Compact blue/green solid state lasers

for the OEM marketplace

David Piehler
Harmonic Lightwaves, Santa Clara, California
Talk SS6.1
IEEE/LEOS 1994 Annual Meeting
Boston, 3 November
Outline
The air-cooled argon laser
The OEM marketplace
Summary of compact blue/green solid state laser technologies
Commercial systems
- Frequency doubled diode pumped Nd:crystal lasers
- Directly doubled diode laser
Emerging technologies
- Frequency-doubled microchip lasers
- Frequency doubling in quasi-phase-matching waveguides
- Upconversion fiber lasers
Summary
The OEM market for air-cooled argon lasers
Major market segments ($40-50M in annual sales)
biotechnology
graphic arts
semiconductor inspection
confocal microscopy
Potential markets for INEXPENSIVE compact blue/green lasers:
optical storage
displays
pointing
Biotechnology - DNA sequencing / gel electrophoresis
Fluorescing dye molecules replace radioactive tags/photographic film
One laser (- 20 mW argon) can excite several different dyes
Fast, high volume sequencing
High startup costs ($100K) relative to photographic film
Laser wavelengths are matched to the dye chemistry
Laser is the most expensive single component
An INEXPENSIVE, compact laser could increase markets
Drive to develop red dyes
-inexpensive red laser diodes
-lower background (autofluorescence)
-more compatible with solid state detectors
Biotechnology - Flow cytometery
Laser light scatters of individual white blood cells in a flowing jet
Fluorescent dyes used for selective tagging of cells
Analysis of scattrerd light (angle, polarization, fluorescence) from each
individual cell
Machines are mainly used for research, cell sorting, moving into clinical
enviornments
Scientific users want 488 nm light because there is a great body of literature
on the subject
Single use machines have been developed - e.g. AIDS diagnosis
Autofluorescence is a problem; using green lasers (532,543 nm ) offer 5 X
increase sensitivity
Move to red dyes
The OEM marketplace
When laser is highest cost component in system, inconvenience of air-cooled
argon lasers will be tolerated (Flow cytometry (research), DNA sequencing)
When systems are costly (graphic arts, semiconductor inspection), want the
highest performing laser.
Everyone is sensitive to wavelength
Everyone would like to use diode lasers directly
- 18 months of development time before OEM brings product to market
OEM users have different requirements than scientific users
- Repeatability
- Beam quality, noise, pointing stability in adverse environments
blue laser
diodes
bulk, rare-earth
doped crystal
laser
SOLID STATE BLUE /
GREEN LASER
TECHNOLOGY
wavelength :j:::j!
conversion
waveguide
geometry
waveguide laser on a
rare-earth doped
crystal substrate
bulk, external
cavity resonant
SHG
birefringent
phase
matched SHG
waveguide
geometry
quasi-phase
matched SHG
DPSSL + laser
diode sources
intra-cavity
SHG
external cavity
resonant SHG
Cherenkov
phase
matched SHG
bulk, resonant
cavity SFG
Fig 1. Solid state blue/green laser technologies.
Commercial systems
Most based on frequency doubled diode pumped Nd:YAG lasers. (532 nm)

laser
diode
r Nd:YAG
mirror
HR@1064nm
HT@808nm
KTP
532nm
output
coupler
HR@1064nm
HT@532nm
"Green Problem"
Sum frequency generation between adjacent longitudinal modes is chaotic
Make laser single frequency to solve problem.
Single frequency solutions:
- Twisted mode cavity
- Ring laser
( C 0 h ~ rev'\t )
- External ring resonator
Pump
Diode
KTP
532 nm
Nd:YAG
~ Rotator Plate
Directly doubled diode laser
Isolator
860 nm
Resonant doubler
KNb03
Single
Frequency
Diode Laser
430 nm
Emerging technologies
Frequency-doubled microchip lasers
Frequency doubling in quasi-phase-matching waveguides
Upconversion fiber lasers
CLEO 194-
An Ultra-compact, Laser-diode-array-pumped,
Nd:YV04/KTP, Frequency-doubled,
Comp,osite-material Microchip Laser
N. MacKinnon, B. D. Sinclair and W. Sibbett,
University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews,
Fjfe, KY16 9SS,
Scotland
S. N. Jenny and 1. T. Jenks,
' ",
l. E. Optomech Ltd.,
Newnham,
Northants, NNII 6ET,
England
D. Craven and D. Piehler,
Uniphasc Corp.,
San Jose,
Ca., 9S] 34
Composite Material Microchip Laser Structure
and Longitudinal Excitation Scheme
0.5 mm thick Vanadate
Laser Diode
Array
Fluid Interface
2 mill thick KTP
Green Output
Dielectric Mirrors
High Power Composite-Material Device.
Pump source provided by 2 W laser-diode-array. (200 ~ l m x 1 m active area.)
Exactly the same device and coupling optics as used previously.
Brightness of pump source higher than that in previous lens-coupling.
130 mW of C. W. green power for 650 mW of incident pump. (200/0 conversion.)
140
Filled Squares: Green Power

120 Open Squares: Fundamental Power
....
100 -
r---.. -

~
S 80 -

'-..-/

\-;

Q)
0
~ 60
0
0 0
0
0
p... 0
0
40
~
0
0

0
20
0
0
n
- 0
o - " - ~ ~ ' - - - r ' - r - ~ i If! I til ii ' I -r-r-I I I I I I ill I Iii
o J 00 200 300 400 :')00 600 700
Incident Pump Power (mW)
/
Far-field Intensity Cross-section of High Power Device
In the far-field the intensity cross-section of the output was found to be
approximately Gaussian as may be seen below.
250 m W of incident pump power
(20 mWof green power)
650m W of incident plll11p power
( 130 m Wof green power) .
Spectral Purity of Infra-red output at 50 ill W of Green
Output Power.
Oscillation of two axial modes in the infra-red observed using Fabry-Perot.
Intensity ratio of stronger mode to weaker mode approxilnately 10 to 1.
Axial modes separated by 33 GHz (one device axial mode separation).
Intensity Stability of 50 m W of Green Output Power
Measured by R.F. spectrum analyser and fast photodiode
Two infra-red axial modes should, via a sum-frequency interaction, produce
a periodic intensity modlliation. (The "green-problem").
Apparatus capable of resolving intensity modulation 65 dB below C.W. green signal.
Lack of significant intensity modulation attributable to dominance of one mode
over the other and possibly relatively weak coupling between the axial modes.
--- - --T--==P-- - f--oo:=J
I A13L 1.1,1. --1"---1- L -- --l- --- -.1-. - __ J
i sTop i FREQ ENCY I ! i : I I ... i i
11.IHHI MHz !-- . --T--l----r--i -t -' -j - --t- -'f
I T i . ! Ii! t I
--+-----1----:-- i "-- -; ----.. ---,--1- '--1- - - I
! ,. I I I --,
i i, 1 i I: I I
: ! I i I I 1 ' i '
I 1 I --I --:---1
I , I I I ; I I I I
i- ---1---1--+----10000-1 00-+ -- oo -;----i- - + ----1
I ! . ! : I ! j i : I
. ,-: -+-- -f------;--oo-t--- --i
I ., I I I . .
I . I, I 'I; J
- ---- -j----t--t-- -r--oo
,-- '- - - -. 1 ---. I --- --i .. --1
[
--- --- -- ..
--1--- __ J __ J ____ .I. _
ST9R , 3 nz ST OP 1.000 MH 7
R.F. spectrum of 50 m W
green output up to ) MHz.
Resolution bandwidth is 10 kHz_
Sensitivity is 10 dB per division.
Advantages of microchip lasers
No sub-micron positioning
Mature materials
Passive suppression of relaxation oscillations
Disadvantages of microchip lasers
One flavor - green
Nonstandard laser output - 10 mrad divergence (vs. 1.2 for HeNe)
Divergence varies with power
No modulation
Future directions for frequency doubled microchip lasers
Other materials
Other transitions (wavelengths) (4F3/2 - 41
912
, e.g. the 946 nm transition in
Nd:YAG)
Higher powers (>200 mW)
Upconversion fiber lasers
Upconversion is a way of pumping visible laser transitions with infrared light.
4F 7/ 2
20000
970 nm
4 Hl1 / 2
0.45 ms (0.001 ms)
45
3
/
2
,,-...
15 000 .-
4F9/2 0.12 ms (0.0001 ms)
I
E
u
41
9/ 2
'--'
>-
10000

0::::

41,,/2
7 ms (0.007 ms)
lJ..J
Z
lJ..J 41 13/ 2 9 ms (12 ms)
nm 544 nm
i
r
5000
970

lsd\cO\)
o
41
,512
Best geometry is an optical waveguide which confines light to a small cross
section for a long distance.
Fluoride glass hosts are prefered to silica due to a relative abundance of
metastable laser levels. Single mode fibers have been fabricated.
Fiber laser device
pump
laser light
~
mirror 1 :
doped fluoride fiber
highly transmisive at Apump
high reflector at Aupconversion
upconversion
laser light
~
~ unabsorbed
pump light
mirror 2:
output coupler
for Aupconversion
Room-temperature visible upconversion fiber lasers in
rare-earth-doped fluoride glass
Dopant ion
Holmium
IErbium:
Praseodymium
Thulium
NeodV1 V1 IVlYV\
.
Laser wavelengths
(nm)
550
54$
::
490, 520, 540, .605 or 635
480
3 ~ o ) 410
Pump wavelengths
(nm)
645,750,890
800 ot 970
840 + 1020 t g,o tN/Yla )
1120
590
UNIPHASE:
BT 1993:
CNET 1992:
BT 1991:
also LANL:
Previous work: Ti:sapphire laser pumping
reen Er fiber lasers
...
----.
BT 1993
<:>
~ UNIPHASE
-S 15
(971 ~ )
(971 nm) <:> ...
'-
i"CNET 1992 00 Q)
<:>
~
.&. ... (971 nm)
0
0
~ 10 .&.
<Z>
0
Q)
.&.
...
(/)
... 0
ro <:>
c
.&.
*
BT 1991
Q)
5 .&.
<:> 0
(801 nm)
Q)
...
0
L-
.&.
**
CJ)
<:>
... *
0
0
100 200 300 400
launched pump power (mW)
....
2 I-lm core, 0.31 NA (Piehler, Craven and Kwong, Compact Blue/Green Lasers '94
paper CFA2.)
3 I-lm core, 0.20 NA (Brierley, et al., BT Tech. J . 11, 128 (1993))
5.5 I-lm core 0.18 NA (Allain, et al., Electron. Lett. 28 111 (1992))
3.4 I-lm core, 0.18 NA (Whitley, et al. , Electron Lett. 27 185 (1991))
paper CMK3
High NA fiber figures of merit
Gain for at given incident pump power in the "high pumping" regime
0.4
-
N
0'
Q) 0 . 3
:;:

:;:
+J
"G 0.2
Q)
6
Q) O. 1
\..l
;:J
0>
"rl
4-l
LPOl at 545 nm

core diameter (microns)
I
I
\
\
System Issues - Active noise reduction
1 0 ~ ~ ~ = = ~ = = - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - r
0
0000000000
0
0
0
0
-20
0
0
0
0
,.
0
-30 -'--------------------______ =-------1
N
::c:
o
o
......
N N N
::c: ::c: ::r:
...:.: ...:.: ...!.<:
......
0 0
......
0
-
InGaAs-laser modulation frequency
N
::r:
::;s
0
-45
--
en
(!)
(!)
5'0
-90
(!)
'"0
'-"
a::
-135
:.c
en
(!)
en
CO
\
-180 ;;.
-225
gain (boxes) and phase (solid line) of green upconversion fiber laser response
as a function of laser diode pump modulation frequency
Electronic feedback loop
r;:Er' -36.0 dBn> AT TEtl 1'J dB
...... /i'\ . . ........... . : . . <.1 '
.. .. , '" ".: . ............... .... ..... . . : ..... .... : . . . . . ... . :. ' " . . . .. .... . . ... .... . "
r\'G ... .. ..... .. ....... . ... .... ..... .
N '.J G . . i' \,' . ... . : ' ... .... ': .. ....... ...... .... :'" ....... : ..... ' .. .
1:: / :1 , : : 'I't>! :
l/ H S 8 \.;,V: 0, .. : ... . ...... .. .. :. .. .... . . . "j'
C F (: I : : 1 'Y' : : .
Ct:l R;; ... . .. . .. . .. ....... . : ... " . tl.:\{iL' .. ..
...... .. ::":.:::.:: ... :":::.:::" ::.::: ..... :: ..... :: ... L ... : ... : ......... : ....
without loop
CEHTER :30C:O.6 kH= SPHt-1 588.8 i-"H::
#r;:ES 1. (I Hz 'JE,W 1 k H;;: 1. S;",,,
p (. ;:- - l; rj t11 t-\ T T (, H '1 d 8 -",
-:" '1 FL .. "'1\' .... .... . , ......... , ......... : .... ..... : ......... : ......... : .. ....... : ......... : ......... I L
.. .. ; ... ... ... : .... .. ... : ... ..... ......... .. , with loop
ml \"",' . ... .. ...... ..
II . . . .
I
.J, ...... ; .. .... . : ......... : ..... ....... ........ .. .. .. . : ... ...... :... .
At} 13 . . ..... , .. . . . .. .
1 S I")' ...... :. .. ............ :. . .... ... .. .. . ... .. ........ ........ .
i -<"f . \, ::.: . :
iJ F' R . . '\' \ : .":,\/1"
: - . ... : II 1 . ..... ...,V0<\..";i',,,'r\l(,., .
.. . .. .... . .......................... : ........ : ......... : ......... : ....... .. :. !. ' . . . 'r\r."".,,-!-,,,-
. . .
......... : ......... ......... : ......... :. __ ...... : .... .. ... : ......... : ......... : ......... : ......... 1
CEIl T E R3 ,) '3 Eo k H ;: S P t' SO,). 0 k H ::
RES 8 1/ 1. 8 k: H ;: \i 8 IJ 1 k H '! :3 W Pl. 5 ; .!' .:;
Noise (20 Hz - 10 MHz) is reduced from g% p-p ( 2.5% rms) to 1 % p-p (0.3%
rms)
Recent Data - diode pumping
(in collaboration with Tim Carrig, Los Alamos National Laboratory)
17.9 mW of green laser light from InGaAs-diode-pumped fiber laser
length = 2.5 m; output coupler: R = 4% (Fresnel reflection)
-. 20
~
e
-
-

~ 10
o
Q"




Er:fluoride upconversion fiber laser: 971-nm pump
Galileo: 1.6 micron, 0.39 NA



..... ~ ~
b.
. ~ ~
b. . ~
~
~
A green laser power
,A A A A
O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
transmitted pump power
o 50 100 150 200
incident InGaAs laser power (mW)
-* ADVANTEST Q8344A Optical Spectrum Analyzer -, 1994 - 8- 27 14:05 :48
SPEC 386.559pW AVG: 14/64
1.0nW
0.5nW
O.lnW/D

O.OnW
O.5415)1m
AVERAGE: 11
IBlfF 12
0.5440)1m
AVERAGE in progress
14 18 116
O.50nm/ D
I
132

[ AVERAGE 1
164 I
ADVANTEST Q8344A Optical Spectrum Analyzer '* 1994- 8- 27 14:10:18
SPEC 54.0725pW AVG : 32/64

25.0pW
5 . 0pW/ D
O.OpWL-__ ____ __ __ __ __ ____ __ ____ __
0.9660)1m
SPAN: IO.Onm
IIBmI ISTART
1.00nm/ D 0.9760)1m
AVERAGE in progress I [SPAN(SPEC) 1
ISTOP ILldSPAN 10.4
N
l.05 10 . 8
N
1.75 IFULL I
Other recent data
Advantages of upconversion fiber lasers
Highly efficient process
Insensitive to pump laser wavelength, linewidth, mode hops
Circular diffraction limited output defined by single mode fiber
Thermal - absorption of pump light distributed
Disadvantages of upconversion fiber lasers
Fragile fluoride fiber
No modulation
Linewidth - 1 nm
Output polarization drift, noise
Requires sub-micron manufacturing tolerances
Imperfect coupling of diode to fiber
Future direction for upconversion fiber lasers
Materials development
Co-doping
UV
New architectures (e.g. fiber laser-pumped fiber lasers)
Emerging pump diode technology (1120 nm, 640 nm diode lasers)
Bragg grating mirrors
Frequency doubling in quasi-phase-matching waveguides
Waveguide geometry insures high intensity over a long interaction length
Periodically poling the ferroelectric domains in the waveguide modulates the
nonlinearity.
P2CJ) I
+X(2) I -x(2)
(0)
o
I
I
31c 41c Sic 61c
Engineering the phase-matching
By proper selection of the period of domain reversals, one can engineer the
phase matching wavelength.
The poling period can be defined to double any wavelength within the
transparancy range of the substrate.
QPM overcomes restrictions set by birefringent phase-matching
,,'
",'
,,'
",'
,,'
periodic domain reversals
",'
,,'
,,'
",'
",'
",'
.
~ - ~ - - - - - - - . - - - - - . - .
substrate may be KTP, LiNb0
3
, LiTa03
QPM waveguide system
Pump acceptance bandwidth is < 0.2 nm
QPM wavelength varies with waveguide temperature
Stable single frequency diode required
QPM waveguide
.-H-______ frequency
doubled
~ - 4 _ _ output
Frequency locking laser diode with optical feedback
Use periodic domain inversions as a Bragg mirror: adjust temperature such
that ASragg = Aphase-matching
867. 2 ... 851 . 6
E
867 0
.s
.r::.
Cl 866 8
c

<l>
>
866. 6
'"

a:
86 6.4
OJ
Cl

..
E
851 . 4 .s
851.2 1< \ S k .....
<l>
r ' <l>
>
8 51 . 0 '"


85 0. 8 c..
o
Use diffraction grating (I BM)
86 6 . 2
i.-...!----'"'---'----'i....--:----'_...I 850 . 6
5 10 15 20 25 3 0
Temperature (OC)
R-O. l% Waveplate
R-90% (1J2)
: .......... : I
1:::1 IZjW'l! , J1 0
Dichroic
Beamsplitter
KTP Waveguide R- O.2% /
/ 425 nm
Output
..........
\r-tO: , ,.iO 0
GaAlAs , :
SQW-GRINSCH : : / L--___
Laser Diode
Circularizing
Prism Pair
(3x)
R- O.2%
FIG. 1. Experimental configuration of the extended-cavity laser using a
bulk diffraction grating for feedback.
35 4 0
Best Results (TMoo TMoo)
cbrein invasi01
V\a\Ie9lide
p-ctile

L
narrelizej effidffOJ
littium riobate
Yara:Ia, a aI
Smy
E-field @ roon terrp
- - - -
+--7' - =:;::
,,/ /- //
/
/ / ,-
/
/ / /
/ ,/ '
17 rrW/170 rrW
3nm
680 o/d'N arQ
littium tartalate KTP
MiZLJCd1i, a aI Eger, etal
Matsushita
p-d01 exc:ha1ge + heat Ba/Rb
a1nea1ed pdoo excha1ge
II

--=-==-.
[22
iZl Izl
23rrW/121 rrW 3rrW/52rrW
10nm 3.8nm
1fi1OfcNVarQ 800 o/d'N arQ
Advantages of QPM waveguides
Access to arbitrary wavelengths
Use of large nonlinear coefficeints (d
33
)
single pass, no resonator
Polarized, diffraction limited output
Single frequency output
Disadvantages of QPM waveguides
Diode must be frequency stabilized, single frequency
Power limited to 20 -30 mW
Requires sub-micron manufacturing tolerances
Coupling diode to waveguide (diode is TE, waveguide wants TM)
Future direction for QPM waveguides
Consistency in waveguide processing*
E-field poling
Increasing acceptance bandwidth at the expense of efficiency
Modulation
Stable manufacturable architecture*
Infrared - DFG, OPOs etc
*Uniphase received $1.5M Department of Commere Advanced Technology
Award (21 Oct 94)
Summary of wavelengths
?


400 nm 450 nm 500 nm

Tm fiber laser
Pr fiber laser
Er fiber laser
Ho fiber laser
Frequency doubled Nd:crystal laser (-1060 nm)
Frequency doubled Nd:crystal laser (-973 nm)
Nd:YAG + KTP SFG
Bulk frequency doubling KNb03 + AIGaAs
Bulk frequency doubling KNb03 + InGaAs
QPM doubling (InGaAs)
QPM doubling (AIGaAs)
550 nm
Summary
For compact solid state blue/green lasers to impact the marketplace:
Prices must fall
A reliable blue laser must be developed
Wavelengths must be compatible with chemistry
Laser developers must beat synthetic chemists
Acknowledgments
upconversion fiber lasers
Dawn Craven (Lambda-Physik), Tom Waska(consultant), Herman
Ferier( consultant)
frequency doubled microchip lasers
Neil MacKinnon (University of St.Andrews, IE Optomech) , Dawn Craven
(Lambda-Physik), Simon Jenny (IE Optomech), Ian Jenks(IE Optomech), Bob
Jones (Uniphase)
QPM wave guides
Eric Lim (Uniphase), Suzanne Lau (Uniphase)
InGaAs-LASER-PUMPED GREEN
UPCONVERSION FIBER LASER
David Piehler and Dawn Craven
Applied Photonics Division
Uniphase Corporation
presented at CLEO'94
Anaheim, California
Monday, 9 May 1994
paper CMK4
San Jose, California
Motivation
Previous work
> 11 mW operation of diode pumped green upconversion fiber laser
Noise reduction
Warm-up effect
Packaging
Motivation for this work
Compact source of blue/green light.
Upconversion fiber lasers:
No phase-matching
Efficient (with respect to coupled pump power)
Wide wavelength acceptance bands
Circular, diffraction limited output
Technical challenge: PUMP SOURCE
Ion lasers
Ti:sapphire lasers
Diode laser pumped Nd:YAG lasers (1120 nm)
Diode lasers
Other fiber lasers (paper CM K6)
Diode lasers are the best choice for near term realization of a compact device.
Room-temperature visible upconversion fiber lasers in
rare-earth-doped fluoride glass
Dopant ion
Holmium
:::: :::::::::: ::::::
Laser wavelengths
(nm)
550
545
Praseodymium 490, 520, 540, 605 or 635
Thulium 480
Pump wavelengths
(nm)
645,750,890
: ::: ?9.9 9?,Q
840 + 1020
1120
Energy levels of Er3+ in fluoride glass
(including room-temperature lifetimes)
544 nm
ESA j:,
----6-- J----:
1
,-;\, ) - I - ~ _ S _ O _1 _n_m_p_u_m_p
971 nm pump Iitt
---+--....... 11
1
l--+- ... s-0-1-n-m-p-um-p
"1'
l:i: ) ~
- ... ~ ~ - .... -I---....... ----
544 nm
, ~ laser SO 1 nm pump
971 nm pump
4F 5/2
4F 7/2
;Hl1l2
5312
4F9/2
4/9/2
4/11/2
4/ 13/2
4/ 15/2
(0.45 ms)
(0.12ms)
(7 ms)
(9 ms)
UNIPHASE:
BT 1993:
CNET 1992:
BT 1991:
also LANL:
Previous work: Ti:sapphire laser pumping
Ti:sa reen Er fiber lasers
20
*
.--..
BT 1993
<:>
~ UNIPHASE
-S 15
(971 nm) <:> *
(971 1)&1)
'-
";-CNET 1992 00 Q)
<:>
3:
.&.
* (971 nm) 0
0
~ 10 .&.
<:>
0
Q)
.&.
*
en
<:>
*
0
CO
c
.&.
*
BT 1991
Q)
5 .&.
<:> 0
(801 nm)
Q)
*
0
'-
.&.
**
0>
<:>
**
0
0
100 200 300 400
launched pump power (mW)
2 Ilm core, 0.31 NA (Piehler, Craven and Kwong, Compact Blue/Green Lasers '94
paper CFA2.)
3 Ilm core, 0.20 NA (Brierley, et a/., BT Tech. J. 11, 128 (1993))
5.5 J.1m core 0.18 NA (Allain, et a/., Electron. Lett. 28 111 (1992))
3.4 Ilm core, 0.18 NA (Whitley, et a/., Electron Lett. 27 185 (1991))
paper CMK3
Previous work: diode pumping
An Ortel 40 mW fiber pigtailed EDFA pump module operating at 971 nm
pumped a Er fiber laser with an R = 58% @ 544 nm output coupler: I
threshold: "'21 mW (w.r.t.c.p.)
slope efficiency: "'25% (w.r.t.c.p.)
2.5 mW of green light generated from "'31 mW of coupled pump light
(Piehler, Craven and Kwong, Compact Blue/Green Lasers '94 paper CFA2.)
Also
Massicott, et al., Electron. Lett. 29, 2119 (1993)
A 1.1 Ilm core, 0.4 NA (k = 600 nm) Er fibre laser generated 3 mW of green
light from 40 mW of coupled 800 nm diode pump light.
(R= 4%, threshold'" 15 mW, slope efficiency'" 12%)
Fiber
Pump
This work:
1.5 m length:
material:
dopant:
fluorozirconate glass (Le Verre Fluore)
1000 ppm Er
3
+
core diameter:
cutoff wavelength:
numerical aperture:
2.1 ~ m
830 nm
0.31
SDL-6321 InGaAs laser diode
single spatial mode (1 ~ m x 3 ~ m emitter)
971 nm
delivers 150 mW from 230 mW of applied current
laser
diode
quarter-
wave plate
erbium doped
fluoride fiber
high
reflector
mIrror
output
coupler
mirror
544nm
Results
Laser diode pumped Er fiber laser: R=900/0/R=71 0/0
12
~ 1 0
E
::-8
:::J
0.
........
:::J
o 6
~
Q)
en
co
c 4
Q)
Q)
~
0>2
75











100 125 150 175 200 225
InGaAs laser diode current (mA)
Assuming (1) 35% coupling efficiency,
(2) When coupled to fiber laser LD power increases by '" 1 0 %
For an R = 71 % @ 544 nm output coupler
threshold: "'18 mW (w.r.t.c.p.)
slope efficiency: "'25% (w.r.t.c.p.)
11.7 mW of green light generated from "'58 mW of coupled 971 nm pump
light.
2.7% wall-plug efficiency.
Noise Reduction
Transfer function for Er upconversion fiber laser as a function of pump
modulation frequency
-"" -IB'5J1US---OISER-r-Z -
H+H-H+HI Dale 01-07-94 Tesled by __ _
+ 30dB
IN ---- PHASE ---- PLOT OF 2/1
+ 20dB
+ 10dB
- IOdO 1-H-HIHItH
- 20dB
- 30d8
- 40d B LLLLJ..llllLULWilllll
+ 180
+ 120
+60
O
-60
- 120
- 180
Electronic feedback loop
,r
REF -36.0 dBm ATTEN 18 dB
.:: .... Ii'l -:_:--:-T-:T_:-:-:I '
.. . .. . -, . " ... . . . .. ' .. . .. . ... : . ... .. ... : .. .. , .. . : .... . . . .. : ... .. ........ .. ..... . .... .
i 1 I! G . ........ ; .. . .. .. : .... . ... : . . ... . . . : .. . . . . .
G ./ . ... .. : . .. . . ':' . . ' . :" ':1 . ':' ... .. : ...... . ; .... ... :. .. ... . .
!:1 S B \,;,\" "' ; ... .. : .... ... : .. .... ... : .... .. ... ; .... ..... , with 0 ut loop
I) g I ......... : . . . . . . I ' .... . .. : ..... . ... :. . . . . . .. : .. .. Ii. .. ' .. .. .. : 1
..... ... : ... . .... . : .. .... ... : . .. . .. .. . : . ....... . : . ... .. . .. : ......... : .. " .... : . . ... ..
: ; : : : : : I
--- ----- .: . .. -- ... . :.-- ...... : ... .. . --.: .... -- . .. :.----- ... : ... .... . -.: .. -- ...... - - ... . . .. : ....... . .
:3')0.6 kH= SP;'tH S60.8 kH=
1I';: E8 8W 1.0 ':H:;: 'J8W 1 kHz 1.S .;.;>.::
19153:32 Frs oJ 1994

P E , - :) c;. '" d AT T E f\ '1>1 d I=)
-3 '1 FL'''''' 1\: .. .. .. : "--'-- --: .---- -- .. ,-- ....... , ......... , .. ----... , .... ..... ; --. -- .. --; .. --.-- -- <
: VI olt,,; -: ::. --: ::::: -.: -:: -: -::. : :- :: ::: -.: --::::: _: :: -:::: . :_ H: --1-:: :-::: :. _: :-: ---I i
.10
1
'I . . . : ........ . : ... . ..... : .. ....... . .. ...... : ... . .. .. .
fl l} 13 ..... 'j ' .lr .' .. ... ; .... ..... : .. '. , .... : .. ...... : .. .... ... ; .... ..... : ......... : ...... ... ; ..... .. . .
c J '\ . . . . . . . .
... : ...... ... : .. ... .... .......... ! ... ..... ... .... ... .
. C I} P. R' ....... : .... .... .. ; .. .. . .;, .... .. : ................. .
: : -.,' t.-r"r 1'1 : I . I . .... :
.. .. . .... : . .......... .. .... ; ... . ..... : .. . ...... : . . . ...... ; . ... . ... . : .... . . .. :. !. : .. 'h : . .f.---','.;-.,'.
. .... .
..... -- .. : ..... __ .. : ...... __ .: ... __ . __ .: ... ______ : ... . __ ... : ......... : ......... : __ . __ ... . : .... __ .-- 1
CEUTER kHz SPAN kH=
\IRE:;:. E: !.j 1. 0 k Hz l} 8 !J 1 k Hz :3 W Pl. 5; e.
with loop
Noise (20 Hz - 10 MHz) is reduced from 9% p-p ( 2.50/0 rms) to 1 % p-p (0.3%
rms)
"Warm-up" effect
diode pumped Er fiber warm up
1
-- 0.5
~
E
-.......-
....
0.2
Q)
~
0.1
0
a.
.....
5. 0.05
.....
:::l
0
c 0.02
Q)
~ 0.01
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
minutes after turn-on
Highly dependent on pump power and fiber laser cavity loss
Once warm, fiber stays warm for hours.
"hand-waving" solution
Problem eliminated by using a low-loss cavity design.
Packaging
Entire fiber laser (pump diode, fiber, mirrors, collimator) put into 12x12x4 cm
package.
Package generates 4 mW of green laser light.
Package size will ultimately be determined by fiber bend radius 2.5 cm).
Summary
Over 11 mW of 544 nm laser light generated from a 150 mW 971 nm InGaAs
diode laser via an upconversion fiber laser. (2.7% wall-plug efficiency.)
Amplitude noise reduced electronically by 10 dB (0.3% rms)
Warm-up problem eliminated by use of low loss cavity.
A 4 mW green upconversion fiber laser operated in a compact 575 cm
3
package.
GREEN LASER-DIODE-PUMPED
ERBIUM FIBER LASER
David Piehler and Dawn Craven
Applied Photonics Division
Uniphase Corporation
San Jose, California
Norman Kwong
artel Corporation
Alhambra, California
presented at Compact Blue/Green Lasers
Salt Lake City, Utah
Friday, 11 February 1994
paper CFA2
Room-temperature visible upconversion fiber lasers in
rare-earth-doped fluoride glass
Dopant ion
Holmium
Laser wavelengths
(nm)
550
Pump wavelengths
(nm)
645,750,890
:: :::: :::: ::::: ::::::: ::::::::::::::: :::::$45: ::::::::::::::: ::: :::: I
Praseodymium 490,520,540,605 or 635 840 + 1020
Thulium 480 1120
Energy leyels of Er3+ in fluoride glass
(including room-temperature lifetimes)
544 nm
ESA --6 __ ----
---A-
j
------;/--t-----

- ':':-
j!J:
971 nm pump

____ .-____ __
4F 5/2
J 801 nm pump
4F 712
"
!Hl1l2
53/2
801 nm pump
4F9/2

4/9/2
4/11/2
971 nm pump
544 nm
801 nm pump
4/15/2
(0.45 ms)
(0.12 ms)
(7 ms)
(9 ms)
Population dynamics
Rate equation model of 100 mW of 970 nm incident on an Er fiber
with core of 2 Jlm
c 0.5
o
~ 0.4
::J
a.
o
0.. 0.3
co
c
.Q 0.2
t5
~
LL 0.1
5 10 15
time after turn-on (ms)
The long lived 4113/2 level acts as an excitation sink
Fiber
Pump
The erbium fiber laser
length:
material:
dopant:
core diameter:
cutoff wavelength:
numerical aperture:
Ti :sapphire laser
or
InGaAs laser diode
Ortel Corporation
2.2 m
fluorozirconate glass (Le Verre Fluore)
1000 ppm Er
3
+
2 Jlm
800 nm
0.31
EDFA pump module in 14-pin butterfly package
pigtailed to Flexcore 1 060 fiber
Ti:sapph,ire laser pumping
output
coypler
mUTor
..
Q)
16.0
14.0
12.0
:; ~ 10.0
0.3:
'5 E 8.0
o _ 6.0
~
o
a.
0.0
Er fiber lasel
---R=
23%
20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0
using an external mirror cavity
launched 970 nm power (mW)
Er fiber laser
--0---- R = 90% with
.. lasing
Q)
~ 60.0
0
~

R = 23% with
a.
......
lasing
-03:
40.0
Q)
E
.c
.. -
20.0 .................... - :.:8--0.- ----0--- R = 90% without
0
f/)
_ ~ i r - ~ .
lasing
.c
0.0 S .
0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 , 80.0
--- .. --- R = 23% without
launched 970 nm power (mW)
lasing
971 nm Ti:sapphire pumping results
With an R = 23% @ 544 nm output coupler:
Threshold: 31 mW (with respect to coupled power)
Slope efficiency: 51 % (w.r.t.c.p.)
l ~ 1_ mW of green laser light generated from 59 mW of coupled power
-9 nm pump acceptance bandwidth (FWHM) centered at 971 nm (R=90
%
;
25 mW launched)
this work:
BT 1993:
CNET 1992:
BT 1991:
Ti:sa
20
...
...--..
BT 1993
<:>
~ this work
.s 15
(971 ~ )
(971 nm) <:> ...
"-
';CNET 1992 00 Q)
<:>
~
&. ... (971 nm)
0
0
~ 10 &.
<:>
0
Q)
.&..
...
CJ)
<:>
...
0
cu
.&. BT 1991
c
...
Q)
5 &.
<:>
...
0
(801 nm)
Q)
0
"-
.&.
... '" 0>
<:>
... '"
0
0
100 200 300 400
launched pump power (mW)
2 )lm core, 0.31 NA
3 )lm core, 0.20 NA (Brierley, et al., BT Tech. J. 11, 128 (1993))
5.5 )lm core 0.18 NA (Allain, et al., Electron. Lett. 28 111 (1992))
3.4)lm core, 0.18 NA (Whitley, et al., Electron Lett. 27 185 (1991))
EDFA
laser diode
pump module
971 nm
Laser diode pumping
mode-matching
lenses
fiber pigtail
erbium doped
fluoride fiber
high
reflector
mUTor
. coupling efficiency is about 50%
544nm
r.:-.: .. . _ . . :. , I, I11II [p! ' 1. I I I!,! I ij,lI j'n! llH
- ;t t 1 Jl
ti II I "" '-'-'-"!.I:..:..!..!.!.1!.!.!.!J..
1
l..I.ll.1.! I I Il1jl tilll\l! iiI! Ifl1
-,'ill : tllii 11I1:-JlllllllllllllllllfllTllfnnnnrn PI" ""u" .. I ! I !l1[t nIT
1.11 tttttHtHttltlt TEC:t
r
(+) .. , Ii . " i1 dill
Iliii il . WiU
u 6: I "TI 11111
! II \ 0 ,', 1 .1 II
ttl' mH 1+tltttHWHttl "' 11 nlermlslor I
'; 12 NC j I
t,t,i, IiI 13 NC I ./ '11
I
14 TE Cooler(.)
+0 - It i! ! . . . I II
t 111111111111111 1-11111111111111111 111111111111111 1111111111111111111 11111111111111111111111111111111111111 .. ' II I
I., . ,I 111111111111 111"111111
i \; TIl'""!
inl!j I
. , I-II' -, '\ I ! ;, i
i I III
" !I : I Ii
!: : I
2. 0 ;1; ii.! I
:i! rl II I, I
.. . .. 'r"
fiT II II' , I
'. i, tT,1 1
1
1, III I] f ]11
' i I II,!.II I i,l "II'IJ 1,,'11'
\l: :1' :lji dl ' . . If Ililli ! 1111 pi
"''1::- ;m 111 I III fji Wi
-.. W I I r III til!1 tJlU
. IW iii I I I .
40

Zeo
,
I, 0
,
40 1
20
120
lbo
(fI1AJ )
TlST 9v
Diode pumped results
EDFA module cooled to "'10C to operate at "'971 nm.
Approximately 50
0
/0 of module light couples to fiber laser.
Data are given in terms of applied current to the laser diode.
Laser diode + fiber laser can form coupled laser cavities.
LD monitor photodiode reads about 10
0
/0 higher when coupled to fiber.
~
E 2.5
---
E
c 2
~
~
to
(tj 1.5
L-
a>
~ 1
a..
.....
::J
.8- 0.5
::J
o
50
:
I
R = 58% I
I-
<I
J
I>
I ~
100 150
laser diode current (rnA)
Related results
Assuming (1) 50% coupling efficiency,
(2) When coupled to fiber laser LD power increases by '" 1 0 %
For an R = 58% @ 544 nm output coupler
threshold: "'21 mW (w.r.t.c.p.)
slope efficiency: "'24% (w.r. t.c.p.)
2.5 mW of green light generated from "'31 mW of coupled 971 nm pump light
In comparison:
At BT Laboratories (Massicott, et al., Electron. Lett. 29, 2119 (1993)),
a 1.1 J.lm core, 0.4 NA (Ac = 600 nm) Er fibre laser generated
3 mW of green light from 40 mW of coupled 800 nm pump light
from an AIGaAs laser diode.
"Warm-up" effect
diode pumped Er fiber warm up
1
.--..
0.5 .
3:
E
-- ...
0.2
Q)
~
0.1
0
a.
+oJ
i1. 0.05
S
0
c 0.02
Q)
~ 0.01
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
minutes after turn-on
Highly dependent on pump power and fiber laser cavity loss
Once warm, fiber stays warm for hours.
"hand-waving" solution
Summary
Upconversion-pumped Er fiber lasers are capable of greater than 50% IR to
green efficiency.
2.5 mW of 544 nm light generated from a "40-mW" EDFA module.
Results can be scaled to higher power: Doubling the diode pump power
should increase the green output to over 10 mW.
LASER DIODE PUMPED VISIBLE
UPCONVERSION FIBER LASER
presented at CLEO
Baltimore, Maryland
Thursday, 7 May 1993
paper CThC3
David Piehler and Dawn Craven
Uniphase Corporation
San Jose, California
Norman Kwong and Hal Zarem
Ortel Corporation
Alhambra, California
Upconversion Laser History
1971 HolYb:BaY 2Fa 554 nm 77K IR flashlamp Bell Labs
1985 Er:YAI0
3
550 nm 77K two I R dye lasers IBM
1990 Er:YLiF
4
551 nm 90K diode laser (800 nm) IBM
1990 Tm:fluoride fiber 480 nm 77K Kr+ laser (647 +677 nm) CNET
455 nm
1991 PrIYb:fluoride fiber 635 nm RT Ti:Sapphire (855 nm) CNET
1990 Ho:fluoride fiber 550 nm RT Kr+ laser (647 nm) CNET
1991 Pr:fluoride fiber 491 nm RT Ti :Sapphire Southampton/BT
520 nm (835 nm + 1010 nm)
605 nm
635 nm
1991 Er:fluoride fiber 544 nm RT Ti:Sapphire (801 nm) BT
1992 Tm:BaYbYFa 647 nm RT 800 nm diode laser Amoco
1992 Tm:fluoride fiber 480 nm RT Nd:YAG (1.12 J.lm) Amoco
Q: Why Fiber Lasers?
A: Geometry
Both pump and laser light are confined to small (''In(2 J.lm)2) area over a long
('" 1 m) interaction length.
Efficient laser action.
Efficient upconversion processes.
Best results for practical (room temperature, diode laser pump-able)
upconversion lasers use fluoride glass fibers.
Theupconversion process
- ,
Sequential absorption ()f two photons with or without energy transfer.
833 nm
2F 5/2
985 nm 1016 nm
1016 nm
-Pr 3+
491
3
F 2
3H 5
3 H 4
f,3S
_ ~ L H
sal G03
, . I ...... '
Absorption at "-J 1 ~ m
(from Ohishi, et a/., Photon. Tech. Lett., 3, 990 (1991))
--- N
. ---
N
E,
1
E
u
u 0
N N
I
N
. I
0
0

Yb3+ (2 F7/2 - 2 F
5
/
2
) Pr
3
+(3H
4
-'G
4
)
<r-
X
4
x '
----
----
+
'. + (V)
~
(V)
....a
/ '
J-.
>- >- D-
Uo-
LI..-
0
3 .
0
z
z
0
0
J-' -
t-
o 0.5 ' 0
L.U
L.U .
(J)
2
U)
(J)
en
en
en
0
0
0:
a: I
u (.) .
z'
1
:2:
0
0"
t-
t-
o... '.
D-
o:: . a:
0
O.
en
0
en
eo
o eo
<x:
'
900 950 1 000 . 1050 1100 1150 1200 '
WAVFI F N r , T ~ tnm I
Fiber
The Pr/Yb fiber laser
length:
material:
dopants:
core diameter:
cutoff wavelength:
numerical aperture:
3P
O
lifetime:
1 m
fluorozirconate glass (Le Verre Fluore)
2000 wt. ppm Pr I 4000 wt. ppm Vb
4 J.lm
960 nm
0.21
39 J.ls
Laser diodes
AIGaAs
833 nm SDL-5422 150 mW single spatial mode laser diode
T = 20C.
InGaAs
Ortel Corporation
985 nm or 1016 nm, single spatial mode,
threshold = 20 mA, slope efficiency = 0.61 mW/mA, T = 20C.
986or1016nm
laser diode
833 nm
laser diode
high
reflector
output
coupler
polarizing
beam
splitter single mode
fluoride fiber
laser output
at either
635 or 521 nm
Mirror Reflectivities
635 nm operation high reflector output coupler
635 nm
99% 77%
833 nm 10
%
99%
1.0Jl,m
12% 99%
521 nm operation high reflector output coupler
521 nm
98% 98%
603 nm
35% 35%
635 nm
7% 7%
833 nm
4% 4%
1.0 Jlm
9% 9%
Results
Red output power vs. laser diode power
---..
~ 6
E
E 5
c
L()
~ 4
+-'
ctS
Q; 3
3:
o
0.2
+-'
:::J
a.
"5 1
o
833 nm laser diode constant at 112 mW
I
"
I
I
~
I
1016 nm "
I
"
I
I
I
I
"
I
I"
JA
/
985 nm
o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
20 40 60 80 1 00 1 20 140
incident InGaAs diode laser power (mW)
Red output vs. 1 016 nm vs. 833 nm
833 nm AIGaAs (mW)
_ - - - - - - ~ ~ 100
6,0
4.0
635 nm (mW)
2.0
20
o
1016 nm InGaAs (mW)
Green output power vs. laser diode power
833 nm laser diode power constant at 138 mW
o . 8 r--r-""-'--'--r--r-""---",,-,--,--'--'-.........-r-"""-'--......-T'"'""1r--r--r"---'--'-""T"""""T'"""""""""'--..---r--r--'--'--,--,
.-
~ 0.7
E
-..-
E 0.6
c
N
O
.
5
LO
10 0.4
~
Q)
;: 0.3
o
a.
"S 0.2
a.
~
6 0.1
~
1016 nm I
I
iJ.
I
I
,.
I
I
f
,I
I
I
I
/
~
I
I'
985 nm
O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
20 40 60 80 1 00 1 20 1 40
incident InGaAs diode laser power (mW)
Thresholds & Slope Efficiencies
(with respect to incident power)
112 mW @ 833 nm
14mW@833nm
112 mW @ 833 nm
32 mW @ 833 nm
138 mW @ 833 nm
55 mW @ 833 nm
138 mW @ 833 nm
67 mW @ 833 nm
Red (635 nm) transition
8 mW @ 1016 nm
80 mW @ 1016 nm
16 mW @ 985 nm
90 mW @ 985 nm
10. % (@ 1016 nm)
9.3 % (@ 833 nm)
5.1 % (@ 985 nm)
5.0 % (@ 833 nm)
Green (521 nm) transition
32 mW @ 1016 nm
87 mW @ 1016 nm
80 mW @ 985 nm
130 mW @ 985 nm
1.5 % (@ 1016 nm)
0.4 % (@ 833 nm)
0.7 % (@ 985 nm)
0.4 % (@ 833 nm)
Excitation spectra
c;; 10
+-'
C
:J
.
(a) (b)
.0
8

C\S
""-'
E
c
6
f': /"" .... T"""
.tl.'
(\J
~ "
LO
'"
@J
4
h...,/
,.
~
,..
Q)
fa
~ I
a
~
a..
2
I
+-' ,.
:J
a..
~
+-'
I
:J
a
goo
850 900 950 1000
Ti:Sapphire wavelength (nm)
(a) Ti:Sapphire power = 200 mW; 985 nm diode power = 80 mW
(b) Ti:Sapphire power = 120 mW; 833 nm diode power = 120 mW
Conclusion
Diode pumped upconversion fiber lasers are feasible
mW power levels
room for optimization: concentration, geometry, mirror reflectivity
Broad pump acceptance bandwidth
no "holes"
minimal wavelength requirements on laser diodes
insensitive to laser diode mode hops