Laser Physics-Novel Lasers and Applications

The promise of laser research is exciting not only from the many applications, but because the physics of their function is an expression of both nature and human ingenuity. Being able, at will, to produce whatever wavelength and power from a single laser represents the ideal goal. Recognizing practical limits our laboratory is dedicated toward achieving as wide range of "color" in lasing as possible from materials such as alkali-halides and impurity-doped alkali-earth fluoride crystals prepared by exposure to ionizing radiation as well as transitional metal doped wide band II-VI semiconductor materials. Long term research is directed towards the development and investigation of novel vibronic crystalline laser media as well as novel schemes for tunable lasers. We have developed technology of room temperature stable LiF:F2+ color center crystals and constructed a solid state  laser on their basis that produces light from beyond 0.8 to 1.2 microns and with nonlinear transformations from ultraviolet (0.2 microns) to middle IR spectral range (10 microns). We also developed technology of ZnS and ZnSe crystals doping based on pulse laser deposition and subsequent thermal annealing of the samples, manufactured and characterized dozens of  Cr:ZnS and ZnSe crystals with  good laser properties. The "blue-prints" of Cr:ZnS epitaxial thin film technology was also developed. First  CW and gain switched middle IR microchip lasers on Cr2+:ZnS and ZnSe crystals were proposed and realized. Slope efficiencies up to 53% with output power up-to 600mW for CW and energy of 1 mJ for pulsed pumping were achieved. We designed and realized  a compact, tunable over ~ 700 nm between 2170 and 2840 nm external cavity Er-fiber laser pumped CW laser yielding up to 1200 mW of output power and up to 40% slope efficiency. Laser based systems are being developed for fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy of optical materials, data telecommunication, for analysis of protein crystals being grown on the International Space Station, rocks on Mars, and traces of metals that are toxic components of environment. Biotechnical medical applications are pursued in conjunction with the UAB nationally renowned medical center. The Nation Science Foundation (NSF), Department of Defense, NASA and industrial partners support these research programs.

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Instrumentation available at the Laser lab:

Collaboration:

• UAB:

  • Medical School

  • School of Engineering

  • Center for Biophysics and Engineering

• UAH

• Auburn

• IPG Photonics Corporation

• Light Age, Inc.

• Atlantic Vision, Inc.

• Mitsubishi Materials

• Q-Peak

• Sarnoff Corporation

• Technical University, Austria

• General Physics Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences

• Kuban State University

PUBLICATIONS:

228 research publications in physics: 1 book, 76 peer-reviewed publications in refereed articles, 57 papers published in conference proceedings, book chapters and preprints, 94 not peer-reviewed publications - extended conference abstracts.

PATENTS: 12 patents

RECENT PUBLICATIONS:

·       Structural and Morphological Study of Pulsed Laser Deposited Calcium Phosphate Bioceramic Coatings: Influence of Deposition Conditions, Laser Parameters, and Target Properties, H Zeng, W.R.Lasefield, S.B. Mirov (May 2000), J. of Biomedical Materials Research 50, 248-258 (2000).

·       Solid State White-Light Laser Utilizing LiF:F₂⁺** Color Center Crystal, N.W.Jenkins, S.B.Mirov (May 2000), OSA Trends in Optics and Photonics on Advanced Solid State Lasers, S. Payne and C. Pollock, Eds. (Optical Society of America, Washington, DC 2000) Vol. 34, pp. 364-370

·       Powerful Ultrabroadly tunable LiF:F₂⁺** Laser, N.W.Jenkins, S.B.Mirov, V.V.Fedorov (April 2000), in Solid State Lasers IX, R. Scheps, Editor, Proceedings of SPIE v.3929, 278-288 (2000).

·       A Novel laser Breakdown Spectrometer for Environmental Monitoring, S.B.Mirov, R.E. Pitt, A. Dergachev, W. Lee, D.V. Martyshkin, O.D. Mirov, J.J.Randolph, L.DeLucas, C.G.Brouillette, T.T.Basiev, Y.V.Orlovskii, O.K.Alimov, I.N.Vorob’ev  (September 1999) in Air Monitoring and Detection of Chemical and Biological Agents II, J.Leonelli and M.L.Althouse, Editors, Proceedings of SPIE vol.3855, 34-41 (1999)

·       Characterization of the Orientational Ordering in Tetragonal Lysozyme Crystals by Raman Spectroscopy, A.B. Kudryavtsev, S.B. Mirov, L.J. DeLucas, C. Nicolete, M. van der Woerd, T.T.Basiev, Acta Cryst. D, D54, 1216-1229 (1998).

• Multiline, superbroadband and sun-color oscillation of LiF:F₂^- color center laser, T.T. Basiev, P.G. Zverev, V.F. Fedorov, and S.B. Mirov. Applied Optics 36, 2515-2522 (1997).

• Powerful, room-temperature stable LiF:F₂^+** tunable laser, S.B. Mirov, and A. Yu. Dergachev. In Solid State Lasers VI, Richard Scheps, editor, Proc. SPIE 2986, 162-173 (1997).

• Raman Spectroscopy for in situ evaluation of high-grade malignant gliomas induced in scid mice, C.E. Clary, A. Yu. Dergachev, S.B. Mirov, and G.Y. Gillespie. In Advances in Fluorescence Sensing Technology III, Richard Scheps, editor, Proc. SPIE 2980, 196-203 (1997).

• Novel laser atomic fluorescence spectrometer for environmental and biomedical analyses of heavy metals, S.B. Mirov and A. Yu. Dergachev. In Advances in Fluorescence Sensing Technology III, Richard Scheps, editor, Proc. SPIE 2980, 381-389 (1997).

• Investigation of luminescent properties of Sc:CaF₂ and Sc,Ce:CaF₂ crystals as promising new media for UV tunable lasers, S.B. Mirov, A. Yu. Dergachev, W.A. Sibley, L. Esterowitz, V.B. Sigachev, and A.G. Papashvili. In OSA Trends in Optics and Photonics on Advanced Solid State Lasers, S. Payne and C. Pollock, editors, (Optical Society of America, Washington, DC 1996), Vol. 1, 482-487.

• Room Temperature Tunable Color Center Lasers, T.T. Basiev, and S.B. Mirov. Laser Science and Technology Book Series, An International Handbook, V.S. Letokhov, C.V. Shank, Y.R. Shen and H. Walther, editors (Gordon and Breach Sciences Publ./Harwood Acad. Publ. 1994), Vol. 16.