Analysis and design of widely tunable diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF lasers with external grating feedback

Author

Tsunekane, Masaki ; Ihara, Masahiro ; Taguchi, Noboru ; Inaba, Humio

Author_Institution

Biophotonics Inf. Lab., Yamagata, Japan

Volume

34

Issue

7

fYear

1998

fDate

7/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1288

Lastpage

1296

Abstract

We report theoretical and experimental studies on the tuning characteristics of a diode-pumped single-longitudinal-mode Cr:LiSrAlF ₆ laser with external optical feedback from a diffraction grating. The results of theoretical analysis explained the mechanism of wavelength tuning and agreed well with the measured characteristics. The simple relation, which describes the dependence of the threshold power on the reflectivity of the output coupler and on the feedback from the grating, was derived taking account of the wavelength dependence of the Cr:LiSrAlF₆ emission cross section. From these results we could optimize the reflectivity of the coupler for achieving broad-band tuning. It was found that the tuning range of 200 nm is possible if the feedback ratio from the grating is increased to 35%

Keywords

aluminium compounds; chromium; diffraction gratings; laser feedback; laser theory; laser tuning; lithium compounds; optical couplers; optical design techniques; optical pumping; reflectivity; solid lasers; strontium compounds; Cr:LiSrAlF₆ emission cross section; LiSrAlF₆:Cr; broad-band tuning; diode-pumped single-longitudinal-mode Cr:LiSrAlF₆ laser; external grating feedback; external optical feedback; feedback ratio; measured characteristics; output coupler; reflectivity; threshold power; tuning characteristics; tuning range; wavelength dependence; widely tunable diode-pumped Cr:LiSAF lasers; Diodes; Gratings; Laser feedback; Laser theory; Laser tuning; Optical design; Optical feedback; Optical tuning; Reflectivity; Tunable circuits and devices;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.687874

Filename

687874