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A repetitively pulsed two-frequency laser is developed. Pulsed operation of a laser based on a Nd{sup 3+} : YAG crystal with simultaneous amplification of radiation at two wavelengths in a single-pass amplifier is studied. (laser optics 2012)
Numerical simulation is used to assess the lasing threshold of helical structures of cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) in which only one turn amplifies light. This turn is located either in the centre of symmetric structures of various sizes or in an arbitrary place in asymmetric structures of preset size. In all cases, we find singularities in light amplification by a one-dimensional CLC structure for the most important band-edge modes (m1, m2 and m3) and plot the threshold gain coefficient k{sub th} against the position of the amplifying turn. For the symmetric structures, the lasing threshold of the m1 mode is shown to vary linearly with the inverse of the square of the cavity length. Moreover, modes with a lower density of photonic states (DOS) in the cavity may have a lower lasing threshold. This can be accounted for by the dependence of the density of photonic states on the position of the amplifying turn and, accordingly, by the nonuniform electromagnetic field intensity distribution along the cavity for different modes. In the asymmetric structures, the same field energy distribution is responsible for a correlation between k{sub th} and DOS curves. (lasers)
We propose and demonstrate a wide-band semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) based triple-wavelength superluminescent source with the output in the S-, C- and L-band regions. The proposed systems uses an ultra-wideband SOA with an amplification range from 1440 to 1620 nm as the linear gain medium. Three fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs) with centre wavelengths of 1500, 1540 and 1580 nm are used to generate the lasing wavelengths in the S-, Cand L-bands respectively, while a variable optical attenuator is used to finely balance the optical powers of the lasing wavelengths. The ultra-wideband SOA generates an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) spectrum with a peak power of -33 dBm at the highest SOA drive current, and also demonstrates a down-shift in the centre wavelength of the generated spectrum due to the spatial distribution of the carrier densities. The S-band wavelength is the dominant wavelength at high drive currents, with an output power of -6 dBm as compared to the C- and L-bands, which only have powers of -11 and -10 dBm, respectively. All wavelengths have a high average signal-to-noise ratio more than 60 dB at the highest drive current of 390 mA, and the system also shows a high degree of stability, with power fluctuations of less than 3 dB within 70 min. The proposed system can find many applications where a wide-band and stable laser source is crucial, such as in communications and sensing. (control of laser radiation parameters)
Amplification of broadband radiation of modeless dye laser by a noncollinear optical parametric amplifier based on a KTP crystal has been implemented upon pumping by 63-ps second-harmonic pulses of a Nd : YAG laser. Pulses with a bandwidth of 21 nm, a duration of 26 ps and an energy of 1.2 mJ have been obtained at the centre wavelength of 685 nm. (nonlinear optical phenomena)
The pump wavelength of parametric amplifiers based on CLBO, DCDA and LBO crystals and pumped by the second harmonic of a femtosecond Cr : forsterite laser (620 nm) is close to optimal for broadband amplification because of the proximity of group velocities of interacting pulses. Injection of a broadband continuum into the range of the signal-wave gain in LBO and DCDA parametric amplifiers, pumped at λ = 620 nm, leads to generation of broadband femtosecond pulses with a spectrum ranging from 1050 to 1600 nm and peak powers up to 20 MW. (nonlinear optical phenomena)
This paper examines conditions for population inversion and amplification in the terahertz range using impurity – band electron transitions in semiconductors and semiconductor structures. Our estimates indicate that stimulated emission on such transitions under optical excitation of impurities can be obtained in a semiconductor with a sufficiently high doping level if electron heating is restricted. At a CO{sub 2} laser pump power density near 0.2 MW cm{sup -2} (photon energy of 117 meV), the gain in n-GaAs may exceed the loss by 50 cm{sup -1} provided the electron gas temperature does not exceed 40 K. We analyse the influence of the carrier effective mass and doping compensation on the gain coefficient and briefly discuss the use of resonance tunnelling for obtaining stimulated emission on impurity – band transitions in quantum cascade heterostructures. (terahertz radiation)
The magnetic field distribution and electric-field amplification factor are found in the gap between periodically arranged parallel metal cylinders scattering an evanescent wave. Such a wave appears if an original plane wave is incident from the dielectric substrate onto the interface at an angle of total internal reflection. A substantial restructuring of the near-field distribution, which results from a small change in the angle of incidence, is revealed. Estimations of the angular dependence of the local field, explaining the shift and broadening of the plasmon resonance at a shorter wavelength, are presented. (nanostructures)
The mechanism of spectral broadening and self-compression of down-chirped femtosecond pulses in the visible range (473 nm) upon nonlinear interaction of a converging Gaussian beam with a 1-mm-thick fused silica plate is experimentally and theoretically investigated. It is found experimentally that when the intensity increases and plasma is formed in the sample, the regime of femtosecond pulse splitting is transformed into the single-pulse generation regime during nonlinear interaction. As a result of selfcompression, the duration of the initial transform-limited pulse is reduced by a factor of 3. Based on the numerical solution of the generalised nonlinear Schrödinger equation, with the plasma formation disregarded, it is shown that the profile, spectrum and temporal phase of the pulse transmitted through the sample acquire a stationary shape behind the focal plane of the focusing mirror. The calculation results are in good agreement with experimental data. The possibility of parametric amplification of the pulse spectral components under given experimental conditions is discussed. (extreme light fields and their applications)
A new front-end system for a cryogenic Yb : YAG laser is designed. The system consists of a femtosecond source, a stretcher and a regenerative amplifier with an output energy of 25 μJ at a pulse repetition rate of 49 kHz, a pulse duration of ∼2 ns and a bandwidth of ∼1.5 nm. After increasing the pump power of the regenerative amplifier, it is expected to achieve a pulse energy of ∼1 mJ at the input to cryogenic amplification stages, which will allow one to obtain laser pulses with a duration of several picoseconds at the output of the cryogenic laser after compression. (extreme light fields and their applications)
Output optical beam intensity and phase fluctuations are analysed in a classical approach to describing the propagation and amplification of spontaneous emission in the active region of a laser diode with a gain saturated by input monochromatic light. We find their spectral densities and dispersion and the correlation coefficient of the two-dimensional probability distribution function of the fluctuations. (lasers)
To manage dispersion of the front end in the Shanghai Superintense Ultrafast Laser Facility (SULF), which is a large-scale project aimed at delivering 10 PW laser pulses, a stretcher based on a combination of a grating and a prism (grism) pair is inserted between an Öffner-triplet-type stretcher and a regenerative amplifier to reduce high-order dispersion introduced by optical materials at the amplification stage. The alignment of the grism pair is implemented by controlling the far-field pattern of the output beam of the grism pair. The energy of the front end reaches up to 7 J at a 1-Hz repetition rate. Experimental results show that the pulse duration can be compressed to 22.4 fs and the spectral distortion over the spectrum is less than 2.25 rad. (paper)
Based on the exponential representation of signal amplification along an active fibre, we construct an analytical approximation of the solution to a system of balance equations describing the dynamics of an average signal power and pump inside a linear cavity. The output power of the signal at the ends of the linear cavity is estimated. The output power is optimised for a linear-cavity ytterbium fibre laser. (paper)
Rate equations describing the single-pass gain in an active medium with losses are analytically solved. The found relations illustrate the dependences of the amplification efficiency of Nd : YAG ceramics on the pump power density and specific losses. It is concluded that specific losses can be estimated from comparative measurements of unsaturated and saturated gains. (paper)
We study the influence of a nonstationary nonlinear response of a medium on self-compression of soliton-like laser pulses in active fibres with a finite gain bandwidth. Based on the variational approach, we qualitatively analyse the self-action of the wave packet in the system under consideration in order to classify the main evolution regimes and to determine the minimum achievable laser pulse duration during self-compression. The existence of stable soliton-type structures is shown in the framework of the parabolic approximation of the gain profile (in the approximation of the Gnizburg – Landau equation). An analysis of the self-action of laser pulses in the framework of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a sign-constant gain profile demonstrate a qualitative change in the dynamics of the wave field in the case of a nonstationary nonlinear response that shifts the laser pulse spectrum from the amplification region and stops the pulse compression. Expressions for a minimum duration of a soliton-like laser pulse are obtained as a function of the problem parameters, which are in good agreement with the results of numerical simulation. (paper)
The use of a heavily doped germanosilicate fibre with a W-profile refractive index and small core diameter in stretchers of ultrashort laser pulses with their subsequent amplification and compression in all-fibre laser systems is considered. The application of fibres of this type makes it possible to stretch, amplify, and then compress a laser pulse with minimum distortions of its initial shape and width. Due to the dispersion properties of these fibres, which allow the pulse duration to be increased significantly at a small fibre length and the third-order positive dispersion of the diffraction-grating-based output compressor to be compensated for, amplified pulses with an energy of 2 μJ and width of 250 fs, free of a picosecond pedestal, are obtained. Several types of fibres intended for the use in stretchers of ultrashort laser pulses are comparatively analysed from the point of view of their dispersion compatibility with a diffraction-grating-based output compressor. (paper)
We consider a fibre laser system generating ∼10-μJ, ∼500-fs pulses with a peak power of ∼10 MW at a repetition rate of 100 kHz and emission wavelength of 1.56 μm. The system is based on a master oscillator – power amplifier configuration. The amplifier ensures chirped-pulse amplification. The pulses are then compressed by a dispersive grating compressor. The output amplifier stage is based on a specially designed tapered large mode area erbium-doped fibre for suppressing nonlinear effects. The experimental data agree with numerical simulation results for the stretcher, amplifier and compressor. The stretcher and amplifier have been simulated using a generalised nonlinear Schrödinger equation. In addition, numerical simulation results suggest that optimising the stretcher and compressor will potentially allow the peak power of the system to be scaled up to ∼30 MW. (paper)
We have calculated the effect of four-wave mixing of the main radiation pulse with the background radiation components on the value of the output radiation contrast in a chirped pulse amplification system of petawatt laser facilities. Formulae are presented that make it possible to quantify the contributions of two mechanisms, i.e. Kerr nonlinearity of the refractive index of the amplifying medium and gain saturation. For typical values of the nonlinear refractive index, both contributions are comparable. The possibility of mutual quenching of nonlinear contributions is noted. The influence of spectral filtering of radiation on the output pulse contrast is considered. (paper)
The exact function of human gasdermin-B (GSDMB), which regulates differentiation and growth of epithelial cells, is yet to be elucidated. In human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer, GSDMB gene amplification and protein overexpression indicate a poor response to HER2-targeted therapy. Genome-wide association studies revealed a correlation between GSDMB SNPs and an increased susceptibility to Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and asthma. Here, the N- and C-terminal domains of all gasdermins possess lipid-binding and regulatory activities, respectively. Inflammatory caspases cleave gasdermin-D in the interdomain linker but not GSDMB. The cleaved N-terminal domain binds phosphoinositides and cardiolipin, forms membrane-disrupting pores, and executes pyroptosis. We show that both full-length GSDMB and the N-terminal domain bind to nitrocellulose membranes immobilized with phosphoinositides or sulfatide, but not with cardiolipin. In addition, the GSDMB N-terminal domain binds liposomes containing sulfatide. The crystal structure of the GSDMB C-terminal domain reveals the structural impact of the amino acids encoded by SNPs that are linked to asthma and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). A loop that carries the polymorphism amino acids corresponding to healthy individuals (Gly299:Pro306) exhibits high conformational flexibility, whereas the loop carrying amino acids found in individuals with increased disease risk (Arg299:Ser306) exhibits a well-defined conformation and higher positive surface charge. Apoptotic executioner caspase-3, -6, and -7, but not the inflammatory caspases, cleave GSDMB at 88 DNVD 91 within the N-terminal domain. Selective sulfatide binding may indicate possible function for GSDMB in the cellular sulfatide transport.