At 11:00 on May 18, 2012, the diode-pumped rubidium vapor laser device developed by The Department of High Power Gas Laser Technology of the IECAS achieved laser output. Before this, only National University of Defense Technology achieved laser output of diode-pumped rubidium vapor laser in July 2011.

The diode-pumped rubidium vapor laser device is a diode-pumped alkali metallic laser device. The Diode Pumped Alkali Laser (DPAL) refers to the device that uses a semiconductor laser unit as the pumping source to pump the steam of alkali metals such as caesium (Cs), rubidium (Rb) and potassium (K) to generate laser. This type of laser device was put forward by the scientists in Lawrence Livermore of USA in 2003. It is a new type of optical pump gas laser device. It has combined the advantages such as small size and high efficiency of the semiconductor laser unit, high quality of laser beam of gas laser device and insignificant problem in thermal management. Its quantum efficiency is greater than 95% and its wavelength is at the atmospheric transmission window, which makes it suitable for long-distance transmission, particularly very suitable for development into the orientation of high power. It has favorable prospect of application.

The diode-pumped rubidium vapor laser device that had laser output in the IECAS this time uses a semiconductor laser of 780 nm wavelength, 1 ms pulse width and 100Hz recurrence frequency as the pumped light and uses optical grating narrowing technology to reduce the line width of the pumped light down to 0.2 nm. And then the light is focalized and enters through the PBS into the rubidium steam chamber by incidence. The wavelength of the output rubidium steam laser is 795 nm and its pulse power is 18mW, which makes it a linear polarization ground mode laser. The optical spectrum and light spot pattern are shown in the figure.

 

(Tan Rongqing from The Department of High Power Gas Laser Technology)