High-power, high-brightness, tunable GaSb-based VECSEL at 2.X μm
High-power, high-brightness, tunable GaSb-based VECSEL emitting in the 2.0-2.4 μm wavelength range is characterized. CW output power vs. absorbed pump power of a diamond-bonded 2.3 μm VECSEL for several heat sink temperatures is studied. Finite element model is used to analyze the heat transport in a GaSb-based VECSEL with an intracavity diamond heatspreader. The tuning characteristics of the VECSEL is also studied.
High-power (>0.5-W CW) diode-pumped vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor lasers with circular TEM/sub 00/ beams
We report demonstration of a new high-power semiconductor laser technology, the optically pumped semiconductor (OPS) vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting laser (VECSEL). Using diode laser pump, an OPS-VECSEL laser with a strain-compensated InGaAs-GaAsP-GaAs multiquantum-well (MQW) structure operated continuous-wave (CW) near /spl lambda//spl sim/1004 nm with record output power of 0.69 W in a TEM/sub 11/ mode, 0.52 W in a TEM/sub 00/ mode, and 0.37 W coupled to a single-mode fiber. It is feasible to produce greater than 1 W of power in a diffraction-limited circular beam from an efficient, compact, manufacturable and reliable OPS-VECSEL laser.
Grazing incidence optics for wide-field x-ray survey imaging: a comparison of optimization techniques
Discussions of optimizing wide-field x-ray optics, with field-of-view less-than 1.1 degree-squared, have been made previously in the literature. However, very little has been published about the optimization of wide-field x-ray optics with larger field-of-views, which technology could greatly enhanced x-ray surveys. We have been working on the design of a wide-field (3.1 degree-squared field-of-view), short focal length (190.5 cm), grazing incidence mirror shell set, with a desired rms image spot size of 15 arcsec. The baseline design consists of Wolter 1 type mirror shells with polynomial perturbations applied to the baseline design. The overall optimization technique is to efficiently optimize the polynomial coefficients that directly influence the angular resolution, without stepping through the entire multi-dimensional coefficient space. We have investigated optimization techniques such as the downhill simplex method, fractional factorial, and response surface (including Box- Behnken and central composite) design. We have also investigated the use of neural networks, such as backpropagation, general regression, and group method of data handling neural networks. We report our findings to date.