4.

Lasers

Cyanines Merocyanines Xanthenes Coumarine Stilbenes Oligophenylenes Oxadiazoles 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 Emission wavelength [nm] 1000 1100

Fig. 4.18

Spectral ranges that can be tuned for different classes of dye molecules [7].

( > 0, S0 ) is quickly depopulated by radiationless relaxation to the ground vibrational level of the lower electronic state ( 0, S0 ) (4). The total losses in a dye laser, beside the typical losses in an optical resonator (mirrors transmission, optical elements absorption), consist of losses in an active medium. The losses in a dye result from the intersystem crossing S1 ! T1 to the triplet states. These transitions lead to a decrease in the population of the S1 level, as well as the absorption T1 ! Tm , because the absorption of the triplet states covers the area of the fluorescence S1 ! S0 . To avoid the losses caused by the triplet states one should accelerate the triplet states relaxation, or remove molecules in the triplet states from the active laser area. This can be done by adding triplet-states quenching substances (quencher) to the dye solution, or by applying a fast flow of a dye (of the order of 10 6 s) through the active area. These times are considerably shorter than the triplet states lifetime, and the fast flow permits elimination of the losses caused by the triplet states.

(a) Z1 Dye Z2

Optical pumping (b) Z2 Optical pumping L Dye Z1

Fig. 4.19

Different geometries of pumping in dye lasers.

4.7.

Gas Lasers for the Ultraviolet Range

Output beam

87

A IF-P1

M A IF-P2

Dye A

Fig. 4.20

Ring laser, IF-P1 and IF-P2Fabry-Perot interferometers.

As we have said, an individual dye cannot cover the entire spectrum between 300 nm and 1.1 mm: a range of different types of dyes must be used. Thus, merocyanine and cyanines cover the red region, coumarins and xanthenes cover the greens and yellows, and oxadiazoles, stilbenes and oligophenylenes cover the blue region (Fig. 4.18). Dyes require high pump powers. The dye molecules are optically pumped by flash lamps, arc lamps, or pulsed and continuous lasers such as the neodymium Nd:YAG (the second harmonic), argon, excimer, and nitrogen types. Two ways of pumping can be distinguished in dye lasersthe transverse (Fig. 4.19a), and the longitudinal (Fig. 4.19b). The lasers discussed so far have an optical resonator in which the standing wave is generated. A serious drawback of the resonators employed in dye lasers is the spatial phenomenon of holes burning. This effect makes it difficult to obtain a singlemode operation, and destroys mechanisms based on homogeneous band broadening. To avoid these undesirable effects the ring resonator geometry is applied, in which a traveling waveinstead of the standing waveis generated (Fig. 4.20). The ring geometry is achieved by internal reflections in the Abbe prisms (A). The laser beam arrives at, and leaves the prisms at the Brewster angle. The output beam is led out either by a beamsplitter M, or by total internal reflection. In order to extract a specific wavelength from the broadband output of a tunable dye laser, external adjustable cavity tuners are used. Three types of external cavity tuners are used: gratings, prisms, and etalons. Conversely, if we are interested in the generation of ultrashort pulses, the full bandwidth of a dye is employed. Fundamentally, the broader the band, the shorter is the pulse.

4.7. GAS LASERS FOR THE ULTRAVIOLET RANGE 4.7.1. Excimer Lasers Excimer lasers are facing strong competition from solid-state lasers, although they still offer the most efficient access to the ultraviolet spectral regionwith high

88

4.

Lasers

energies, and high peak and average powers in pulsed operation. However, they have some drawbacks, such as poor beam quality (higher-mode structure and high divergence), their size, operating costs, and maintenance requirements. Specialists in this field say that this lingering reputation for finicky performance is now largely undeserved, owing to improvements in the technology during recent years. Excimer lasers, along with nitrogen lasers, are the most popular gas lasers generating radiation in the ultraviolet range. The active medium is a mixture of a noble gas, halogen gas, and a buffer gasusually neon. The gas mixture in a typical excimer laser consists of 29% of a noble gas, 0.2% of a halogen gas, and 9098% of a buffer gas which serves as a medium to transport energy. The mixture is confined in a pressure vessel, typically at a pressure of 35005000 millibars, and is usually excited by a fast electric discharge lasting a few tens of nanoseconds. Halides of noble gases, such as ArF, KrF, XeF, XeCl which have short lifetimes, and are unstable in the ground state, are created in the gas mixture. The characteristics of typical excimer gases are presented in Table 4.3. The term excimer is an abbreviation of the expression excited dimer, and denotes a molecule RH* in the excited state, E1, which does not exist in the ground state, E0 (Fig. 4.21). The laser transitions occurring between the excited state, E1, of the excimer and the ground state, E0, where the gas reverts to the original separate constituents, lead simultaneously to a reduction in the lower levels population, and an increasing population inversion between the states E1 and E0. The laser gas mixture is usually excited by a fast electric discharge lasting only a few tens of nanoseconds. The gases of the excimer lasers undergo degradation during laser operation. In commercially available lasers the pressure vessel is not sealed off, and is therefore connected to gas bottles that replenish the gases periodically, usually after 103106 pulses, once the laser performance deteriorates. One should remember that the excimer lasersalthough often used in laboratories, industry and medicinecontain a toxic active medium, and special safety procedures should be
Table 4.3 Typical excimer-laser gases [8] Gas ArF Wavelength [nm] 193 Comments Requires high operating voltages to transfer energy efficiently to the discharge. Has the shortest absorption depth in organic materials of all excimer wavelengths. The laser beam is absorbed by O2 molecules in air, so the beam-path requires an N2 flush for efficient propagation. The best of all excimer lasers for its combination of power and lasing efficiency: used for machining polymers. Very long gas-lifetimes. Often used for marking applications. Lower average powers than KrF generate a lower rate of material-removal overall, although longer absorption lengths in polymers can lead to higher etch rates. Less attractive wavelength for machining tasks, because of its lower absorption in polymers.

KrF XeCl

248 308

XeF

351

4.7.

Gas Lasers for the Ultraviolet Range

E RH* E1 Excited state

89

Laser transition R +H E0 Ground state r

Interatomic distance

Fig. 4.21

Energy scheme of the ground and the excited electronic states in an excimer laser.

maintained. In the early days of the development of excimer lasers, corrosion of the gas vessel owing to the presence of halogens was a serious problem. In all modern lasers this problem has been removed by careful selection of materials, such as electrodes made of nickel or bromine, and the elimination of organic materials such as lubricants, seals, or insulators. These technical improvements have extended to 108 pulses the lifetime between exchanges of laser gas. The excimer medium has a very high gain, and an output coupler reflectivity of 1030% is sufficient to achieve an adequate output. The most often used emission lines of excimer lasers are 193 nm (ArF), 248 nm (KrF), 308 nm (XeCl), and 351 nm (XeF). The powers of these lasers are from 1 W to 100 W (for KrF and XeCl) or even more. The typical operating parameters are presented in Table 4.4. The lasers optics are the second element to require maintenance, and the second factor deciding the lasers lifetime. The optical elements in XeCl lasers are made of quartz or fused silica. In XeF lasers the optical elements used are made of MgF2, because fluoride etches both quartz and silica, with deterioration of a lasers performance. Excimer lasers produce high pulse energies, and high average and peak powers. One of the biggest excimer lasers is Aurora in the Los Alamos National Labora- tory (5 ns, 5 kJ, KrF), used for nuclear fusion control tests. Excimer lasers are used in
Table 4.4 Typical excimer laser output parameters [8] Parameter Wavelength [nm] Pulse energy [mJ] Repetition rate [Hz] Average power [W] Pulse duration [ns] Peak power [MW] Peak fluence [mJ/cm2] Beam divergence [mrad] Beam size [mm] 193, 248, 308, or 351 400500 100200 40100 1530 1030 100200 13 815 2530 Value