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Japanese Journal of Applied Physics

Influence of Giant Pulse Irradiation on a Ruby Laser

Toshizo Nakaya, Hirobumi Okabe

Published Sep 1, 1967• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

In an optical system, consisting of two ruby lasers (one is Q-switching operation, the other normal operation), the following phenomena have been studied on the basis of the experimental results obtained on the fractional metastable state population; 1) quenching of normal laser oscillation, 2) amplification of incident giant pulse by maser mechanism, and 3) changes in giant pulse characteristics by giant pulse irradiation in a Q-switching laser with saturable absorber.

DOI
10.1143/jjap.6.1109

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We have found that the amplitudes of the optical FID, two-pulse photon echoes and stimulated photon echoes in ruby measured as a function of applied magnetic field exhibit sharp increases at the magnetic fields where two Zeeman splittings in the ground state 4 A 2 or in the excited state \bar E ( 2 E ) are harmonically related. The phenomena are confirmed to be inherent in the Stark (or frequency) switching experiment where the sample is subjected to the cw irradiation, and the origin of the sharp increases be the change of the steady state population in 4 A 2 of the nonresonant Cr ions caused by a combined action of the cw optical pumping and the spin-spin cross relaxation. The mechanism involved is successfully explained by the analysis based on the rate equations.

Journal of the Physical Society of Japan•Dec 1, 1980•3 citations
In an optical system, consisting of two ruby lasers (one is Q-switching operation, the other normal operation), the following phenomena have been studied on the basis of the experimental results obtained on the fractional metastable state population; 1) quenching of normal laser oscillation, 2) amplification of incident giant pulse by maser mechanism, and 3) changes in giant pulse characteristics by giant pulse irradiation in a Q-switching laser with saturable absorber.
The degree of the decrease in the population of ground-state Cr ions in ruby brought about by optical pumping with Xe flash light has been measured as a function of time under Q-switching operation. The measurement has been made by observing the decrease in absorbing power of the ruby crystal for a probe light (Hg 5461Å), (γ), while Q-switching with a rotating prism or saturable absorber (Cryptocyanine). Observations of rapid change of (γ) due to the emission of giant pulse laser light have been carried out, with the very satisfactory results. At the occurrence of a giant pulse, the higher the initial value of (γ) is, the lower becomes the final value of (γ).
In a study of the mechanism of giant pulse amplification in Nd3+doped glass, the following measurements have been made: 1) energy extracted from an amplifier as a function of the input energy, 2) relative fluorescence intensity at 0.9μ in a slab, pumped by the emission of a ruby laser, and 3) gain variation after the transit of an intense, short, rectangular pulse. The experimental results have been compared to theoretical results from a model where both metastable and terminal levels are regarded as comprising two components. The unknown multiplicity of the lower component of the terminal level g11appears as a parameter. It is assumed that during the pulse duration, Boltzmann distribution is maintained between the components of each level. A finite terminal level lifetime τnmay be introduced in the model. Best agreement is obtained with the following values of the parameters: amplification cross section\sigma_{21}\simeq 1.8.10^{-20}cm2,g_{11} = 1or 2, and\tau_{11} \geq 100ns.
In a laser with a saturable absorber (LSA), two spatially separated cells are placed in the laser cavity as shown in Figure 8.1. The roles of the two cells are quite different: one of them is pumped so that the atoms have a positive population inversion (active or amplifying medium); the other one is left with a negative population inversion (passive or absorbing medium). As these two media are in general different, they saturate at different power levels. The most interesting case corresponds to the situation where the absorber saturates more easily than the active medium, introducing nonlinear losses inside the cavity. This new nonlinearity is responsible for two phenomena. An LSA may exhibit optical bistability, i.e. two distinct stable steady states may coexist for a range of values of a parameter. It may also produce pulsating intensity oscillations which have been called “passive Q-switching” (PQS) in contrast to “active Q-switching” experiments such as the “gain switching” experiments discussed in Section 1.3.2. The interest in LSAs varied very much over time, with peaks in the late 1960s for their large intensity pulses, in the mid 1980s for their chaotic outputs, and in the late 1990s for the design of compact microlasers. Historically, physicists trying to explain the irregular intensity pulses delivered by the ruby laser suspected the possible destabilizing role of a saturable absorber. Shimoda proposed that the nonlinear losses generated by a saturable absorber could explain this phenomenon.
The interaction between waves in an idealized saturable absorber is discussed. It is shown that the presence of a strong wave will cause the line to appear to be ``hole-burned'' when probed by a second wave, even though the broadening mechanisms are conventionally homogeneous. This effect would be expected to work against the tendency of dye-switched ruby lasers to operate in a single mode. Related effects should play a role in optical pulse generators and in other devices using saturable absorbers.
Pulsed oscillation of a three-level ruby maser of which pumping microwave was modulated by pulse was investigated. The time lag t d of the oscillation pulse behind the pumping pulse was determined experimentally as a function of the peak level P of the pumping power, and the period T and the width τ of the pumping pulse. A semi-empirical formula t d =t 0(\frac{P_{c}}{P}) k exp [b(\frac{T}{\tau})1-δ\frac{P_{c}}{P}] was obtained. The minimum pulse width τ m required for the oscillation to occur was determined as a function of P and T, which was approximately expressed by τ m =c\frac{T^{m}}{P^{n}}. The above results were qualitatively interpreted in terms of excess population Δ n,
We have found that the amplitudes of the optical FID, two-pulse photon echoes and stimulated photon echoes in ruby measured as a function of applied magnetic field exhibit sharp increases at the magnetic fields where two Zeeman splittings in the ground state 4 A 2 or in the excited state \bar E ( 2 E ) are harmonically related. The phenomena are confirmed to be inherent in the Stark (or frequency) switching experiment where the sample is subjected to the cw irradiation, and the origin of the sharp increases be the change of the steady state population in 4 A 2 of the nonresonant Cr ions caused by a combined action of the cw optical pumping and the spin-spin cross relaxation. The mechanism involved is successfully explained by the analysis based on the rate equations.