Tunable Lasers Handbook (eBook)

Cover 1
Contents 6
Contributors 12
Preface 14
Chapter 1. Introduction 16
1. Introduction 16
2. Tunable Laser Complementarity 19
3. Goal of This Book 20
References 21
Chapter 2. Narrow-Linewidth Laser Oscillators and Intracavity Dispersion 24
1. Introduction 24
2. Dispersive Oscillator Configurations 25
3. Physical Dimensions 30
4. Generalized Interference Equation 31
5. Dispersion Linewidth Equation 32
6. Beam Divergence 34
7. Intracavity Dispersion 34
8. Intracavity Multiple-Prism Dispersion and Pulse Compression 38
9. Transmission Efficiency of Multiple-Prism Arrays 39
10. Wavelength Tuning 41
Appendix: Dispersion of Multiple-Prism Arrays and 4 x 4 Transfer Matrices 44
References 46
Chapter 3. Tunable Excimer Lasers 48
1. Introduction 48
2. Excimer Active Media 50
3. Tuning of Discharge and Electron Beam Pumped Excimer Lasers 56
4. Discharge Excimer Lasers 68
References 74
Chapter 4. CO2 Isotope Lasers and Their Applications in Tunable Laser Spectroscopy 78
1. Introduction 78
2. Vibrational Energy-Level Structive of the CO2 Molecule 80
3. Rotational Energy-Level Substructure of the CO2 Molecule 84
4. Processes Governing the Excitation of Regular Band Laser Transitions in CO2 86
5. Additional Characteristics of Regular Band CO2 Lasers Transitions 89
6. Lineshape Functions and Broadening Due to Gas Pressure and Doppler Shift in CO2 Gas 91
7. Spectral Purity and Short-Term Stability 94
8. Long-Term Line-Center Stabilization of CO2 Lasers 97
9. Absolute Frequencies of Regular Band Lasing Transitions in Nine CO2 Isotopic Species 110
10. Pressure Shifts in Line-Center-Stabilized CO2 Lasers 152
11. Small-Signal Gain and Saturation Intensity of Regular Band Lasing Transitions in Sealed-off CO2 Isotope Lasers 159
12. Laser Design 164
13. Spanning the Frequency Range between Line-Center Stabilized CO2 Laser Transitions 169
14. Spectroscopic Use of CO2 Lasers outside Their Fundamental 8.9- to 12.4-µM Wavelength Range 174
References 176
Chapter 5. Dye Lasers 182
1. Introduction 182
2. Laser-Pumped Pulsed Dye Lasers 187
3. Flashlamp-Pumped Dye Lasers 194
4. cw Laser-Pumped Dye Lasers 199
5. Femtosecond-Pulsed Dye Lasers 206
6. Solid-State Dye Lasers 210
Appendix of Laser Dyes 215
References 230
Chapter 6. Transition Metal Solid-State Lasers 234
1. Introduction 234
2. Transition Metal and Lanthanide Series Lasers 240
3. Physics of Transition Metal Lasers 247
4. Cr:Al2O3 261
5. Cr:BeAl2O4 266
6. Ti:Al2O3 273
7. Cr:LiCaAlF6 and Cr:LiSrAlF6 278
8. Cr:GSGG, Cr:YSAG, and Cr:GSAG 285
9. CO:MgF2, Ni:MgF2, and V:MgF2 290
10. Wavelength Control Methods 296
References 303
Chapter 7. Optical Parametric Oscillators 308
1. Introduction 308
2. Parametric Interactions 312
3. Parametric Oscillation 316
4. Spectral Bandwidth and Acceptance Angles 321
5. Birefringence Effects 329
6. Average Power Limitations 332
7. Nonlinear Crystals 336
8. Phase-Matching Calculations 343
9. Performance 349
10. Tuning 358
References 360
Chapter 8. Tunable External-Cavity Semiconductor Lasers 364
1. Introduction 364
2. Semiconductor Optical Gain Media 367
3. Classes of External-Cavity Lasers 383
4. First-Order Properties 385
5. Feedback Model 390
6. External-Cavity Design 392
7. Cavity Components 398
8. Survey of External-Cavity Laser Designs 413
9. Mode Selectivity of Grating Cavities 422
10. Phase-Continuous Tuning 424
11. Characterization Methods for External-Cavity Lasers 427
12. Measurement of Facet and External-Cavity Reflectances 427
13. Multimode Suppression 432
14. Multiple-Wavelength Operation 435
15. Wavelength Stabilization 436
16. Advanced Modeling Topics 437
17. Construction and Packaging 442
18. Applications 445
References 450
Chapter 9. Tunable Free-Electron Lasers 458
1. Introduction 458
2. Methods of Wavelength Tuning 465
3. Broadly Tunable Optical Cavities 471
4. Wiggler Considerations 474
5. Tunable Laser Facilities and Their Characteristics 475
6. Summary 483
References 483
Index 486