During high bit rate information transmission through optical fiber, polarization mode dispersion (PMD) can cause several problems. PMD has been investigated with respect to birefringence, which is its major origin. The possibilities of high bit rate soliton transmission using various control mechanisms even under the presence of PMD have been reported. Such techniques will enable us to design high bit rate optical communication systems based on solitons. A mathematical model of conventional fibers with PMD is presented with a coupled nonlinear Schrodinger equation. Different soliton transmission control mechanisms such as frequency-domain control, time-domain control, and control using nonlinear gain devices have been modeled and their effects on stability of soliton pulse are studied using numerical simulations. Third-order dispersion (TOD) as a small perturbation has been introduced, and we have investigated the effects of TOD, such as soliton fission, which contributes to supercontinuum generation in a major way.
Photonics modulation techniques can be effectively used for the laser microfabrication of biomedical implants to achieve better flexibility and control of the available optical power. These enable the processing and manufacturing of biomedical implants like cardiovascular stents and micro-metallic components with reduced heat affected zone (HAZ) and extremely precise edge cutting. Our investigation deals with the study of acousto-optic modulation of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser beam and further profile cutting of thin cobalt-chromium tubes for cardiovascular stent manufacturing. The acousto-optic modulator used in the investigations is a Bragg diffraction device. During one piercing process, the focused laser power is gradually varied from a low value and reaches the maximum as the beam goes deeper into the material. The optimum value for dwell time during which the laser piercing is occurring is found as 58 ms. A 14-step staircase modulating voltage with a maximum AC component of 900 mV was used, and the laser power was 4.4 W in TEM00 operation. Pulsed Nd:YAG laser modulated using an acousto-optic device in the Bragg regime is capable of cutting extremely complex geometries of stents on L605 tubing. Laser cutting resulted in a kerf width of 22.5±0.5 µm. Precise strut dimensions of 112±15 µm for the subsidiary strut, 140±15 µm for the main strut, and 140±15 µm for the link were also obtained. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of L605 stents illustrate the higher strength Co-Cr alloy L605 with the same ductility, its ability to be translated into thinner struts, and improved deliverability. L605 also exhibits enhanced radio visibility thanks to its tungsten content and exceptional work hardening rate for a uniform expansion with minimal recoil.
Optically pumped solid-state lasers with Nd:YAG may have to operate over a wide range of temperatures. We designed and fabricated a diode double end-pumped Nd:YAG laser for free space laser communication. Various laser beam parameters have been characterized for the same application. The temperature dependence of the effective stimulated emission cross section for 4F3/24I11/2 transition and fractional thermal loading of Nd:YAG are determined using a planar resonator with two collimated and focused pump beams from fiber-array package laser diodes at 808 nm. The pump power-induced thermal lensing is used to stabilize the cavity. The diode double end-pumped Nd:YAG laser possesses an extremely good beam profile that exactly matches the theoretical Gaussian intensity distribution up to a diode current of 30 A. After that the ellipticity slightly increases, indicating deviation from the circular symmetry of beam, which may be due to the thermally induced birefringence of the Nd:YAG crystal offered to the polarized laser beam. The thermal lens focal length decreases with an increase in the absorbed pump power, similar to the case of a lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser and a diode pumped Nd:YVO4 laser. All the results indicate that the laser beam characteristics are useful for high data rate free space laser communication links.
Lasers are able to saw complex diamond crystals with improved yields and provide better
accuracy, greater speed, and lower breakage rates even for sensitive diamonds and lower weight
loss for difficult stones. In the present investigation, four different types of nanosecond Q-switched
Nd:YAG lasers namely an arc lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser operating at 1064 nm, arc
lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser operating at second harmonically generated 532 nm, diode pumped
Nd:YVO4 laser operating at 1064 nm, a diode pumped Nd:YAG laser operating at 1064 nm,
532nm picosecond Diode pumped Nd:YAG laser and 510 nm Cu vapor laser have been
employed for the processing of single crystal gem quality natural diamond to study the effects of
pulse width and wavelength on various aspects of processing and the relative merits and
demerits. The overall weight loss of the diamond and formation of micro cracking during
processing have been studied for the above four cases. The characteristics of graphite formed
during processing, elemental analysis, surface morphology of cut face and process dynamics
have been studied using Micro Raman spectroscopic technique and Scanning Electron
Microscopy (SEM). The Micro Raman and SEM analysis show that the surface quality is
obtained superior by using diode pumped Nd:YVO4 laser due to its extremely high peak power.
The maximum graphite content is observed while processing using lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser
at 532 nm. Shorter laser pulses result in higher cutting rate of natural diamonds due to better
localization of absorbed laser energy.
Interorbit links, intersatellite links, and deep space missions are certain key applications of free-space optical communication links. For efficient and better signal propagation ensuring minimum possible bit error rate (BER) and maximize signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the laser source used for carrying information should be one in which the laser power and beam quality do not degrade due to vibrations, shock, and thermal cycling. As part of our attempt to design an efficient and suitable laser source for optical free-space communication, a diode double-end pumped and Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser is designed and fabricated. The thermally induced lens in the laser crystal brings the flat-convex cavity into geometric stability. A slope efficiency of 58.38% is observed in continuous wave (CW) multimode and 40.49% is observed in CW TEM00 mode operation, which is sufficiently high for free-space optical communication. A minimum pulse width of 7.3 ns is observed corresponding to a peak power of 63.01 kW at 20 kHz. It can be seen that at lower Q-switch frequencies, the pulse width is short and the energy per pulse is high, whereas at higher Q-switch frequencies, the energy per pulse is low and the pulse width is long but the average power is high. The peak power increases with the absorbed pump power, similar to a lamp-pumped Nd:YAG laser. The maximum pulse energy observed is 430 µJ at 10 kHz. Below 20 kHz, no further increase in pulse energy is observed due to the lower lifetime of the upper laser level (~90 to 100 µs) of Nd:YVO4 crystal. Changes in the laser beam profile with pump power have been studied. The major advantage of the Nd:YVO4 crystal is the ability to retain short pulse width even at higher Q-switch frequencies like 100 kHz, which makes this laser suitable for ultrahard material processing at higher Q-switch frequencies.At full pump power, the pulse width varies from 7.3 ns at 20 kHz to 19.5 ns at 100 kHz.(partial abstract)
Advances in laser technology and nonlinear optical techniques can be effectively utilized for light detection and ranging (LIDAR) applications in space and atmospheric sciences to achieve better flexibility and control of the available optical power. Using such devices, one can achieve highly accurate and resolved measurement of the distribution for atmospheric scattering layers. In the present investigation, a diode-double-end-pumped high-repetition-rate, multiwavelength Nd:YAG laser is designed, fabricated, and various laser beam parameters are characterized for LIDAR applications. Nonlinear optical techniques are employed to generate higher harmonics like 532, 355, and 266 nm for various spectral studies. The studies of laser crystal parameters of Nd:YVO4 and Nd:YAG are performed using a diode-double-end-pumped configuration to extract maximum output power in the fundamental mode. The fractional thermal loading and effective stimulated emission cross section for 4F3/24I11/2 transition of 1.1 at. % doped Nd:YVO4 slab and 0.7% doped Nd:YAG rod is determined and compared using a convex-plane resonator configuration stabilized by pump-power-induced thermal lensing effect. Lower fractional thermal loading, larger effective stimulated emission cross section, and naturally polarized output enable these lasers to be more suitable for highly accurate and resolved measurement of the distribution for atmospheric scattering layers.
Advances in Laser Technology and nonlinear Optical techniques can be effectively utilized for LIDAR
applications in space and atmospheric sciences to achieve better flexibility and control of the available optical power.
Using such devices, one can achieve highly accurate and resolved, measurement of the distribution for atmospheric
scattering layers. In the present investigation a diode double end pumped high repetition rate, multi wavelength Nd:YAG
laser is designed, fabricated and various laser beam parameters have been characterized for LIDAR applications.
Nonlinear optical techniques have been employed to generate higher harmonics like 532nm, 355nm and 266nm for
various spectral studies. The experimental setup mainly consists of two Fiber coupled pump laser diodes (Model FAP-
81-30C-800B, Coherent Inc, USA) with a maximum output power of 30Watt at a wavelength of 807-810nm at 30°C set
temperature. A second harmonic LBO crystal cut for critical phase matching placed within the laser resonator is provided
for converting a fraction of the fundamental beam to a second harmonic beam. A type II frequency tripling LBO nonlinear
crystal (cut for critical phase matching) is also located inside the laser resonator. The third harmonic beam and the
unconverted fundamental beam are then directed across a type I fourth harmonic LBO crystal cut for critical phase
matching where a portion of the fundamental beam and a portion of the third harmonic beam are converted to a fourth
harmonic frequency when both fundamental and third harmonic beams propagate through the frequency quadrupling
crystal. The resulting beams which are the fundamental (1064nm), second harmonic (532nm), third harmonic (355nm)
and fourth harmonic (266nm) are then directed to a fourth harmonic separator in which the fourth harmonic beam is
separated from the fundamental beam. A maximum average power of 12W at 1064nm, 8W at 532nm, 5W at 355nm and
3W at 266nm have been measured at a repetition rate of 10KHz. A minimum pulse width of 25ns have been observed.
Studies on a diode double-end-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser operating in the fundamental mode with a maximum cw output power of 14.8 W are reported. Measurements were taken with an a-axis-cut crystal in the form of a rectangular bar of size 4×4×10 mm with doping concentration 1.1 at.%, using a diode double-end-pumped resonator configuration operating in the cw TEM00 mode. The pumping arrangement mainly consists of two fiber-coupled diode-laser arrays with a maximum output power of 30 W and output wavelength range of 807 to 810 nm at 25°C set temperature. Since the quality of the pump beam and the actual focused spot size are important parameters for overlap optimization of the pump and cavity modes, these two parameters are calculated for this set up. The fractional thermal loading and effective stimulated emission cross section for 4F3/24I11/2 transition of 1.1-at.% doped Nd:YVO4 crystal are calculated using the planar resonator configuration stabilized by pump-power-induced thermal lensing. The focal length of the effective lens and its variation with the absorbed pump power are determined from the far-field divergence angle of the output beam.
Optoelectronic techniques can be used in laser applications in biomedical instrumentation to achieve better flexibility and control of the available optical power. These techniques enable the processing and manufacturing of biomedical implants like cardiovascular stents and micrometallic components with reduced heat-affected zone (HAZ) and extremely precise edge cutting. The present investigations deal with the study of laser piercing routines and further profile cutting of thin stainless steel sheet tubes for biomedical implant manufacturing. The process is performed using an acousto-optic (AO) modulator-based pulsed Nd:YAG laser. The AO modulator used in the experiments is a Bragg diffraction device. During the piercing of holes, the focused laser power is gradually increased from a low value and finally reaches the maximum as the beam goes deeper into the material. The most suitable value of dwell time is found to be 50 ms. A nine step staircase modulating voltage with a maximum ac component of 800 mV is used, and the laser power is 4 W in TEM00 operation. The acousto-optic modulator-based pulsed Nd:YAG laser is capable of cutting extremely complex geometries of stents on 316LVM tubing. Laser cutting results in a kerf width of 20.5±0.5 µm. Precise strut dimensions of 115±15 µm for subsidiary strut, 150±15 µm for main strut, and 150±15 µm for the link are also obtained. With the piercing routine, extremely fine holes with reduced heat-affected zones are produced, and this quality is reflected during consequent machining of required profiles for implants.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.