Cascade and Two-Photon Lasing from Two-Photon Excitation of Cesium 62D

Abstract

Cascade and two-photon lasing have been studied utilizing two-photon pumping of the Cs 62D3=2 and 62D5=2 states, with both pulsed and CW sources. This may enable a new generation of wavelength agile Diode Pumped Alkali Lasers (DPALs). Cascade lasing via Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ASE) is observed on over 17 transitions. Many lines have 100 to 229 J of energy, slope efficiencies of 4 to 7 , and low thresholds favorable for diode pumping. Potential applications include IR counter measures, target illuminators, beacon lasers, underwater communication, and other tactical applications. We also observed two nonlinear, wavelength tunable, two-photon lines. The first occurs near 1380 nm on the 7S to 6S transition. The second occurs near 3120 nm on the 52D3=2 to 6S transition. A CW 3 m laser is generated by two-photon pumping with a 1 W pump. We observed a corrected power of 750 W, absorption corrected efficiency of 0.7 , and lasing thresholds <10 kW/cm2. Our results demonstrate that a two-photon DPAL is feasible.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 16, 2017
Accession Number
AD1055545

Entities

People

  • Nathan D Haluska

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Advanced Electronics
  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Dye Lasers
  • Frequency Combs
  • Laser Applications
  • Laser Beams
  • Laser Diodes
  • Lasers
  • Light (Electromagnetic Radiation)
  • Liquid Dye Lasers
  • Measurement
  • Nonlinear Optics
  • Optics
  • Quantum Cascade Lasers
  • Quantum Properties
  • United States Government
  • Wave Mixing
  • Waveplates

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Molecular Photonics/Laser Physics
  • Optical Physics and Photonics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers