OSE PHD Student, Mingyang Zhang Presents Paper on High power in-well pumped MECSEL emitting at 1178 nm for sodium guide star applicationss omnipotent probe of surface and interface phenomena
Departmental News
Posted: January 25, 2022
The OSE Program at Photonics West 2022
OSE PHD Student, Mingyang Zhang Presents Paper on High power in-well pumped MECSEL emitting at 1178 nm for sodium guide star applications
Abstract: Sodium laser guide stars (LGS) play an essential role in ground-based telescope adaptive optics. Optically-pumped vertical-external-cavity semiconductor lasers (VECSELs) have long been investigated as possible next-generation LGS sources due to their high optical power, good beam quality, and ability to tune the emission wavelength. Here, we present the design and characterization of an emerging platform that shows potential in a high-power semiconductor laser, specifically in LSG applications. Using membrane external-cavity surface-emitting lasers (MECSELs), we demonstrated a record output power of 28.5 W adopting the in-well pumping technique. This allowed the reduction of the quantum defect, which typically hinders high power operation in standard barrier-pumped semiconductor lasers. Comparing the barrier-pumping and in-well pumping schemes showed slope efficiencies of 21.6% and 39.5%, respectively. A multi-pass scheme was designed for recirculating the in-well pump beam. Moreover, a tuning range of 71 nm from 1124 nm to 1195 nm was achieved with a 2 mm birefringent filter which led to a 1.7 nm linewidth at 1178 nm for future frequency conversion to 589 nm.
Bio: Mingyang Zhang received the B.S. degree in optical information of science and technology from Guizhou University, Guiyang, China, in 2015 and the M.S. degree with distinction in optics and photonics from Imperial College London, London, the UK, in 2016. He is currently pursuing a PhD degree at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, the US. From 2016 to 2017, he was an Optical Engineering with Han’s Laser Technology Co., Ltd, Shenzhen, China. From 2017 to 2018, he was a Laser Engineer with Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. Since 2018, he has been a PhD Student with the Physics Department, the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. His research interest includes ultrafast science, extreme nonlinear optics and laser technology.
Link to Photonics West 2022 Program: https://spie.org/conferences-and-exhibitions/photonics-west
Link to Upcoming 2022 Optics Conferences: https://optics.unm.edu/conferences/conference-2022.html
