Biomedical subjects

Stuart D Jackson

Publications and source records attributed to Stuart D Jackson.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

High-power 83 W holmium-doped silica fiber laser operating with high beam quality.

A high-power 83 W cladding-pumped Tm3+-Ho3+-doped silica fiber laser is reported. Using bidirectional 793 nm diode pumping, a maximum slope efficiency of 42% was produced after a threshold launched pump power of 12 W was exceeded. The laser operated at wavelengths near 2105 nm with moderate beam quality, i.e., M2 approximately 1.5. Further power scaling of the fiber laser was limited by thermal failure of the fiber ends.

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PubMed2006

Passively Q-switched fiber laser that uses saturable Raman gain.

Operation of a short all-fiber passively Q-switched Raman laser pumped by a continuous-wave laser diode is experimentally demonstrated. The passively switched fiber laser consists simply of a double-clad ytterbium-doped silica fiber that is spliced directly to a moderately germanium-doped silica fiber. The placement of the Ge-doped silica fiber within the fundamental (Raman pump) cavity allows interplay between fundamental and Stokes fields to take place, which leads to saturation of the Raman gain as a result of pump depletion. Pulse widths of 70 and 60 ns at the first and second Stokes wavelengths of 1168 and 1232 nm, respectively, are produced at a stable 588 kHz repetition rate.

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PubMed2004

Microstructured polymer fiber laser.

A microstructured polymer optical fiber doped with Rhodamine 6G dye was fabricated and demonstrated as an optical amplifier and a fiber laser. As an amplifier, the fiber achieved a gain in excess of 30 dB. As a pulsed fiber laser, the fiber exhibited a threshold of 20 microJ, a slope efficiency of 18%, and a lifetime as high as 130,000 shots at 10 Hz. The maximum output energy was 16 microJ. The advantages that such fibers offer lie in the simplicity and flexibility of their fabrication and in their potential for use as compact, tunable solid-state sources.

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PubMed2004

Single-transverse-mode 2.5-W holmium-doped fluoride fiber laser operating at 2.86 microm.

A high-power tandem-pumped Ho3+, Pr3+-doped ZBLAN fiber laser is demonstrated. Using the free-running 1100-nm output from a diode-cladding-pumped Yb3+-doped silica fiber laser as the pump source, a maximum output power of 2.5 W was generated at a slope efficiency of 29% after the threshold of approximately 30 mW was reached. Saturation of the output is avoided with Pr3+ codoping, which allows single-transition output. The center wavelength of the output was 2.86 microm and the bandwidth at maximum power was approximately 15 nm.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Power scaling method for 2-microm diode-cladding-pumped Tm(3+)-doped silica fiber lasers that uses Yb(3+) codoping.

Unidirectional dual-wavelength pumping at 805 and 975 nm of a Tm(3+)-doped silica double-clad fiber laser that has been codoped with Yb(3+) is demonstrated. With equal 2-wt. % concentrations of the Tm(3+) and Yb(3+) ions, slope efficiencies of 49% (57%) and 35% (40%) with respect to the launched (absorbed) pump power of the 805- and 975-nm pump wavelengths, respectively, were obtained. Efficient Yb(3+) --> Tm(3+) energy transfer and efficient cross relaxation combined with minimal upconversion losses were thus operating. At the maximum output power of 18 W, the fiber laser operated at a center wavelength of 2050 nm.

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PubMed2003

Diode-cladding-pumped Yb3+, Ho(3+)-doped silica fiber laser operating at 2.1-microm.

The characteristics of the performance of a diode-cladding-pumped Yb3+, Ho(3+)-doped silica fiber laser are presented. To our knowledge this in the first demonstration of a Yb3+, Ho(3+)-doped fiber laser, and a maximum output power of 0.85 W was achieved for a launched pump power of 10.9 W. For launched pump powers < 7 W, the slope efficiency was approximately 12.5%. Visible fluorescence emission with peaks at approximately 485, approximately 550, and approximately 660 nm measured at the output from the laser suggests that excited-state absorption and energy-transfer upconversion losses may impair the functioning of the laser. Increasing the Yb3+ and Ho3+ concentrations and the Yb3+:Ho3+ concentration ratio may lead to an improvement in the overall efficiency of the device.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Efficiency dependence on the Tm3+ and Al3+ concentrations for Tm3+-doped silica double-clad fiber lasers.

We present measurements of the slope efficiency and the pump power at threshold for a number of Tm3+-doped silica double-clad fiber lasers that incorporate fibers that have a range of Tm3+ concentrations. We obtain a slope efficiency for the approximately 2-microm 3H4 --> 3H6 laser transition that is greater than the Stokes efficiency limit for a Tm3+ concentration as low as 1.3 wt. %. These results indicate that the cross relaxation process, 3F4, 3H6 --> 3H4, 3H4, has a significant effect on the efficiency of the laser despite the relatively short lifetime of the 3F4 energy level. Energy migration of the excitation at the 3F4 level through the process 3F4, 3H6 --> 3H6, 3F4 may be enhancing the cross-relaxation mechanism. We also show the importance of reducing the level of clustering of the Tm3+ ion when it is doped into silica by use of appropriate amounts of Al3+ codopant. For Tm3+ concentrations of >1 wt. %, Al3+/Tm3+ concentration ratios of > 10 are recommended forreducing scattering losses, quenching the lifetime, or both.

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PubMed2002

Sequence lasing in a gain-switched Yb3+,Er(3+)-doped silica double-clad fiber laser.

Experimental results relating to the gain-switched operation of a double-clad Yb3+,Er(3+)-doped silica fiber laser that is pulse pumped with the output from a flash-lamp-pumped Ti:sapphire laser are presented. For all the configurations of the fiber laser that we studied, the 2F5/2-->2F7/2 laser transition of the Yb3+ ion lased prior to laser emission from the 4I13/2-->4I15/2 transition of the Er3+ ion. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported operation of sequence lasing in the Yb3+,Er(3+)-codoped system. This succession of laser pulses deduced from the measurements of this investigation is a consequence of both the short intense pump pulse and the short 900-nm wavelength of the pump that does not overlap with any important excited-state absorption transitions. We believe that the predominant interionic interaction during the course of the pump pulse is the double-energy transfer to the Er3+ ion acting twice from the 2F5/2 energy level of the Yb3+ donor ion. A maximum total output of 1.65 mJ is obtained (1.38 mJ from the 2F5/2-->2F7/2 transition of Yb3+ and 0.27 mJ from the 4I13/2-->4I15/2 transition of Er3+) from a nonoptimized configuration of the fiber laser. The wavelength of the output from the fiber laser was measured to vary approximately linearly with fiber length from 1040 to 1046 nm for the Yb(3+)-based laser and 1535 to 1541 nm for the Er(3+)-based laser.

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PubMed2002

Diode-pumped fiber lasers: a new clinical tool?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Diode-pumped fiber lasers are a compact and an efficient source of high power laser radiation. These laser systems have found wide recognition in the area of lasers as a result of these very practical characteristics and are now becoming important tools for a large number of applications. In this review, we outline the basic physics of fiber lasers and illustrate how a number of clinical procedures would benefit from their employment. STUDY DESIGN/MATERIALS AND METHODS: The pump mechanisms, the relevant pump and laser transitions between the energy levels, and the main properties of the output from fiber lasers will be briefly reviewed. The main types of high power fiber lasers that have been demonstrated will be examined along with some recent medical applications that have used these lasers. We will also provide a general review of some important medical specialties, highlighting why these fields would gain from the introduction of the fiber laser. RESULTS/CONCLUSION: It is established that while the fiber laser is still a new form of laser device and hence not commercially available in a wide sense, a number of important medical procedures will benefit from its general introduction into medicine. With the number of medical and surgical applications requiring high power laser radiation steadily increasing, the demand for more efficient and compact laser systems providing this capacity will grow commensurately. The high power fiber laser is one system that looks like a promising modality to meet this need.

Cardiovascular Surgical Procedures↗