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Single-mode distributed feedback (DFB) laser diodes typically reqire a two-step epitaxial growth or use of a corrugated substrate. We demonstrate InGaAs-GaAs-AlGaAs DFB lasers fabricated from a single epitaxial growth using lateral evanescent coupling of the optical field to a surface grating etched along the sides of the ridge.
With the emergence of lead-salt diode laser technology, a broad and important IR spectral region, roughly 3-30 microns, became accessible to tunable laser spectroscopy. More recent advances in fabrication techniques have provided experimenters with relatively high power quasi-single-mode high-temperature lasers that are readily adapted to compact automated instruments for field experiments. An especially attractive capability of diode lasers is the ease of using them for simultaneous multiconstituent sampling in the atmosphere. This paper presents a summary description of field instruments for atmospheric research which employ diode lasers and second-harmonic detection. Representative results obtained with some of these instruments are presented.
The evacuated wall coated sealed cell coupled with diode laser optical pumping offers a number of attractive potential advantages for use in Rb or Cs atomic frequency standards. An investigation of systematic effects is required to explore possible limitations of the technique. The use of diode laser optical pumping of 87 Rb in an evacuated wall coated sealed cell is presented. Experimental results/discussion to be presented include the signal strength and line broadening of the 0 - 0 hyperfine resonance as a function of light intensity for the D1 optical transitions (F - F prime) - (2 1 prime) and (2 - 2 prime), shift of the 0 - 0 hyperfine frequency as a function of laser intensity and de-tuning from optical resonance, and diode laser frequency stabilization techniques.
Results of a study to determine the optimum laser rod diameter for maximum output energy in a solid state neodymium laser transversely pumped with multiple laser diode arrays are reported here. Experiments were performed with 1.0 mm, 1.5 mm and 2.0 mm rod radii of both neodymium doped Y3Al5O12 (Nd:YAG) and La2Be2O5 (Nd:BeL) pumped with laser diode arrays having a maximum combined energy of 10.5 mJ. Equations were derived which predict the optimum rod radius and corresponding output mirror reflectivity for a given laser material and total pump energy. Predictions of the equations agreed well with the experiments for each of the laser materials which possessed significantly different laser properties from one another.
Operating high power laser diode arrays in long pulse regime of about 1 msec, which is required for pumping 2-micron thulium and holmium-based lasers, greatly limits their useful lifetime. This paper describes performance of laser diode arrays operating in long pulse mode and presents experimental data of the active region temperature and pulse-to-pulse thermal cycling that are the primary cause of their premature failure and rapid degradation. This paper will then offer a viable approach for determining the optimum design and operational parameters leading to the maximum attainable lifetime.
The dual-beam diode laser spectrometer described by Jennings (1980) is adapted to use a 50-cm confocal etalon for frequency calibration. The collimated radiation from the laser is split at a wedged ZnSe window, and the reference beam is then focused at the midpoint of the etalon length. After the etalon, the reference beam is recollimated and continues its regular path to the monochromator and detectors. An aperture is placed before the etalon in order to limit the entrance beam diameter to approximately 5 mm. Both ends of the etalon are furnished with two-axis adjustments. Initial alignment is achieved using an He-Ne laser, and final optimization involves adjustment of the cavity length as well as the etalon pitch and yaw. The 50-cm confocal etalon produces fringes separated by 150 MHz (0.005/cm). With the aid of a CO2 laser, it is found to have fringe widths (FWHM) of 2 MHz. The confocal etalon makes it possible to improve the accuracy of relative frequency measurements in diode laser spectra and to check the spectral purity and stability of the laser during the recording of spectra.
Report describes state of art of tunable-diode-laser second-harmonic spectroscopy applied to measurements of concentrations of trace constituents of atmosphere. Combination of temperature, composition, and drive-current tuning, wavelengths of tunable diode lasers varied over infrared range of 3 to 30 micrometer, containing spectral lines of many molecules of interest in atmospheric research.
The 2-micron thulium and holmium-based lasers being considered as the transmitter source for space-based coherent Doppler lidar require high power laser diode pump arrays operating in a long pulse regime of about 1 msec. Operating laser diode arrays over such long pulses drastically impact their useful lifetime due to the excessive localized heating and substantial pulse-to-pulse thermal cycling of their active regions. This paper describes the long pulse performance of laser diode arrays and their critical thermal characteristics. A viable approach is then offered that allows for determining the optimum operational parameters leading to the maximum attainable lifetime.
We have investigated the intensity noise of single mode laser diodes, either free-running or using different types of line narrowing techniques at room temperature. We have measured an intensity squeezing of 1.2 dB with grating-extended cavity lasers and 1.4 dB with injection locked lasers (respectively 1.6 dB and 2.3 dB inferred at the laser output). We have observed that the intensity noise of a free-running nominally single mode laser diode results from a cancellation effect between large anti-correlated fluctuations of the main mode and of weak longitudinal side modes. Reducing the side modes by line narrowing techniques results in intensity squeezing.
TRW has developed a prototype driver circuit for GaAs laser diodes as part of the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center's Direct Detection Laser Transceiver (DDLT) program. The circuit is designed to drive the laser diode over a range of user-selectable data rates from 1.7 to 220 Mbps, Manchester-encoded, while ensuring compatibility with 8-bit and quaternary pulse position modulation (QPPM) formats for simulating deep space communications. The resulting hybrid circuit has demonstrated 10 to 90 percent rise and fall times of less than 300 ps at peak currents exceeding 100 mA.
Recent developments in the technology of Pb-salt diode lasers which have led to significant improvements in reliability and lifetime, and to improved operation at very long wavelengths are described. A combination of packaging and contacting-metallurgy improvements has led to diode lasers that are stable both in terms of temperature cycling and shelf-storage time. Lasers cycled over 500 times between 77 K and 300 K have exhibited no measurable changes in either electrical contact resistance or threshold current. Utilizing metallurgical contacting process, both lasers and experimental n-type and p-type bulk materials are shown to have electrical contact resistance values that are stable for shelf storage periods well in excess of one year. Problems and experiments which have led to devices with improved performance stability are discussed. Stable device configurations achieved for material compositions yielding lasers which operate continuously at wavelengths as long as 30.3 micrometers are described.
The trapped ytterbium ion frequency standard under development at JPL is designed to supply ultra-stable reference signals to be used in spacecraft tests of general relativity and other science experiments. Only diode lasers meet the requirements of low power comsumption and small size for use aboard spacecraft, but diode lasers are not currently available at 369.4 nm wavelength. It is therefore necessary to employ frequency doubling methods to reach this frequency with diode lasers. Here we present the characteristics of the resonant cavity doubling system we have designed and preliminary UV conversion results.
NASA s requirements for high reliability, high performance satellite laser instruments have driven the investigation of many critical components; specifically, 808 nm laser diode array (LDA) pump devices. Performance and comprehensive characterization data of Quasi-CW, High-power, laser diode arrays is presented.
A high power channeled substrate planar AlGaAs diode laser with an emission wavelength of 8600 to 8800 A was developed. The optoelectronic behavior (power current, single spatial and spectral behavior, far field characteristics, modulation, and astigmatism properties) and results of computer modeling studies on the performance of the laser are discussed. Lifetest data on these devices at high output power levels is also included. In addition, a new type of channeled substrate planar laser utilizing a Bragg grating to stabilize the longitudinal mode was demonstrated. The fabrication procedures and optoelectronic properties of this new diode laser are described.
Miniature Stirling-cycle cooler effective in continously cooling PbSnTe tunable diode laser to stable operating temperature near 80 K. Simplifies laboratory diode-laser spectroscopy and instruments for use aboard aircraft and balloons.
Computer-controlled electrically-activated valves for rapid gas-handling have been incorporated into the Stable Isotope Laser Spectrometer (SILS) which now permits rapid filling and evacuating of the sample and reference gas cells, Experimental protocols have been developed to take advantage of the fast gas handling capabilities of the instrument and to achieve increased accuracy which results from reduced instrumental drift during rapid isotopic ratio measurements. Using these protocols' accuracies of 0.5 del (0.05%) have been achieved in measurements of 13C/12C in carbon dioxide. Using the small stable isotope laser spectrometer developed in a related PIDDP project of the Co-I, protocols for acquisition of rapid sequential calibration spectra were developed which resulted in 0.5 del accuracy also being achieved in this less complex instrument. An initial version of software for automatic characterization of tunable diode lasers has been developed and diodes have been characterized in order to establish their spectral output properties. A new state-of-the-art high operating temperature (200 K) mid infrared diode laser was purchased (through NASA procurement) and characterized. A thermo-electrically cooled mid infrared tunable diode laser system for use with high temperature operation lasers was developed. In addition to isotopic ratio measurements of carbon and oxygen, measurements of a third biologically important element (15N/14N in N2O gas) have been achieved to a preliminary accuracy of about 0.2%. Transfer of the basic SILS technology to the commercial sector is proceeding under an unfunded Space Act Agreement between NASA and SpiraMed, a medical diagnostic instrument company. Two patents have been issued. Foreign patents based on these two US patents have been applied for and are expected to be issued. A preliminary design was developed for a thermo-electrically cooled SILS instruments for application to planetary space flight exploration missions.
In situ stratospheric measurements of the concentrations of the reservoir species HNO3 and HCl made during two flights of the high-resolution (0.0005/cm) balloon-borne laser in situ sensor instrument from Palestine, Texas, are reported. A measured HNO3 volume mixing ratio of 4.3 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) at 31 km altitude is about 1 ppbv larger than previously reported measurements at 32 deg N. An HCl mixing ratio of 1.6 ppbv at 29 km is in agreement with values obtained from earlier remote sensing techniques within the experimental uncertainties. Upper limits at 31 km of 0.4 ppbv for H2O2 and 0.2 ppbv for HOCl are also derived from analyses of spectra recorded near 1252/cm.
Requirements for ohmic contacts to laser diodes are discussed, and properties of Schottky barrier tunneling contacts are reviewed. A procedure is described for measuring contact resistance on fabricated laser material without the need for specially constructed samples and contact configurations. Measurements of contact resistance and estimates of specific contact resistance are given for Ti/Pt/Au contacts to surfaces with three different doping levels. It was found that below a p-type carrier concentration of 1 x 10 to the 19th per cu cm the contact resistance is likely to be too high for good device performance. At higher doping levels, a specific contact resistance as low as 2 x 10 to the -6th ohm sq cm was obtained. Oxide stripe lasers provided with the type of contact discussed in this paper have been operated without failures for periods up to 7 years at a current density at the contact of 6-8 kA/sq cm. It appears therefore that these contacts satisfy the need for low resistance and durability and that, at the same time, they do not cause any obvious material degradation.