Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Optics Letters

Optical bistability effects in a Tm,Ho:YLF laser at room temperature

Xinlu Zhang, Yuezhu Wang

Published Aug 2, 2007• 22 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We demonstrate strong optical bistability in a 2 microm continuous-wave Tm,Ho:YLF laser pumped by a 792 nm laser diode near room temperature. The bistable region is as much as 100 mW wide at 283 K and can be controlled by the temperature of the laser crystal. The influence of crystal temperature on the characteristics of optical bistability is obtained. The influence of the pump-to-mode ratio on the bistable characteristics of the laser is also discussed. To our knowledge this is the first report of optical bistability effects in Tm,Ho:YLF lasers.

DOI
10.1364/ol.32.002333

Related papers

Optical bistability in an end-pumped Tm,Ho:YLF laser at room temperature

Xinlu Zhang, Li Li, Jinhui Cui

We demonstrate strong optical bistability in 2μm continuous wave Tm,Ho:YLF laser pumped by a 792nm laser diode near room temperature. The bistable region is as much as 100mW wide at 283K and can be controlled by the temperature of the laser crystal. The influence of crystal temperature on the characteristics of optical bistability is obtained. The influence of the pump-to-mode ratio on the bistable characteristics of the laser is also discussed.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Nov 21, 2007•0 citations

End-pumped optical bistability Tm,Ho:YLF laser

Xiaolin Zhang, Y. Wang, Li Li +3 more

We experimentally demonstrate strong optical bistability in a 2 μm continuous wave Tm,Ho:YLF laser with a bulk crystal. The laser is end-pumped by a 792 nm fiber-coupled laser diode. The bistable region is as wide as 1.6 W and the jump power at the turning point is as high as 82.5 mW when the temperature of the laser crystal is kept at 253 K. The influences of the cavity length and the transmission of the output coupler on the characteristics of optical bistability are obtained. The theoretical analysis shows that the bistable output in the Tm,Ho:YLF lasers comes from the combined effects of the nonlinear saturation of ground state reabsorption, the energy transfer upconversion, and the excited state absorption.

Laser Physics•Mar 1, 2009•11 citations

Controlled optical bistability switching in a diode-pumped Tm,Ho:LLF laser

X L Zhang, Long Yu, S Zhang +5 more

We report on the experimental demonstration of stable all-optical switching between two steady state values of optical bistability from a laser diode end-pumped quasi-three-level Tm,Ho:LLF laser in the 2 μm spectral region. The width of the hysteresis cycle and jump power values can be efficiently controlled by changing the length of the cavity, which is very important to adjust and optimize the optical switching process. The all-optical bistable switching effect is realized by only adding short positive and negative trigger pulses to the pump light. This is, to our knowledge, the first observation of all-optical bistable switching in a rare earth doped solid state laser.

Laser Physics Letters•Oct 22, 2013•12 citations

Mechanism analysis and numerical investigation of optical bistability in 2μm Tm,Ho:YLF solid laser

Xinlu Zhang, Bo Jiang, Guang-Zong Dong +2 more

A self-saturated absorption regime is proposed to theoretically investigate the optical bistability of Tm,Ho:YLF laser. Based on this bistability regime, the rate equation model of the optical bistability is established. The optical bistability behaviors of Tm,Ho:YLF laser are obtained by numerical simulating. The relation between laser gain and loss are also analyzed to confirm the rationality of the bistability mechanism. Furthermore, the time characters of the optical bistability are investigated. It is found that the high pulse power and the duration of the pre-pump are two major factors that affect the laser turn-on delay time and their influences on the turn-on delay are analyzed.

Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE•Oct 21, 2010•2 citations

Optical bistability of Tm, Ho:YLF laser due to ground state reabsorption and energy transfer upconversion

Xinlu Zhang, Bo Jiang, Guang-Zong Dong +3 more

The optical bistability of Tm, Ho:YLF laser is theoretically investigated based on the rate equation theory model in this paper. The optical bistability output is obtained by numerical simulation, and the influence of energy transfer upconversion on the bistability behavior is analyzed. Furthermore, the formation scheme of optical bistability is also discussed by the relation between the gain and the loss. The theoretical analysis shows that the saturation of ground state reabsorption and energy transfer upconversion effect are necessary to the optical bistability of Tm, Ho:YLF laser.

Academic Symposium on Optoelectronics and Microelectronics Technology and Chinese-Russian Symposium on Laser Physics and Laser TechnologyOptoelectronics Technology•Jul 1, 2010•1 citation

Pump interference and optical bistability effects in a Tm, Ho:YAG microlaser

V. Hartwell, H. Nakajima, Nicholas Djeu

Thermally induced bistability in a Tm, Ho:YAG microlaser has been observed. Theoretical results obtained from a simple plane-wave model are found to describe adequately the experimental transmission and reflection bistability data. The effect of pump interference on the single-mode operation of the laser is discussed.

Optics Letters•Nov 1, 1995•7 citations
We demonstrate strong optical bistability in a 2 microm continuous-wave Tm,Ho:YLF laser pumped by a 792 nm laser diode near room temperature. The bistable region is as much as 100 mW wide at 283 K and can be controlled by the temperature of the laser crystal. The influence of crystal temperature on the characteristics of optical bistability is obtained. The influence of the pump-to-mode ratio on the bistable characteristics of the laser is also discussed. To our knowledge this is the first report of optical bistability effects in Tm,Ho:YLF lasers.
We experimentally demonstrate strong optical bistability in a 2 μm continuous wave Tm,Ho:YLF laser with a bulk crystal. The laser is end-pumped by a 792 nm fiber-coupled laser diode. The bistable region is as wide as 1.6 W and the jump power at the turning point is as high as 82.5 mW when the temperature of the laser crystal is kept at 253 K. The influences of the cavity length and the transmission of the output coupler on the characteristics of optical bistability are obtained. The theoretical analysis shows that the bistable output in the Tm,Ho:YLF lasers comes from the combined effects of the nonlinear saturation of ground state reabsorption, the energy transfer upconversion, and the excited state absorption.
We report on the experimental demonstration of stable all-optical switching between two steady state values of optical bistability from a laser diode end-pumped quasi-three-level Tm,Ho:LLF laser in the 2 μm spectral region. The width of the hysteresis cycle and jump power values can be efficiently controlled by changing the length of the cavity, which is very important to adjust and optimize the optical switching process. The all-optical bistable switching effect is realized by only adding short positive and negative trigger pulses to the pump light. This is, to our knowledge, the first observation of all-optical bistable switching in a rare earth doped solid state laser.
A self-saturated absorption regime is proposed to theoretically investigate the optical bistability of Tm,Ho:YLF laser. Based on this bistability regime, the rate equation model of the optical bistability is established. The optical bistability behaviors of Tm,Ho:YLF laser are obtained by numerical simulating. The relation between laser gain and loss are also analyzed to confirm the rationality of the bistability mechanism. Furthermore, the time characters of the optical bistability are investigated. It is found that the high pulse power and the duration of the pre-pump are two major factors that affect the laser turn-on delay time and their influences on the turn-on delay are analyzed.
The optical bistability of Tm, Ho:YLF laser is theoretically investigated based on the rate equation theory model in this paper. The optical bistability output is obtained by numerical simulation, and the influence of energy transfer upconversion on the bistability behavior is analyzed. Furthermore, the formation scheme of optical bistability is also discussed by the relation between the gain and the loss. The theoretical analysis shows that the saturation of ground state reabsorption and energy transfer upconversion effect are necessary to the optical bistability of Tm, Ho:YLF laser.