Conical refraction, for annular pumping of an efficient vortex Nd:YAG laser

We presented a proof-of-concept investigation upon an end-pumped and vortex Nd:YAG laser. In this laser, for the first time, the conical refraction (CR) ring of a biaxial KGd(WO4)2 crystal was used for annular pumping. Owing to nearly 100% conversion efficiency in forming the CR ring, the Nd:YAG laser was highly efficient and emitted LG01-mode vortex light with 177.5 mW beam power and 65% slope efficiency. This study showed the CR ring pumping would favor the production of a compact, simple and efficient vortex laser. It is expected that, in future, the CR ring pumping technique would also facilitate the high-power vortex solid-state laser where a long gain medium is required.

[1]  Changhe Zhou,et al.  Efficient Vortex Laser With Annular Pumping Formed by Circle Dammann Grating , 2016, IEEE Photonics Technology Letters.

[2]  M. Washio,et al.  Generation of radially polarized high energy mid-infrared optical vortex by use of a passive axially symmetric ZnSe waveplate , 2015 .

[3]  Juan Campos,et al.  Interferometric characterization of the structured polarized light beam produced by the conical refraction phenomenon. , 2015, Optics express.

[4]  Lei Gong,et al.  Generation of cylindrically polarized vector vortex beams with digital micromirror device , 2014 .

[5]  J. Campos,et al.  Polarization tailored novel vector beams based on conical refraction. , 2014, Optics express.

[6]  S. Wen,et al.  Generation of cylindrical vector vortex beams by two cascaded metasurfaces. , 2014, Optics express.

[7]  K. Xia,et al.  Radially polarized LG01-mode Nd:YAG laser with annular pumping , 2014 .

[8]  Jordi Mompart,et al.  Laser beams with conical refraction patterns , 2014, Photonics West - Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering.

[9]  Mangirdas Malinauskas,et al.  Monolithic generators of pseudo-nondiffracting optical vortex beams at the microscale , 2013 .

[10]  W. Clarkson,et al.  Selective generation of Laguerre-Gaussian (LG0n) mode output in a diode-laser pumped Nd:YAG laser , 2013 .

[11]  L. Canioni,et al.  Dense arrays of microscopic optical vortex generators from femtosecond direct laser writing of radial birefringence in glass , 2012 .

[12]  Saulius Juodkazis,et al.  Photopolymerized microscopic vortex beam generators: Precise delivery of optical orbital angular momentum , 2010 .

[13]  Akihiko Ito,et al.  Generation of hollow scalar and vector beams using a spot-defect mirror. , 2010, Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision.

[14]  P. Senthilkumaran,et al.  Vortices from wavefront tilts , 2010 .

[15]  Keith G. Wilcox,et al.  Laser with simultaneous Gaussian and conical refraction outputs , 2010 .

[16]  Amin Abdolvand,et al.  Conical refraction Nd:KGd(WO4)2 laser. , 2010, Optics express.

[17]  Jeffrey A. Davis,et al.  Vortex sensing diffraction gratings. , 2009, Optics letters.

[18]  H. Thienpont,et al.  Deep microstructure topography characterization with optical vortex interferometer. , 2008, Optics express.

[19]  M. Padgett,et al.  Advances in optical angular momentum , 2008 .

[20]  Maria A. Bursukova,et al.  Conical refraction: an experimental introduction , 2008, SPIE Photonics Europe.

[21]  Valdas Pasiskevicius,et al.  Polarization-tunable Yb:KGW laser based on internal conical refraction. , 2007, Optics letters.

[22]  M. Berry,et al.  Conical diffraction: observations and theory , 2006, Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

[23]  L. Marrucci,et al.  Optical spin-to-orbital angular momentum conversion in inhomogeneous anisotropic media. , 2006, Physical review letters.

[24]  J. Bisson,et al.  Generation of Laguerre-Gaussian modes in Nd:YAG laser using diffractive optical pumping , 2005 .

[25]  Kishan Dholakia,et al.  Direct electron-beam writing of continuous spiral phase plates in negative resist with high power efficiency for optical manipulation , 2004 .

[26]  S. Barnett,et al.  Free-space information transfer using light beams carrying orbital angular momentum. , 2004, Optics express.

[27]  M. Nakatsuka,et al.  Laguerre-Gaussian beam generated with a multilevel spiral phase plate for high intensity laser pulses. , 2004 .

[28]  N. Tabiryan,et al.  Creation of a hollow laser beam using self-phase modulation in a nematic liquid crystal , 2004, Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, 2004. (CLEO)..

[29]  David G Grier,et al.  Structure of optical vortices. , 2003, Physical review letters.

[30]  S. Barnett,et al.  Measuring the orbital angular momentum of a single photon. , 2002, Physical review letters.

[31]  M J Padgett,et al.  Intrinsic and extrinsic nature of the orbital angular momentum of a light beam. , 2002, Physical review letters.

[32]  M. Stepanov,et al.  Internal conical refraction of coherent light beams , 1999 .

[33]  Norman R. Heckenberg,et al.  Topological charge and angular momentum of light beams carrying optical vortices , 1997 .

[34]  Takahiro Kuga,et al.  Novel Optical Trap of Atoms with a Doughnut Beam , 1997 .

[35]  H. Rubinsztein-Dunlop,et al.  Optical angular-momentum transfer to trapped absorbing particles. , 1996, Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics.

[36]  He,et al.  Direct observation of transfer of angular momentum to absorptive particles from a laser beam with a phase singularity. , 1995, Physical review letters.

[37]  J. P. Woerdman,et al.  Astigmatic laser mode converters and transfer of orbital angular momentum , 1993 .

[38]  H. Rubinsztein-Dunlop,et al.  Laser beams with phase singularities , 1992 .

[39]  J. P. Woerdman,et al.  Orbital angular momentum of light and the transformation of Laguerre-Gaussian laser modes. , 1992, Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics.

[40]  D. Willetts,et al.  Interference properties of a light beam having a helical wave surface , 1979 .

[41]  M. Berry,et al.  Dislocations in wave trains , 1974, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

[42]  C. Raman,et al.  Conical Refraction in Naphthalene Crystals , 1941, Nature.

[43]  Kegui Xia,et al.  Radially Polarized and Passively Q-Switched Nd:YAG Laser Under Annular-Shaped Pumping , 2015, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics.

[44]  Oto Brzobohatý,et al.  The holographic optical micro-manipulation system based on counter-propagating beams , 2010 .

[45]  Yuri S. Kivshar,et al.  Institute of Physics Publishing Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics Nonlinear Optical Beams Carrying Phase Dislocations , 2004 .

[46]  M J Padgett,et al.  Mechanical equivalence of spin and orbital angular momentum of light: an optical spanner. , 1997, Optics letters.