Continuous-wave pair-pumped laser system
US5117437A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 2, 1990 |
| Grant date | May 26, 1992 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 2, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S3/09403
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Continuous laser action is sustained by a new pumping mechanism which relies exclusively on cooperative electronic transitions of coupled atoms or ions in solids. The present invention is the first of a new class of laser device which depends on energy-sharing interactions between colliding atoms in gases or active dopants in solid laser media to create the population inversion needed for amplification of light. In one specific embodiment, a laser crystal which is formed of calcium fluoride is doped heavily with trivalent erbium, and is provided with reflective coatings on respective first and second surfaces. A pumping energy is supplied whereby a pair of atoms are elevated to an initial excited state. Subsequently, one of the atoms loses energy so as to assume a ground state, the energy released thereby being made available to excite the second atom to a still higher quantum energy state. Thus, a cooperative energy interaction between the pair of atoms results in the double excitation of one of the atoms above the initial excitation state. The excited ion subsequently, upon relaxation to its initial excited energy level, causes the issuance of the laser photon. The invention is n…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.