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Advanced Solid-State Lasers

Optical bistability without cavity in Cr:LiSrGaF6 and Cr:LiSrAlF6 laser crystals

Mikhail A. Noginov, Martina Vondrova, B. D. Lucas

Published Jan 1, 2001• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A very strong nonlinearity in the temperature dependence of the luminescence quantum yield in the Cr:LiSrGaF6 and Cr:LiSrAlF6 laser crystal can lead to a temperature induced intrinsic optical bistability in these materials. The bistability and the hysteresis loop in the dependence of the Cr luminescence intensity and the transmission of the crystal on cw pumping power has been theoretically predicted and experimentally observed. The experimental results are in a good agreement with the theoretical prediction.

DOI
10.1364/assl.2001.mb20

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•Jan 1, 1999•0 citations
A very strong nonlinearity in the temperature dependence of the luminescence quantum yield in the Cr:LiSrGaF6 and Cr:LiSrAlF6 laser crystal can lead to a temperature induced intrinsic optical bistability in these materials. The bistability and the hysteresis loop in the dependence of the Cr luminescence intensity and the transmission of the crystal on cw pumping power has been theoretically predicted and experimentally observed. The experimental results are in a good agreement with the theoretical prediction.
Summary form only given. An intrinsic optical bistability can find potential applications in optical logic elements and switches for optical computing, telecommunication, etc. The effect can be predicted in many different systems with various physical mechanisms of nonlinearity. The bistability derived as a consequence of modification of the optical Bloch equations after introducing the local field correction terms, was first experimentally observed in Yb/sup 3+/:Cs/sub 3/ Y/sub 2/Br/sub 9/. We theoretically predict and experimentally demonstrate an intrinsic bistability in luminescence and transmission of Cr doped LiSrGaF/sub 6/ (LiSGaF) and LiSrAlF/sub 6/ (LiSAF) crystals, in which the luminescence quantum yield has a strongly nonlinear dependence on temperature T.
The transient dynamics and the kinetics of switching between two stable states in Cr:LiSrGaF6 laser crystal, a material with thermally induced intrinsic optical bistability, have been studied. It has been shown that the characteristic switching time τswitch can be shorter than that determined by the heat transfer in a linear regime. In the quasi-steady-state regime, the rate of switching (τswitch-1) in the system studied is proportional to the square root of the area of the steady-state hysteresis loop. The switching time τswitch can be controlled by changing system parameters, such as the temperature of the heat sink, the heat sinking efficiency, the rate of the pumping power increase, etc. When the pumping power is continuously changed at the rate R, the increment in the switching rate Δτswitch-1 is proportional to R2/3.
Intrinsic optical bistability and dynamic hysteresis phenomenon, induced by nonlinear excitation and energy level coupling, are predicted theoretically in single Tm-doped laser crystal pumped at 648nm avalanche wavelength. Taking into account the dominant energy transfer processes including excited state absorption, cross relaxation, energy transfer up-conversion and decay of the metastable level Tm3+ 3F4, the analytical formula of avalanche threshold condition are deduced in the steady-state approximation. Based on the theory of microscopic coupled rate equations, intrinsic optical bistability and influence of system parameters on hysteresis loop are studied numerically in detail by using a four-order Runge-Kutta technique. The numerical results predict that intrinsic optical bistability of near 2 micrometer fluorescence emission relevant to Tm 3F4→3H6 transition is achievable experimentally in single Tm-doped laser crystal. For realization of low threshold optical bistability and notable bistable hysteresis loop, it is beneficial to properly increase Tm3+-doped concentration and suppress energy transfer up-conversion. Furthermore, the interesting results obtained numerically show that laser-induced thermal effect is not the indispensable factor for occurrences of intrinsic optical bistability in rear-earth-doped crystal. Cooperation of nonliear excitation and energy level coupling can essentially lead to intrinsic optical bistability in rear-earth-doped system.
This thesis reports experiments and theory on intrinsic mirrorless bistability in the luminescence of ytterbium-doped crystals and glasses. The main results are the observation of intrinsically bistable luminescence at room temperature and chromatic switching at low temperature, reported here for the first time. The nonlinear dynamics responsible for these optical phenomena are shown to arise from ion-ion interactions controlled by the application of resonant electromagnetic fields. On the theoretical side, the classical Lorentz local field correction is shown to be the lowest order term of radiation-driven correlation contributions to local polarization which arise from inter-ion coherences and cooperative relaxation and frequency shifts beyond the dynamic shift are predicted. The nonlinear Maxwell-Bloch equations are extended to describe energy transfer between different species of ions predicting bistability in excited state populations which then emit bistable luminescence as a consequence, and an intensity dependent transfer rate is predicted. Diffusive excitation migration in space is also explored as a possible mechanism for generating multiple instabilities, but is not predicted to give rise to hysteresis loops by itself. On the experimental side, original observations of intrinsic optical switching and hysteresis are reported in the luminescence of Yb:CsCdBr 3 and Yb, Tm:glass. Evidence of cross-coupling between different impurities is also presented, together with spectroscopic details of intrinsic chromatic switching between different luminescent transitions of the acceptor species in Yb, Er:CsCdBr3 excited at the infrared Yb resonance wavelength. Conclusive spectroscopic evidence that excludes thermal effects as responsible for low temperature intrinsic switching is also presented. Room temperature intrinsic optical switching and hysteresis are reported for the first time in bulk Yb,Tm:glass samples. Switching, hysteresis, and clamping of laser output from waveguide channels fabricated in the glass material are also reported and indicate fundamental design limitations for compact optical amplifiers and oscillators.