Efficient excitations of radially and azimuthally polarized Nd3+:YAG ceramic microchip laser by use of subwavelength multilayer concentric gratings composed of Nb2O5/SiO2.

Cylindrical vector beams were produced from laser diode end-pumped Nd:YAG ceramic microchip laser by use of two types of subwavelength multilayer gratings as the axisymmetric-polarization output couplers respectively. The grating mirrors are composed of high- and low-refractive- index (Nb(2)O(5)/SiO(2)) layers alternately while each layer is shaped into triangle and concentric corrugations. For radially polarized laser output, the beam power reached 610mW with a polarization extinction ratio (PER) of 61:1 and a slope efficiency of 68.2%; for azimuthally polarized laser output, the beam power reached 626mW with a PER of 58:1 and a slope efficiency of 47.6%. In both cases, the laser beams had near-diffraction limited quality. Small differences of beam power, PER and slope efficiency between radially and azimuthally polarized laser outputs were not critical, and could be minimized by further optimized adjustment to laser cavity and the reflectances of respective grating mirrors. The results manifested, by use of the photonic crystal gratings mirrors and end-pumped microchip laser configuration, CVBs can be generated efficiently with high modal symmetry and polarization purity.

[1]  Toshiaki Tamamura,et al.  Photonic crystal polarisation splitters , 1999 .

[2]  Pochi Yeh,et al.  A new optical model for wire grid polarizers , 1978 .

[3]  Y Fainman,et al.  Fabrication, modeling, and characterization of form-birefringent nanostructures. , 1995, Optics letters.

[4]  Theodor W. Hänsch,et al.  High-Resolution Two-Photon Spectroscopy with Picosecond Light Pulses , 1978 .

[5]  L. Barry,et al.  Optimized pulse source employing an externally injected gain-switched laser diode in conjunction with a nonlinearly chirped grating , 2006, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics.

[6]  Alok Mehta,et al.  Spatially polarizing autocloned elements. , 2007, Optics letters.

[7]  Shunichi Sato,et al.  Calculation of optical trapping forces on a dielectric sphere in the ray optics regime produced by a radially polarized laser beam. , 2007, Optics letters.

[8]  Dug Young Kim,et al.  Analysis of nonlinear frequency sweep in high-speed tunable laser sources using a self-homodyne measurement and Hilbert transformation. , 2007, Applied optics.

[9]  J. L. Hall,et al.  Frequency comb generation using femtosecond pulses and cross-phase modulation in optical fiber at arbitrary center frequencies. , 2000, Optics letters.

[10]  F. Villuendas,et al.  Very high resolution optical spectrometry by stimulated Brillouin scattering , 2005, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[11]  Roel Baets,et al.  Intracavity generation of radially polarized CO2 laser beams based on a simple binary dielectric diffraction grating. , 2006, Applied optics.

[12]  Dieter W. Pohl,et al.  Operation of a Ruby Laser in the Purely Transverse Electric Mode TE01 , 1972 .

[13]  Laurent Chusseau,et al.  Propagation of single-mode 1.5-/spl mu/m gain-switched semiconductor laser pulses in normally dispersive fibers , 1994 .

[14]  A. Bartels,et al.  High resolution spectroscopy with a femtosecond laser frequency comb , 2005, (CLEO). Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, 2005..

[15]  Qiwen Zhan,et al.  Microellipsometer with radial symmetry. , 2002, Applied optics.

[16]  Y. Awaji,et al.  Accurate optical frequency atlas of the 1.5-µm bands of acetylene , 1996 .

[17]  H. Kwok,et al.  Optical wire-grid polarizers at oblique angles of incidence , 2003 .

[18]  Shunichi Sato,et al.  Generation of a radially polarized laser beam by use of a conical Brewster prism. , 2005, Optics letters.

[19]  S. Safavi-Naeini,et al.  Physical Modeling of Hot-Electron Superconducting Single-Photon Detectors , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity.

[20]  Asher A. Friesem,et al.  The formation of laser beams with pure azimuthal or radial polarization , 2000 .

[21]  I. Garces,et al.  Characterization of the Main Semiconductor Laser Static and Dynamic Working Parameters From CW Optical Spectrum Measurements , 2007, IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics.

[22]  Irving H. Malitson,et al.  Refraction and Dispersion of Synthetic Sapphire , 1962 .

[23]  Sae Woo Nam,et al.  Quantum key distribution over a 40-dB channel loss using superconducting single-photon detectors , 2007, 0706.0397.

[24]  O. Okunev,et al.  Detection efficiency of large-active-area NbN single-photon superconducting detectors in the ultraviolet to near-infrared range , 2002 .

[25]  P. Grangier,et al.  Single photon quantum cryptography. , 2002, Physical Review Letters.

[26]  Vikas Anant,et al.  Nanowire single-photon detector with an integrated optical cavity and anti-reflection coating. , 2006, Optics express.

[27]  Philippe Lalanne,et al.  Depth dependence of the effective properties of subwavelength gratings , 1997 .

[28]  P. Kouminov,et al.  Sensitivity and gigahertz counting performance of NbN superconducting single-photon detectors , 2004 .

[29]  Vladimir P. Yakunin,et al.  Generation of high-power radially polarized beam , 1999 .

[30]  A. Ashkin,et al.  History of optical trapping and manipulation of small-neutral particle, atoms, and molecules , 2000, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics.

[31]  R. Sobolewski,et al.  Fabrication development for nanowire GHz-counting-rate single-photon detectors , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity.

[32]  Sae Woo Nam,et al.  Single photon source characterization with a superconducting single photon detector , 2005, 2006 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and 2006 Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference.

[33]  Eric A. Dauler,et al.  Constriction-limited detection efficiency of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors , 2006, physics/0611260.

[34]  V. Niziev,et al.  Influence of beam polarization on laser cutting efficiency , 1999 .

[35]  Experimental observation of excess noise in a detuned phase-modulation harmonic mode-locking laser , 2006 .

[36]  Theodor W. Hänsch,et al.  Optical clockworks and the measurement of laser frequencies with a mode-locked frequency comb , 2001 .

[37]  Ken-ichi Ueda,et al.  Converging-axicon-based radially polarized ytterbium fiber laser and evidence on the mode profile inside the gain fiber. , 2007, Optics letters.

[38]  Ken-ichi Ueda,et al.  Generation of radially polarized mode in Yb fiber laser by using a dual conical prism. , 2006, Optics letters.

[39]  Shunichi Sato,et al.  Generation of a radially polarized laser beam by use of the birefringence of a c-cut Nd:YVO4 crystal. , 2006, Optics letters.

[40]  E. Knill,et al.  A scheme for efficient quantum computation with linear optics , 2001, Nature.

[41]  Ilgu Yun,et al.  High-speed and highly reliable InP/InGaAs avalanche photodiode for optical communications , 2003, SPIE OPTO.

[42]  Shojiro Kawakami,et al.  MECHANISM OF SHAPE FORMATION OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL PERIODIC NANOSTRUCTURES BY BIAS SPUTTERING , 1999 .

[43]  E. V. Baklanov,et al.  Optical frequency standards and femtosecond lasers , 2003 .

[44]  C. Reale,et al.  Optical constants of vacuum deposited thin metal films in the near infrared , 1970 .

[45]  C. Heras,et al.  High resolution light intensity spectrum analyzer (LISA) based on Brillouin optical filter. , 2007, Optics express.

[46]  Mark L. Stevens,et al.  1.25-Gbit/s photon-counting optical communications using a two-element superconducting nanowire single photon detector , 2006, SPIE Optics East.

[47]  C. Dorrer,et al.  RF spectrum analysis of optical signals using nonlinear optics , 2004, Journal of Lightwave Technology.