Improved 2nd harmonic rise-time in a thermal-lens-dominated extended-cavity micro-laser
Many commercially available compact, micro-cavity diode-pumped solid-state lasers achieve a stable resonator condition following the formation of an intra-cavity thermal lens. Typically, this thermal lens forms as a result of localized thermal expansion in the host material due to the very high optical power of the infrared pump beam. Additionally, most common DPSS host media, such as Nd:YAG and Nd:YVO4 exhibit high dn/dT, change in refractive index with temperature. Thermal lens formation time dominates stable resonator establishment and, thus, the rise-time of the intra-cavity-generated visible second-harmonic output light. Thermal lens formation time may range from 10's of microseconds to several milliseconds, depending on pump power, the host material dn/dT, and the volume and length of the host material. This paper describes a unique approach that improves the second-harmonic rise-time - and, thus, the modulation bandwidth - for high-power VECSELs by several orders of magnitude. This approach, while typically used in some laser systems for other purposes, allows direct modulation of high-power VECSELs to greater than 100 megahertz with second-harmonic rise-time of a few nanoseconds.
Laser resonators and beam propagation : fundamentals, advanced concepts and applications
The Electromagnetic Field.- Geometrical Optics.- Wave Optics.- Polarization.- Basic Properties of Optical Resonators.- The Fabry Perot Resonator.- Passive Open Resonators.- Stable Resonators.- Resonators on the Stability Limits.- Unstable Resonators.- Resonators with Internal Optical Elements.- Open Resonators with Gain.- The Active Medium.- Output Power of Laser Resonators.- Influence of Gain on Mode Structure and Loss.- Q-switched Laser Resonators.- Resonators with Variable Internal Lenses.- Resonators with Several Active Media.- Misalignment Sensitivity of the Output Power.- Resonators with Internal Nonlinear Elements.- Special Resonator Concepts.- Prism Resonators.- Fourier Transform Resonators.- Hybrid Resonators.- Resonators for Annular Gain Media.- Ring Resonators.- Single Mode Resonators.- Measurement Techniques.- Measurement of Laser Head Parameters.- Measurement of Laser Beam Parameters.
Investigating the Optical properties of cd1-xznxs thin films deposited by the Dip Technique
A Thesis submitted to the Department of Physics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of 
Master of Science (Solid State Physics)