Intracavity Diamond Research Articles

Isolator-free 60 W diamond Raman laser at 607 nm.

We report an intra-cavity frequency doubled diamond Raman laser operating at 607 nm. A z-fold cavity design was configured to prevent back reflections into the fiber amplifier, which avoided the use of isolators in the pump beam path. A maximum output power of 60 W was generated in two output beams at an optical conversion efficiency of 28% from the 1045 nm pump. A maximum single-beam output power of 40 W was obtained using a highly reflecting end mirror for the visible. Output power and single frequency stability are negatively impacted by an increasing role of stimulated Brillouin scattering at output powers above 10 W.

Eye-safe intra-cavity diamond cascaded Raman laser with high peak-power and narrow linewidth

Eye-safe intra-cavity diamond cascaded Raman laser with high peak-power and narrow linewidth

High-power dual-wavelength intracavity diamond Raman laser

Diamond crystals have garnered significant attention for applications in photonics, owing to their characteristics of ultra-high thermal conductivity, extremely broad spectral transmission range, and high Raman gain coefficient. These characteristics are particularly advantageous for the development of high-power, multi-wavelength lasers. In this work, we utilize single crystal diamond as a Raman gain medium, for intracavity wavelength-conversion of emission from a side-pumped, electro-optically Q-switched Nd:YAG module. Cascaded Raman conversion is demonstrated and dual-wavelength, pulsed laser emission at wavelengths of 1.2 μm (first-Stokes wavelength) and 1.5 μm (second-Stokes wavelength) is achieved (with a maximum combined pulse energy of 6.19 mJ). The relative ratio of output energy at the two Stokes orders could be varied by tuning the characteristics of the output coupling mirror and the length of the laser resonator. When operating at maximum pump power, the pulse width of the second-Stokes field was approximately half that of the first-Stokes field (second-Stokes ∼10 ns, first-Stokes ∼18 ns), resulting in maximum peak powers of 174 kW (at 1.2 μm) and 220 kW (at 1.5 μm). To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest reported peak power generated from a dual-wavelength, intracavity diamond Raman laser. This work highlights the diversity and utility of diamond as an effective wavelength-conversion component in high-power lasers, and stands as the current state-of-the-art in high pulse-energy, high peak-power, multi-wavelength intracavity Raman lasers.

Intra-cavity diamond Raman laser at 1634 nm.

We demonstrated an eye-safe diamond Raman laser intra-cavity pumped by the 1.3 μm fundamental field for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The first-Stokes laser at 1634 nm was converted from the 1342 nm fundamental laser, which was produced by an in-band pumped double-end diffusion-bonded a-cut Nd:YVO4 crystal. Under an incident pump power of 21.2 W and an optimal pulse repetition frequency of 25 kHz, the maximum average output power of 2.0 W was obtained with the pulse duration of 5.7 ns and the peak power of 14 kW. The first-Stokes emission was found to be near diffraction limited (M2 ≈ 1.3) and to have a narrow linewidth (∼0.05 nm FWHM; instrument limited).

Investigation of a highly compact intracavity actively Q-switched cascade diamond Raman laser.

A laser diode (LD) pumped intracavity chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond cascade Raman laser is reported here. By rotating a Brewster plate (BP) in the laser resonator, the Raman laser with tunable output coupling rate is achieved. The highly compact diamond laser emitted 1240 nm and 1485 nm Stokes light simultaneously via optimization of the pumping direction. The slope efficiency of the intracavity diamond laser is improved by optimizing the output coupling rate and adjusting the repetition rate of the 1064 nm fundamental laser. Ultimately, the maximum slope efficiency of the first Stokes light (1240 nm) is 16.8%, and the corresponding output power is about 0.6 W. The maximum peak power is 2.5 kW when the power of 808 nm LD is 34.7 W.

Infrared laser threshold magnetometry with a NV doped diamond intracavity etalon.

We propose a hybrid laser system consisting of a semiconductor external cavity laser associated to an intra-cavity diamond etalon doped with nitrogen-vacancy color centers. We consider laser emission tuned to the infrared absorption line that is enhanced under the magnetic field dependent nitrogen-vacancy electron spin resonance and show that this architecture leads to a compact solid-state magnetometer that can be operated at room-temperature. The sensitivity to the magnetic field limited by the photonshot-noise of the output laser beam is estimated to be less than 1pT/Hz. Unlike usual NV center infrared magnetometry, this method would not require an external frequency stabilized laser. Since the proposed system relies on the competition between the laser threshold and an intracavity absorption, such laser-based optical sensor could be easily adapted to a broad variety of sensing applications based on absorption spectroscopy.

High performance wafer-fused semiconductor disk lasers emitting in the 1300 nm waveband

We report for the first time on the performance of 1300 nm waveband semiconductor disc lasers (SDLs) with wafer fused gain mirrors that implement intracavity diamond and flip-chip heat dissipation schemes based on the same gain material. With a new type of gain mirror structure, maximum output power values reach 7.1 W with intracavity diamond gain mirrors and 5.6 W with flip-chip gain mirrors, using a pump spot diameter of 300 µm, exhibiting a beam quality factor M(2)< 1.25 in the full operation range. These results confirm previously published theoretical modeling of these types of SDLs.

High-power flip-chip semiconductor disk laser in the 1.3 μm wavelength band.

We present 6.1 W of output power from a flip-chip semiconductor disk laser (SDL) emitting in the 1.3 μm wavelength region. This is the first demonstration of a flip-chip SDL in this wavelength range with output powers that are comparable to those obtained with intracavity diamond heat spreaders. The flip-chip configuration circumvents the optical distortions and losses that the intracavity diamond heat spreaders can introduce into the laser cavity. This is essential for several key applications of SDLs.

1180 nm VECSEL with output power beyond 20 W

The highest power result for an optically-pumped single-chip vertical external-cavity surface-emitting laser with emission near 1180 nm is reported. The gain mirror was grown by molecular beam epitaxy and incorporated a strain compensated GaInAs/GaAs/GaAsP active region. An intra-cavity diamond heat spreader was attached to the gain mirror for thermal management. In free-running operation, the laser emitted more than 20 W at a mount temperature of about 12 °C. The output spectrum was centred between 1165–1190 nm depending on the mount temperature and pump power. By using an intra-cavity birefringent filter, the full width at half-maximum linewidth could be narrowed to ≤1 nm and at the same time achieved approximately 14 W of output power near 1178 nm. Moreover, the lasing wavelength could be tuned over more than 40 nm.

200 GHz 1 W semiconductor disc laser emitting 800 fs pulses

Passive harmonic modelocking in a flip-chip semiconductor disc laser at a 193 GHz repetition rate with 900 mW of output power and a pulse duration of 830 fs is demonstrated. The high harmonic frequency is obtained via coupling of the laser cavity to an intracavity diamond heat spreader bonded to a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror.

High-peak-power optically pumped AlGaInAs eye-safe laser at 500-kHz repetition rate with an intracavity diamond heat spreader

We report on a compact efficient high-repetition-rate (>100 kHz) optically pumped AlGaInAs nanosecond eye-safe laser at 1525 nm. A diamond heat spreader bonded to the gain chip is employed to improve the heat removal. At a pump power of 13.3 W, the average output power at a repetition rate 200 kHz is up to 3.12 W, corresponding to a peak output power of 560 W. At a repetition rate 500 kHz, the maximum average power and peak power are found to be 2.32 W and 170 W, respectively.

175 GHz, 400-fs-pulse harmonically mode-locked surface emitting semiconductor laser

We report a harmonically mode-locked vertical external cavity surface emitting laser (VECSEL) producing 400 fs pulses at a repetition frequency of 175 GHz with an average output power of 300 mW. Harmonic mode-locking was established using a 300 µm thick intracavity single crystal diamond heat spreader in thermal contact with the front surface of the gain sample using liquid capillary bonding. The repetition frequency was set by the diamond microcavity and stable harmonic mode locking was achieved when the laser cavity length was tuned so that the laser operated on the 117th harmonic of the fundamental cavity. When an etalon placed intracavity next to the gain sample, but not in thermal contact was used pulse groups were observed. These contained 300 fs pulses with a spacing of 5.9 ps. We conclude that to achieve stable harmonic mode locking at repetition frequencies in the 100s of GHz range in a VECSEL there is a threshold pulse energy above which harmonic mode locking is achieved and below which groups of pulses are observed.

SiO2 antireflection layers for single-crystal diamond

Single crystalline diamond is of interest for high power optical applications for a variety of reasons including transparency, high thermal conductivity and very low birefringence values. Potential applications include intracavity diamond components for thermal management in high power lasers in which case optical antireflection coatings are of interest. This paper addresses the use of PECVD SiO2 as an antireflection coating on diamond for near-infrared applications. Modeling shows that with appropriate selection of film thickness, absorption free SiO2 layers on the front and back of a diamond plate can theoretically result in 99.1% transmission at the center wavelength for the antireflection coatings. This paper reports an experimentally achieved maximum transmission of 98.7%, with a standard deviation of 0.4%, centered on an optical wavelength of 1.62μm. Initial tests of film adhesion and robustness were performed.

Wafer-Fused Optically Pumped VECSELs Emitting in the 1310-nm and 1550-nm Wavebands

1300-nm, 1550-nm, and 1480-nm wavelength, optically pumped VECSELs based on wafer-fused InAlGaAs/InP-AlGaAs/GaAs gain mirrors with intracavity diamond heat spreaders are described. These devices demonstrate very low thermal impedance of 4 K/W. Maximum CW output of devices with 5 groups of quantum wells shows CW output power of 2.7 W from 180 μm apertures in both the 1300-nm and the 1550-nm bands. Devices with 3 groups of quantum wells emitting at 1480 nm and with the same aperture size show CW output of 4.8 W. These VECSELs emit a high-quality beam with beam parameter below 1.6 allowing reaching a coupling efficiency as high as 70% into a single-mode fiber. Maximum value of output power of 6.6 W was reached for 1300 nm wavelength devices with 290 μm aperture size. Based on these VECSELs, second harmonic emission at 650 nm wavelength with a record output of 3 W and Raman fiber lasers with 0.5 W emission at 1600 nm have been demonstrated.

Broadly tunable 1250 nm quantum dot-based semiconductor disk laser

Optically pumped semiconductor disk lasers with antiresonant design based on Stranski-Krastanow-grown quantum dots are demonstrated to extend the spectral coverage of such type of devices up to 1250 nm. A continuous wave output power up to 1.6 W was achieved using an intracavity diamond heat spreader. Intracavity birefringent filter was used to tune the wavelength of the device in 25 nm range.

High-Power 1.48-$\mu$m Wafer-Fused Optically Pumped Semiconductor Disk Laser

An output power up to 5 W at 1.48-μm wavelength is achieved from an optically pumped semiconductor disk laser. An active region composed of an AlGaInAs/InP heterostructure grown on an InP substrate was wafer fused with an AlGaAs/GaAs Bragg reflector grown on a GaAs substrate. An intracavity diamond heatspreader bonded to the gain structure surface provides efficient heat removal from the active element. The results further validate that the wafer fusion technique offers a flexible platform for high-power disk lasers in a wide wavelength range.

GaSb-Based Semiconductor Disk Laser With 130-nm Tuning Range at 2.5 $\mu$m

We demonstrate a GaSb-based semiconductor disk laser emitting 0.6 W of output power at 2.5 μm in a fundamental mode regime (M2 <; 1.6). A gain structure grown by molecular beam epitaxy and assembled with an intracavity diamond heat spreader demonstrates a promising potential for power scaling and broad wavelength tuning. A tuning range of 130 nm with output power up to 310 mW has been achieved which represents the largest spectral coverage reported to date for disk lasers at this wavelength.

11 W single gain-chip dilute nitride disk laser emitting around 1180 nm

We report power scaling experiments of a GaInNAs/GaAs-based semiconductor disk laser operating at ~1180 nm. Using a single gain chip cooled to mount temperature of ~10 °C we obtained 11 W of output power. For efficient thermal management we used a water-cooled microchannel mount and an intracavity diamond heat spreader. Laser performance was studied using different spot sizes of the pump beam on the gain chip and different output couplers. Intracavity frequency-doubling experiments led to generation of ~6.2 W of laser radiation at ~590 nm, a wavelength relevant for the development of sodium laser guide stars.

Short wavelength red-emitting AlGaInP-VECSEL exceeds 1.2 W continuous-wave output power

We present a vertical external cavity surface-emitting laser system based on a multi-quantum-well structure with 20 compressively strained GaInP quantum wells for an operation wavelength of around 665 nm with a monolithic integrated distributed Bragg reflector. With the help of an intra-cavity diamond heatspreader the laser operates in continuous-wave mode. Operation with a TEM00 Gaussian beam profile and a beam propagation factor of M2≤1.05 is shown as well as a high resolution spectrum of the laser line, which shows the etalon effect of the diamond. The laser can be operated at a maximum output power exceeding 1.2 W with a slope efficiency of ηdiff=18%. At maximum output power the wavelength of the laser resonance is at 670 nm, which is shortest reported until now at powers exceeding 1 W. By rotating a birefringent filter in an extended folded cavity arrangement a wavelength tuning of 21 nm was attained.

Optically pumped semiconductor quantum dot disk laser operating at 1180 nm

We demonstrate an optically pumped semiconductor disk laser using 39 layers of Stranski-Krastanov InGaAs quantum dots self-assembled during epitaxial growth on a monolithic GaAs/AlAs distributed Bragg reflector. The gain structure bonded to an intracavity diamond crystal heat spreader allows 1.75 W single-transverse-mode output (M(2)<1.2) with circular beam shape operating at 1180 nm in a disk laser geometry.