Powerful 3-μm lasers acousto-optically Q-switched with KYW and KGW crystals

Performance of the mid-infrared Q-switched LD side-pumped Er:YSGG MOPA laser

We report on a laser-diode (LD)-pumped master-oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) mid-infrared laser system based on an LD side-pumped Er:YSGG seed laser that can operate in both free-running and Q-switched regimes. In the free-running mode of the seed laser, the maximum amplified single-pulse energy was 83.4 mJ. In Q-switched mode of the seed laser, a maximum single-pulse energy of 7.8 mJ was achieved at 100 Hz repetition rate with the pulse width of 90 ns, corresponding to the peak power of 86.7 kW and the single-pass amplification factor of 1.66. The results indicate that the LD side-pumped MOPA structure is an effective way to realize a nanosecond ∼3µm mid-infrared laser with high repetition rate and high pulse energy.

2.79-µm efficient acousto-optic Q switched Er,Cr:YSGG laser with an LiNbO3 crystal modulator

We fabricate a novel, to the best of our knowledge, acousto-optic Q switch in the 3-micron wavelength range using a longitudinal acoustic mode in a lithium niobate (LiNbO₃) crystal. The device is designed based on properties of the crystallographic structure and material to obtain a high diffraction efficiency close to the theoretical prediction. The effectiveness of the device is verified by application in an Er,Cr:YSGG laser at 2.79 µm. The maximum diffraction efficiency reached 57% at the radio frequency of 40.68 MHz. At the repetition rate of 50 Hz, the maximum pulse energy was 17.6 mJ and the corresponding pulse width was 55.2 ns. The effectiveness of bulk LiNbO₃ as an acousto-optic Q switch is verified for the first time.

Analysis of Acousto-Optic Figure of Merit in KGW and KYW Crystals

Monoclinic potassium rare-earth crystals are known as efficient materials for solid-state lasers and acousto-optic modulators. A number of specific configurations for acousto-optic devices based on those crystals have recently been proposed, but the acousto-optic effect of those crystals has only been analyzed fragmentarily for some interaction directions. In this work, we numerically searched for the global maxima of an acousto-optic figure of merit for isotropic diffraction in KGd(WO₄)₂ and KY(WO₄)₂ crystals. It was demonstrated that the global maxima of the acousto-optic figure of merit in those crystals occur in the slow optical mode propagating along the crystal's twofold symmetry axis and in the acoustic wave propagating orthogonally, both for quasi-longitudinal and quasi-shear acoustic modes. The proposed calculation method can be readily used for the optimization of the acousto-optic interaction geometry in crystals with arbitrary symmetry.

High-gain broadband laser amplification of mid-IR pulses in Fe:CdSe crystal at 5 μm with millijoule output energy and multigigawatt peak power

We report on a first of its kind, to our knowledge broadband amplification in a Fe:CdSe single crystal in the mid-IR beyond 5 µm. The experimentally measured gain properties demonstrate saturation fluence close to 13 mJ/cm² and support the bandwidth up to 320 nm (full width at half maximum). Such properties allow the energy of the seeding mid-IR laser pulse, generated by an optical parametric amplifier, to be pushed up to more than 1 mJ. Dispersion management with bulk stretcher and prism compressor enables 5-µm laser pulses of 134-fs duration, providing access to multigigawatt peak power. Ultrafast laser amplifiers based on a family of Fe-doped chalcogenides open the route for wavelength tuning together with energy scaling of mid-IR laser pulses that are strongly demanded for the areas of spectroscopy, laser-matter interaction, and attoscience.

High-efficiency KYW acousto-optic Q-switch for a Ho:YAG laser

A new, to the best of our knowledge, type of acousto-optic Q-switch was developed using slow shear acoustic mode in potassium yttrium tungstate (KYW) crystal. Two Q-switch configurations were created: one for vertical and one for horizontal light polarization, both providing over 50% diffraction efficiency at a wavelength of 2.1 μm and an RF driving power below 8 W. The laser-induced damage threshold of the KYW crystal was found to equal 650 MW/cm². Operation of a nanosecond periodically pulsed Ho:YAG laser emitting 15 mJ pulses at 2.1 μm with the KYW Q-switch is reported.

High-Power Solid-State Near- and Mid-IR Ultrafast Laser Sources for Strong-Field Science

This review highlights the development of ultrafast sources in the near- and middle-IR range, developed in the laboratory of Nonlinear Optics and Superstrong Laser Fields at Lomonosov Moscow State University. The design of laser systems is based on a powerful ultrafast Cr:Forsterite system as a front-end and the subsequent nonlinear conversion of radiation into the mid-IR, THz, and UV spectral range. Various schemes of optical parametric amplifiers based on oxide and non-oxide crystals pumped with Cr:Forsterite laser can receive pulses in the range of 4–6 µm with gigawatt peak power. Alternative sources of mid-IR ultrashort laser pulses at a relatively high (MHz) repetition rate are also proposed as difference frequency generators and as a femtosecond mode-locked oscillator based on an Fe:ZnSe crystal. Iron ion-doped chalcogenides (Fe:ZnSe and Fe:CdSe) are shown to be effective gain media for broadband high-peak power mid-IR pulses in this spectral range. The developed sources pave the way for advanced research in strong-field science.

Diode-side-pumped watt-level high-energy Q-switched mid-IR Er:YLF laser

We report on a powerful mid-IR diode-side-pumped tunable Er:LiYF₄ (Er:YLF) laser electro-optically Q-switched with the help of a KTiOPO₄ crystal. At a 20 Hz repetition rate, the laser pulses with output energy of 82 mJ and 13 ns duration at the wavelength of 2.67 µm are obtained. At higher repetition rates (up to 50 Hz), one can extract up to 20 mJ from the laser cavity. The developed mid-IR laser source demonstrates high peak (up to 6.3 MW) and average (up to 1.7 W) power. Realized wavelength tuning provides access for megawatt-peak power-level nanosecond laser pulses over the 2667-2851 nm wavelength region, which are highly demanded for mid-IR laser systems development and light-matter interaction study in the view of extreme-state creation in liquids and solids, paving the way to novel microprocessing techniques.

Noncritical acousto-optic Bragg phase matching: analysis of orthorhombic and monoclinic crystal systems

Anisotropic acousto-optic diffraction in crystals is the fundamental phenomenon that is used to design acousto-optic tunable filters. Noncritical and quasicollinear phase-matching geometries of Bragg acousto-optic diffraction are compared for acoustic symmetry planes in four crystal systems (tetragonal, trigonal, orthorhombic, and monoclinic). The results for uniaxial crystals are reviewed and generalized for biaxial crystals. It is shown that cubic frequency dependence on the Bragg angle exists in two symmetry planes of orthorhombic crystals and conditionally exists in the symmetry plane of monoclinic crystals. It is also shown that there are two points in the symmetry plane of monoclinic crystals where noncritical phase matching takes place in quasicollinear diffraction geometry that can be used to design high-resolution tunable filters. Phase-matching configurations in α-iodic acid and potassium gadolinium tungstate crystals are analyzed.