Theoretical analyses of an injection-locked diode-pumped rubidium vapor laser.

Diode-pumped alkali lasers (DPALs) have drawn much attention since they were proposed in 2001. The narrow-linewidth DPAL can be potentially applied in the fields of coherent communication, laser radar, and atomic spectroscopy. In this study, we propose a novel protocol to narrow the width of one kind of DPAL, diode-pumped rubidium vapor laser (DPRVL), by use of an injection locking technique. A kinetic model is first set up for an injection-locked DPRVL with the end-pumped configuration. The laser tunable duration is also analyzed for a continuous wave (CW) injection-locked DPRVL system. Then, the influences of the pump power, power of a master laser, and reflectance of an output coupler on the output performance are theoretically analyzed. The study should be useful for design of a narrow-linewidth DPAL with the relatively high output.

Dual-wavelength end-pumped Rb-Cs vapor lasers.

Diode-pumped alkali vapor lasers (DPALs) have been rapidly developed because of their excellent performances. However, there have been few reports about DPALs with multiple wavelengths until now. The effects of the output features on the waist size and position of both Rb and Cs pump beams were first theoretically investigated using a kinetic model for an end-pumped dual-wavelength Rb-Cs laser. Then, a continuous-wave (CW) laser was experimentally constructed. Finally, the hybrid CW-modulated output with two wavelengths was also successfully obtained for the first time in development of alkali lasers. The results might be helpful in applications for laser communication and ranging/radar in the future.

Optimization of physical conditions for a diode-pumped cesium vapor laser.

A diode-pumped alkali laser (DPAL) is thought to provide the significant promise for construction of high-powered lasers in the future. To examine the kinetic processes of the gas-state media (cesium vapor in this study), a mathematical model is developed while the processes including normal 3-enegry-level transition, energy pooling, and ionization are taken into account in this report. The procedures of heat transfer and laser kinetics are combined together in creating the model. We systemically investigate the influences of the temperature, cell length, and cell radius on the output features of a diode-pumped cesium vapor laser. By optimizing these key factors, the optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of a DPAL can be obviously improved. Additionally, the decrease of the output power due to energy pooling and ionization is also shrunk from 1.63% to 0.37% with the pump power of 200 W after optimization. It suggests that the effects of energy pooling and ionization should be decreased apparently under the optimal conditions. Basically, the conclusions we obtained in this study can be extended to other kinds of end-pumped laser configurations.

[Aging and Small-sized Particles Release Characteristics of Tire Microplastics in Various Environmental Media].

In recent years, research on microplastics has mostly focused on thermoplastic materials, and there is a lack of research on the pollution status and environmental behavior of tire microplastics, a type of rubber elastomers. In order to investigate the aging and small-sized particles release characteristics of tire microplastics in various environmental media, the aging process of two different tire microplastics, one for cars and the other for electric bicycles, was simulated in dry and aquatic environments under laboratory conditions. The results showed that the tire microplastics would be aged after 30 d of UV illumination, which was manifested by the roughness of the surface and the appearance of cracks and flaking. The Fourier infrared spectra showed that the carbonyl index of the surface also increased. In addition, tire microplastics released a large number of small sub-micron particles under the influence of UV illumination and hydrodynamic action, and the number of particles released from car tire microplastics in aquatic environments reached 694.8 million particles per milliliter of solution at 30 d of the UV light condition, among which 694.6 million particles with a particle size of less than 1 µm were released, which was approximately 100 times of that in the dark condition. The study showed that tire microplastics in aquatic environments were more susceptible to aging and released more small particles under light conditions and that car tire microplastics released more small particles than electric bicycle tire microplastics, posing ecological and environmental risks.