Xudong Jiang, Samuel Wilton, Igor Kudryashov, Mark Itzler, Mark Entwistle, Jack Kotelnikov, Alexei Katsnelson, Brian Piccione, Mark Owens, Krystyna Slomkowski, Scott Roszko, Sabbir Rangwala
Publisher’s Note: This paper, originally published on 18 September 2018, was replaced with a corrected/revised version on 28 May 2020. If you downloaded the original PDF but are unable to access the revision, please contact SPIE Digital Library Customer Service for assistance.
Xudong Jiang, Samuel Wilton, Igor Kudryashov, Mark Itzler, Mark Entwistle, Jack Kotelnikov, Alexei Katsnelson, Brian Piccione, Mark Owens, Krys Slomkowski, Scott Roszko, Sabbir Rangwala
During the past decade, significant advancement has been made on InGaAsP/InP Geiger-mode APDs (GmAPDs) through improvements of material growth, device design and operating circuitry. With the increase in device performance and the growing maturity of device fabrication technology, high performance, large format InGaAsP/InP GmAPD arrays have been successfully designed and manufactured. These arrays have single photon sensitivity in the short wavelength infrared (SWIR) spectral band and can provide 3-D imagery. InGaAsP/InP GmAPD arrays provide an enabling technology for many active optical applications, such as 3-D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and other photon-starved applications where single photon sensitivity in the SWIR band is critical. InGaAsP/InP-based Geigermode LiDAR has been extensively used on airborne platforms. By using optical wavelengths along with sub-ns laser pulse widths, 3-D Geiger-mode LiDAR techniques provide centimeter-scale range resolution over extremely long distances on the order of tens of kilometers. Through the use of high-performance single photon detectors, Geiger-mode LiDAR systems achieve an order of magnitude improvement in mapping rate over other competing LiDAR technologies. A more recent exciting application of InGaAsP/InP GmAPD-based LiDAR is to enable advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and vehicle autonomy on automotive platforms. The single-photon sensitivity of GmAPDs and greater eye-safety of diode lasers at wavelengths beyond 1400 nm provide disruptive automotive LiDAR performance that will be essential to future autonomous vehicle navigation. Single photon sensitivity and simple pixel circuit operation enable the reduction in overall system SWaP, while the scalability of these semiconductor devices enables dramatic reduction in LiDAR cost.
KEYWORDS: Fiber coupled lasers, Semiconductor lasers, High power lasers, Methane, Laser development, Laser sources, Absorption, Single mode fibers, Commercial off the shelf technology, Temperature metrology
We developed fiber coupled, narrow line, tunable, highly reliable, compact and robust laser source at 1651nm. The developed laser source exhibits a narrow spectral width ~2MHz at >400mW of CW output power in a single mode fiber. Tuning range >1nm was demonstrated.
Growing interest in precise measurements of methane concentration and distribution in the Earth’s atmosphere is stimulating efforts to develop LIDAR systems in the spectral region of 1.65 μm utilizing Path Differential Absorption techniques. The key element of such systems is a tunable high energy transmitter operating in the vicinity of a methane absorption line. We developed a novel laser source meeting these system needs using in-band pumping Q-switched solid state lasers (SSLs) based on Er-doped active media. We demonstrated a feasibility to measure methane line at 1651nm.
Different type-II InGaAs/GaAsSb quantum well design structures on InP substrate for mid-infrared
emission has been modeled by six band k•p method. The dispersion relations, optical matrix element,
optical gain and spontaneous emission rate are calculated. The effects of the parameters of quantum wells
(thickness, composition) and properties of cladding layers were investigated. For injected carrier
concentration of 5×1012 cm-2, peak gain values around 2.6-2.7 μm wavelengths of the order of 1000 cm-1
can be achieved, which shows that type-II InGaAs/GaAsSb quantum wells are suitable for infrared laser
operation beyond 2μm at room temperature.
We present high power, high reliability, single mode ridge waveguide laser diodes operated in an external
cavity configuration. The cavity is formed by installing an InGaAsP/InP laser chip into a cavity with a Bragg grating
mirror (BGM). The laser has fiber optical output. The devices are characterized by narrow spectral width operation,
in pulsed and CW modes. We obtained 1.7 W output power in single mode fiber at 2 - 10 ns pulses, at a 1550 nm
wavelength, with an optical line width of 0.15 nm. For CW excitation, the devices emitted 200 mW optical power
with a bandwidth of less than 0.01 nm. These devices exhibit high temperature stability of the laser line spectral
position. The construction of these devices enables cost-efficient, narrow bandwidth lasers in the wavelength range
from 1300 to 1900 nm.
In this work, resonant diode pumping has been demonstrated for Q-switched and CW Er:YAG solid state lasers (SSLs)
at eye-safe wavelengths. Resonant pumping was realized by using high spectral brightness 1470 nm laser diodes. An
efficient 1645 nm CW laser with output power >5 W in the TEM00 mode was demonstrated. Total optical-to-optical
efficiency was >19%. More than 11 mJ of output pulse energy and an output peak power of ~400 kW have been
achieved in the TEM00 mode for Q-switched operation.
In this work, resonant diode pumping has been demonstrated for Q-switched and CW Er:YAG solid state lasers (SSLs)
at eye-safe wavelengths. Resonant pumping was realized by using high spectral brightness 1470 nm laser diodes. An
efficient 1645 nm CW laser with output power >3.5 W in the TEM00 mode was demonstrated. More than 11 mJ of
output pulse energy in the TEM00 mode has been achieved for Q-switched operation at 20Hz repetition rate. M2 of the
output beam was better than 1.5 over the entire range of output pulse energies. We achieved an output peak power of
~400 kW.
Growing interest to high power lasers in the eye-safe spectral domain initiated a new
wave of activity in developing solid-state lasers based on bulk
Er3+-doped materials. The
resonant pumping of SSL allows for shifting significant part of thermal load from gain
medium itself to the pump diodes, thus greatly reducing gain medium thermal distortions
deleterious to SSL power scaling with high beam quality. The two major resonant
pumping bands in Er:YAG are centered around 1470 and 1532 nm. Pumping into
each of these bands has its pros and contras. The best approach to resonant pumping of
Er:YAG active media in terms of pump wavelength is yet to be determined.
We report the investigation results of high power diode-pumped Er:YAG laser aimed at
direct comparison of resonant pumping at 1470 and 1532 nm. Two sources used for
pumping were: 1530-nm 10-diode bar stack (>300 W CW) and 1470-nm
10-diode bar
stack (>650 W CW). Both pumps were spectrally narrowed by external volume Bragg
gratings. The obtained spectral width of less than 1 nm allowed for 'in-line' pumping of
Er3+ in either band. The obtained CW power of over 87 W is, to the best of our
knowledge, the record high power reported for resonantly pumped Er:YAG DPSSL at
room temperature.
We present the results of the experimental study and comparison of Yb-free, Er-doped,
all-fiber, alignment free, single frequency (SF) fiber amplifiers operating under
980-, 1470- and 1530-nm pumping for the core- and clad-pumping architectures. In the
single-mode core-pumped configuration Er-doped fiber amplifiers demonstrated 52% and
60% pump to output efficiencies for 980 and 1480 nm pump wavelength, respectively,
producing over 140 mW of SF output power at seed wavelength ~1560 nm and over 180
mW at seed wavelength 1605 nm for 300 mW of pump power. At the same time, when
clad pumped, Er-doped 20/125 DC LMA gain fiber demonstrates laser efficiencies of
22.4% pumped at 980 nm - up to 20 W of fiber-coupled diode laser pumping. The same
LMA fiber demonstrates 33% optical-to-optical efficiency (46% slope efficiency versus
absorbed power) when cladding-pumped with 1520-1530-nm fiber-coupled laser diode
modules. Detailed analysis of these experiments is presented.
Significant performance improvement of the Er(0.5%):YAG diode pumped solid state laser (DPSSL) has been achieved by pump diode spectral narrowing via implementation of an external volumetric Bragg grating (VBG). Without spectral narrowing, with a pump path length of 15 mm, only 37% of 1532 nm pump was absorbed. After the VBG spectral narrowing, the absorption of the pumping radiation increased to 62 - 70%. As a result, the incident power threshold was reduced by a factor of 2.5, and the efficiency increased by a factor of 1.7, resulting in a slope efficiency of ~23 - 30%. A maximum of 51 W of CW power was obtained versus 31 W without the pump spectrum narrowing. More than 180 mJ QCW pulse output energy was obtained in a stable-unstable resonator configuration with a beam quality of M2 = 1.3 in the stable direction and M2 = 1.1 in the unstable direction. The measured slope efficiency was 0.138 J/J with a threshold energy of 0.91 J.
Significant performance improvement of the Er(0.5%):YAG diode pumped solid state laser (DPSSL) has been achieved
by pump diode spectral narrowing via implementation of external volumetric Bragg grating (VBG). Without spectral
narrowing, with a pump path length of 15 mm, only 37% of 1532 nm pump was absorbed. After the VBG spectral
narrowing, the absorption of the pumping radiation increased to 62%. As a result, the incident power threshold was
reduced by a factor of 2.5; the efficiency increased by a factor of 1.7, resulting in a slope efficiency of ~23%. A
maximum of 51 W of CW power was obtained versus 31 W without the pump spectrum narrowing.
We report what is believed to be the first demonstration of direct resonant diode pumping of a 1.6-mm Er3+-doped bulk solid-state laser (DPSSL). The most of the results is obtained with pumping Er:YAG by the single mode diode laser packaged in fibered modules. The fibered modules, emitting at 1470 nm and 1530 nm wavelength with and without fiber grating (FBG) stabilization, have been used in pumping experiments. The very first results on high power DPSSL operation achieved with diode array pumping also will be presented. The highest absorbed photon conversion efficiency of 26% has been obtained for Er:YAG DPSSL using the 1470-nm single-mode module. Analysis of the DPSSL input-output characteristics suggests that the obtained slope efficiency can be increased at least up to 40% through the reduction of intracavity losses and pumping efficiency improvement. Diode pumped SSL (DPSSL) operates at a wavelength of 1617 nm and 1645 nm.
Record high power InP-based diode laser pumps operating at 1450 nm and 1850 nm have been fabricated and tested. Single-element 100 mm stripe lasers and 1 cm long arrays (both with cavity length of 2-2.5 mm) are appropriate for fiber and bulk solid-state laser pumping, respectively. The differential quantum efficiency for 1450 nm lasers was 55% and 47% for1850 nm emitters. The maximum CW output powers for 1 cm diode arrays are 42 W for 1450 nm and 14 W for 1850 nm wavelength ranges. The output photon flow (per facet) at maximum current for 1450 nm sources is 40% higher than that for commercial GaAs-based emitters, while for 1850 nm sources it is 50 % lower. A simple estimation shows that the parameters achieved for 1450 nm diode lasers could provide overall efficiency for an 1640 nm Er3+:YAG laser with InP-based pumping comparable with that of a GaAs laser pumped Er3+:YAG laser. More importantly, the expected active media overheating in the case of InP-based pumping is lower by an order of magnitude compared to a GaAs laser pumped Er3+:YAG laser. Data on the lifetime for InP-based diode arrays confirm that high reliability is an additional advantage of long wavelength pumps compared to traditional GaAs-based pumps.
The experimental results of wide band-gap materials treatment by femtosecond laser pulses are presented and discussed. Borosilicate glass drilling in air and vacuum, the surface and in-bulk three-dimensional laser processing with sub-micrometer resolution are subject of investigatios. Technical issues relevant for achieving high spatial resolution in order to meet requirements of nanotechnology at feature size smaller than 10 nm along with the issues of fabrication efficiency are outlined. Also, we show a concept of modular laser processing system, which can be flexibly optimized for processing by femtosecond laser pulses.
We report on quartz and glass cutting by a lateral scanning of femtosecond pulses (150 fs at 1 kHz repetition rate) of 800 nm wavelength at room and low pressure (5 Torr) air ambience. Pulses were focused by a low numerical aperture (NA0.1) objective lens. Optimization of fabrication conditions: pulse energy and scanning speed were carried out to achieve large-scale (millimeter-to-centimeter) cutting free of microcracks of submicron dimensions along the edges and walls of the cut. Cutting through out the samples of 0.1-0.5 mm thickness was successfully achieved without apparent heat affected zone. At low air pressure (5 Torr) ambience, redeposition of ablated material was considerably reduced. It is demonstrated that the damage on the rear surface was induced by the stress waves, which originated from the plasma ablation pressure pulse. The mechanism of femtosecond-laser cutting of transparent materials at high irradiance and the influence of stress waves generated by plasma plume are discussed.
In this paper we demonstrate high-power GaAs-based and InP-based superluminescent diodes (SLD) with tilted waveguides emitting in 8xx nm and 15xx nm spectral ranges respectively. The analysis of devices with different cavity lengths emphasizes the tradeoff between output power and spectral width. Power levels of about 200 mW for 820 nm SLDs and about 100 mW for 1590 nm SLDs have been demonstrated for longer cavity devices. Spectral modulation was less than 6-7% at 70-80 mW output power for both 8xx and 15xx SLDs. Simple model proposed for evaluation of spectrum modulation for both GaAs and InP devices based on semi-empirical approach is in agreement with experimental observations.
Commercial femtosecond micromachining system (FMS) has been developed that capable to process the material in sub-micron (< 200 nm) and micron scale. Core of the system are: optical unit, controller unit and software. The other parts: fs-laser system; focusing unit; stage unit can be varied (exchangeable). Two different fs-laser systems already are compatible with core of FMS: Mira/RegA (Coherent) and Hurricane (Spectra-Physics). FMS controller unit allows to control every single fs-pulse delivery on the target. Three possible types of focusing unit are available: microscope type unit, long focal distance lens unit, and axicon lens based unit. Standard stage unit options are: three-axis piezostage, and two-axis air bearing stage combined with Z-axis piezostage. Repeatability for all dimensions is within ±5 nm. Also, step motor stages are available. The system allows 3D scan with confocal laser-microscope (resolution δr=200nm, δz=540nm) build in optical unit. Software controls all basic functions of the system performance and writing any pattern (including 3D) on or into specimen. The results obtained by direct fs-laser writing method are presented and discussed: bits in the range of 100 - 200 nm sizes, 6 TB/cm3 density optical storage matrix, waveguides fabrication inside transparent materials, high aspect ratio (1:125) patterning of dielectric materials with Gauss-Bessel beam.
In this paper we summarize the results on the development of high power 1300 nm ridge waveguide Fabry-Perot and distributed-feedback (DFB) lasers. Improved performance of MOCVD grown InGaAsP/InP laser structures and optimization of the ridge waveguide design allowed us to achieve more than 800 mW output power from 1300 nm single mode Fabry-Perot lasers. Despite the fact that the beam aspect ratio for ridge lasers (30 degree(s) x 12 degree(s)) is higher than that for buried devices, our modeling and experiments demonstrated that the fiber coupling efficiency of about 75-80% could be routinely achieved using a lensed fiber or a simple lens pair. Fiber power of higher than 600 mW was displayed. Utilizing similar epitaxial structures and device geometry, the 1300 nm DFB lasers with output power of 500 mW have been fabricated. Analysis of the laser spectral characteristics shows that the high power DFB lasers can be separated into several groups. The single frequency spectral behavior was exhibited by about 20% of all studied DFB lasers. For these lasers, side-mode suppression increases from 45 dB at low current up to 60 dB at maximum current. About 30% of DFB lasers, at all driving currents, demonstrate multi-frequency spectra consisting of 4-8 longitudinal modes with mode spacing larger than that for Fabry-Perot lasers of the same cavity length. Both single frequency and multi frequency DFB lasers exhibit weak wavelength-temperature dependence and very low relative intensity noise (RIN) values. Fabry-Perot and both types of DFB lasers can be used as pump sources for Raman amplifiers operating in the 1300 nm wavelength range where the use of EDFA is not feasible. In addition, the single-mode 1300 nm DFB lasers operating in the 500 mW power range are very attractive for new generation of the cable television transmission and local communication systems.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.