual-wavelength bad cavity laser are detected. The laser output power of dual-wavelength bad cavity laser is measured when changing the 455 nm pumping laser frequency and power at 127℃ Cs cell temperature. Both the 1359 nm laser and the 1470 nm laser are working at the deep bad cavity regime, and the ratio between the linewidth of cavity mode and the laser gain bandwidth a ≈ 40 for 1359nm and 1470nm lasers. The 147Ohm laser linewidth is measured to be 407.3Hz. The dual-wavelength bad cavity laser operating on atomic transitions demonstrated here has a potential in the application as a stable optical local oscillator, even an active optical frequency standard directly in the future.

High-Quality Continuous-Wave Imaging with a 2.53 THz Optical Pumped Terahertz Laser and a Pyroelectric Detector

A cw terahertz （THz） transmission imaging system is demonstrated and a high-quality THz image can be obtained using a pyroelectric detector. The factors that affect the imaging quality, such as the THz wavelength, spot size on the sample surface, step length of the motor, and frequency of the chopper, are theoretically and experimentally investigated. The experimental results show that the maximum resolution of the THz image can reach 0.4mm with the THz wavelength of 118.8μm, the spot size of 1.8mm and the step length of 0.25mm.

Comparison of optical quality after implantable collamer lens implantation and wavefront-guided laser in situ keratomileusis

AIM： To compare the optical quality after implantation of implantable collamer lens（ICL） and wavefront-guided laser in situ keratomileusis（WG-LASIK）.METHODS： The study included 40 eyes of 22 patients with myopia who accepted ICL implantation and 40 eyes of 20 patients with myopia who received WG-LASIK. Before surgery and three months after surgery, the objective scattering index（OSI）, the values of modulation transfer function（MTF） cutoff frequency, Strehl ratio, and the Optical Quality Analysis System（OQAS） values（OVs） were accessed. The higher order aberrations（HOAs） data including coma, trefoil, spherical, 2^（nd） astigmatism and tetrafoil were also obtained. For patients with pupil size 〈6 mm, HOAs data were analyzed for 4 mm-pupil diameter. For patients with pupil size ≥6 mm, HOAs data were calculated for 6 mm-pupil diameter. Visual acuity, refraction, pupil size and intraocular pressures were also recorded.RESULTS： In both ICL and WG-LASIK group, significant improvements in visual acuities were found postoperatively, with a significant reduction in spherical equivalent（P〈 0.001）. After the ICL implantation, the OSI decreasedslightly from 2.34±1.92 to 2.24±1.18 with no statistical significance（P=0.62）. While in WG-LASIK group, the OSI significantly increased from 0.68±0.43 preoperatively to 0.91±0.53 postoperatively（Wilcoxon signed ranks test, P=0.000）. None of the mean MTF cutoff frequency, Strehl ratio, OVs showed statistically significant changes in both ICL and WG-LASIK groups. In the ICL group, there were no statistical differences in the total HOAs for either 4 mmpupil or 6 mm-pupil. In the WG-LASIK group, the HOA parameters increased significantly at 4 mm-pupil. The total ocular HOAs, coma, spherical and 2^（nd） astigmatism were 0.12±0.06, 0.06±0.03, 0.00±0.03, 0.02±0.01, respectively. After the operation, these values were increased into 0.16±0.07, 0.08±0.05,-0.04±0.04, 0.03±0.01 respectively（Wilcoxon signed ranks test, all P〈0.05）. At 6 mm-pupil, the induction of total HOAs was not statistically significant in the WG-LASIK group. CONCLUSION： ICL implantation has a less disturbance to optical quality than WG-LASIK. The OQAS is a valuable complementary measurement to the wavefront aberrometers in evaluating the optical quality.

Is laser photocoagulation still effective in diabetic macular edema? Assessment with optical coherence tomography in Nepal

AIM: To find out the outcome of laser photocoagulation in clinically significant macular edema (CSME) by optical coherence tomography (OCT). · METHODS: It was a prospective, non-controlled, case series study enrolling 81 eyes of 64 patients with CSME between August 2008 and January 2010. All patients received modified grid photocoagulation with frequency doubled Nd: YAG laser. Each patient was evaluated in terms of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and regression or progression of maculopathy after laser therapy at 1, 3 and 6 months. Spearman’s correlation test was used to show the correlation between BCVA and total macular volume (TMV). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare among groups and independent t-test was used to compare in each group. · RESULTS: There is high correlation between BCVA and TMV (P ≤0.001). BCVA improved in 50.6%, remained static in 39.5 % and deteriorated in 9.9% patients after 6 month of treatment. The Baseline TMV (mean and SD) were 9.26±1.83, 10.4±2.38, 11.5±3.05, 8.89±0.75 and 9.47±1.98 mm3 for different OCT patterns, ST (sponge like thickening), CMO (cystoid macular edema), SFD (subfoveal detachment), VMIA (Vitreo macular interface abnormality) and average TMV respectively (P =0.04). After 6 months of laser treatment, the mean TMV decreased from 9.47±1.98mm3 to 8.77±1.31mm3(P =0.01). In ST there was significant decrease in TMV, P =0.01, Further within these groups at 6 months, they were significantly different, P =0.01. · CONCLUSION: OCT showed the different morphological variant of CSME while the response of treatment is different. TMV decreased the most and hence showed the improvement in vision after 6 months of laser treatment. In the era of Anti vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs), efficacy of laser seems to be in shadow but it is still first line of treatment in developing nation like Nepal where antiVEGFs may not be easily available and affordable.

High-order optical vortex harmonics generated by relativistic femtosecond laser pulse

Harmonics generated by an intense femtosecond Gaussian laser pulse normally incident on a spiral-shaped thin foil target were studied. By using two-dimensional （2D） particle-in-cell （PIC） simulation, we observed evident odd harmonics signals in the reflection direction and found that the reflected field has a helical structure determined by the target shape. This method provides a new way to generate an intense ultraviolet vortex with high-order topological charge by use of ultrahigh intense laser-driven harmonics.

Evaluation of gases'molecular abundance ratio by fiber-optic laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy with a metal-assisted method

A metal-assisted method is proposed for the evaluation of gases’molecular abundance ratio in fiber-optic laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy(FO-LIBS).This method can reduce the laser ablation energy and make gas composition identification possible.The principle comes from the collision between the detected gases and the plasma produced by the laser ablation of the metal substrate.The interparticle collision in the plasma plume leads to gas molecules dissociating and sparking,which can be used to determine the gas composition.The quantitative relationship between spectral line intensity and molecular abundance ratio was developed over a large molecular abundance ratio range.The influence of laser ablation energy and substrate material on gas quantitative calibration measurement is also analyzed.The proposed metal-assisted method makes the measurement of gases’molecular abundance ratios possible with an FO-LIBS system.

Automated cone photoreceptor cell identication in confocal adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope images based on object detection

Cone photoreceptor cell identication is important for the early diagnosis of retinopathy.In this study,an object detection algorithm is used for cone cell identication in confocal adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope(AOSLO)images.An effectiveness evaluation of identication using the proposed method reveals precision,recall,and F_(1)-score of 95.8%,96.5%,and 96.1%,respectively,considering manual identication as the ground truth.Various object detection and identication results from images with different cone photoreceptor cell distributions further demonstrate the performance of the proposed method.Overall,the proposed method can accurately identify cone photoreceptor cells on confocal adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope images,being comparable to manual identication.

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.

Improvement of Laser Frequency Stabilization for the Optical Pumping Cesium Beam Standard

A method is presented to improve the laser frequency stabilization for the optical pumping cesium clock. By comparing the laser frequency stabilization of different schemes, we verify that the light angle is an important factor that limits the long-term frequency stability. We minimize the drift of the light angle by using a fiber- coupled output, and lock the frequency of a distributed-feedback diode laser to the fluorescence spectrum of the atomic beam. The measured frequency stability is about 3.5 ×10^-11 at i s and reaches 1.5 × 10^-12 at 2000s. The Allan variance keeps going down for up to thousands of seconds, indicating that the medium- and long-term stability of the laser frequency is significantly improved and perfectly fulfills the requirement for the optical pumping cesium clock.

Optical System Design of Inter-Spacecraft Laser Interferometry Telescope

The fundamental measurement of space gravitational wave detection is to monitor the relative motion between pairs of freely falling test masses using heterodyne laser interferometry to a precision of 10 pm. The masses under test are millions of kilometers apart. The inter-spacecraft laser interferometry telescope deliver laser efficiently from one spacecraft to another. It is an important component of the gravitational wave detection observatory. It needs to meet the requirements of large compression ratio, high image quality and extraordinary stray light suppression ability. Based on the primary aberration theory, the method of the large compression ratio off-axis four-mirror optical system design is explored. After optimization, the system has an entrance pupil of 200 mm, compression ratio of 40 times, scientific field of view (FOV) of ±8 μrad. To facilitate suppressing the stray light and delivering the laser beam to the back-end scientific interferometers, the intermediate images and the real exit pupils are spatially available. Over the full FOV, the maximum root mean square (RMS) wavefront error is less than 0.007λ, PV value is less than 0.03λ (λ = 1064 nm). The image quality is approached to the diffraction-limit. The TTL noise caused by the wavefront error of the telescope is analyzed. The TTL noise in the image space of 300 μrad range is less than 1 × 10-10 m whose slope is lower than 0.6 μm/rad, which is under the noise budget of the laser interferometer space antenna (LISA), satisfying the requirements of space gravitational wave detection.