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Fan, T. Y.

Publications and source records attributed to Fan, T. Y..

7 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1998

Yb:YAG Lasers for Space Based Remote Sensing

Diode pumped solid state lasers will play a prominent role in future remote sensing missions because of their intrinsic high efficiency and low mass. Applications including altimetry, cloud and aerosol measurement, wind velocity measurement by both coherent and incoherent methods, and species measurements, with appropriate frequency converters, all will benefit from a diode pumped primary laser. To date the "gold standard" diode pumped Nd laser has been the laser of choice for most of these concepts. This paper discusses an alternate 1 micron laser, the YB:YAG laser, and its potential relevance for lidar applications. Conceptual design analysis and, to the extent possible at the time of the conference, preliminary experimental data on the performance of a bread board YB:YAG oscillator will be presented. The paper centers on application of YB:YAG for altimetry, but extension to other applications will be discussed.

Ewing, J.J.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Continuous-wave operation of a room-temperature, diode-laser-pumped, 946-nm Nd:YAG laser

Single-stripe diode-laser-pumped operation of a continuous-wave 946-nm Nd:YAG laser with less than 10-mW threshold has been demonstrated. A slope efficiency of 16 percent near threshold was shown with a projected slope efficiency well above a threshold of 34 percent based on results under Rhodamine 6G dye-laser pumping. Nonlinear crystals for second-harmonic generation of this source were evaluated. KNbO3 and periodically poled LiNbO3 appear to be the most promising.

Fan, T. Y.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Diode pumped solid-state laser oscillators for spectroscopic applications

The rapid improvement in diode laser pump sources has led to the recent progress in diode laser pumped solid state lasers. To date, electrical efficiencies of greater than 10 percent were demonstrated. As diode laser costs decrease with increased production volume, diode laser and diode laser array pumped solid state lasers will replace the traditional flashlamp pumped Nd:YAG laser sources. The use of laser diode array pumping of slab geometry lasers will allow efficient, high peak and average power solid state laser sources to be developed. Perhaps the greatest impact of diode laser pumped solid state lasers will be in spectroscopic applications of miniature, monolithic devices. Single-stripe diode-pumped operation of a continuous-wave 946 nm Nd:YAG laser with less than 10 m/w threshold was demonstrated. A slope efficiency of 16 percent near threshold was shown with a projected slope efficiency well above a threshold of 34 percent based on results under Rhodamine 6G dye-laser pumping. Nonlinear crystals for second-harmonic generation of this source were evaluated. The KNbO3 and periodically poled LiNbO3 appear to be the most promising.

Byer, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Diode-pumped continuous-wave Nd:glass laser

The paper reports on diode-laser pumping of monolithic Nd:glass laser oscillators. End pumping with a single-stripe diode laser, a threshold of 2.2 mW, and a slope efficiency of 42 percent were observed on a 2-mm-long oscillator with a mode radius of 35 microns. The oscillator generated 2.5 mW of single-ended output power in many axial modes.

Kozlovsky, W. J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Two-step excitation and blue fluorescence under continuous-wave pumping in Nd:YLF

Near-UV and blue fluorescence from the 4D3/2 and 4D5/2 manifolds in Nd:YLF has been observed at room temperature under CW pumping by a rhodamine 590 dye laser. Excitation to these manifolds is attributed to two-step excitation involving excited-state absorption from the 4F3/2 metastable level. A similar phenomenon has also been observed in Nd:YAG and Nd:glass. The effective excited-state absorption cross section is measured to be (2 + or - 1) x 10 to the -20th sq cm at 587.4 nm in the pi polarization, and the peak effective stimulated emission cross section is measured to be 5 x 10 to the -20th sq cm at 411.7 nm, also in the pi polarization. Estimated laser threshold at 411.7 nm for two-step pumping at 587.4 nm is 70 mW.

Fan, T. Y.↗