[en] A compact two wavelength Brillouin fiber laser (BFL) sensor with double Brillouin frequency spacing is proposed and demonstrated. In the experiment, 20 m polarization maintaining fiber is used as the sensing element and Brillouin gain medium. This short cavity configuration not only guarantees single longitudinal mode operation of two Stokes wavelengths, but also can effectively reduce external perturbations, complexity and noise of BFL in the absence of an erbium-doped fiber amplifier in intra-cavity. In experiment, about 2 MHz/°C sensitivity of beat frequency between the pump and the 2nd-order Stokes wavelength keep in good agreement with the theoretical value. Meanwhile, 0.2 °C temperature stability and  ±0.1 dB power fluctuation are better than the traditional structure. The system is simple and stable, making it convenient for more applications. (paper)

[en] In the present paper intensity-based algorithms have been applied to differentiate the bruised and fresh regions of an Indian apple through biospeckle technique during its 9 day shelf life. Existing algorithms such as the co-occurrence matrix, inertia moment, absolute value difference, generalized difference, parameterized Fujii, biospeckle activity (BA) value, granulometric size distribution (GSD) and grey-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), as well as three new proposed algorithms namely parameterized generalized difference, alternative generalized difference (AGD) and parameterized global average Fujii, have been used for qualitative and quantitative analysis. Co-occurrence matrix and activity level spectral maps have been used for qualitative analysis, whereas mean activity plots, curve of the BA index, GSD plots and texture features have been used for quantitative analysis. The experimental results suggest that overall difference in biospeckle activity between the bruised and fresh regions is maximum for the inertia moment method (521.99). Of the three proposed algorithms AGD gives the maximum overall difference in biospeckle activity (42.35). In addition, the BA value and parameters of the GLCM have also been applied for the first time to distinguish between the bruised and fresh regions of an Indian apple, and it is concluded that both the methods may be used for good differentiation between the bruised and fresh regions of apples. (paper)

[en] We report a two-channel spectral-beam-combined 1 µ m fiber laser using a diffraction grating that produces 45 W average output power with a 62 nm broad band wavelength, and shows excellent prospects for additional power scaling. The combining efficiency is as high as 95%. To our knowledge, these results represent the broadest wavelength band to date for a beam-combined fiber laser system, which has reached 2.5 times the spectrum of the combined beams previously. (paper)

[en] The objective of this study was to evaluate the microtensile bond strength of an adhesive system applied to dentin, followed by Nd:YAG laser irradiation. Twenty-two recently extracted third molars were divided into four groups ( n   =  5). In the G1 and G2 groups, the adhesive system was applied conventionally, and in groups G3 and G4, the adhesive system was irradiated with an Nd:YAG laser (100 J cm⁻²). The specimens were stored in distilled water at 37 °C, those in groups G1 and G3 for 24 h, and those in groups G2 and G4 for 3 months. Two teeth from groups G1 and G3 were used for observation of the hybrid layer, using a confocal microscope ( n   =  1). The teeth were submitted to a microtensile bond strength test. Analysis of the type of fracture was performed using a stereoscope (40×). The results for microtensile bond strength (MPa) and standard deviation (±SD) were: G1—31.68 (5.14); G2—37.88 (±5.04); G3—35.32 (±8.79); G4—31.53 (±9.01). There were no significant differences among the groups ( p   >  0.05). Adhesive failure was predominant in all the groups. The Nd:YAG laser irradiation of the adhesives did not influence dentin bond strength during the periods of 24 h or 3 months of storage in distilled water. (paper)

[en] The propagation of an electromagnetic pulse through a dielectric slab doped with a triple quantum dot (QD) nanostructure has been discussed in the presence of electron tunneling. We include the effect of an incoherent pump field in the transmission and reflection of a pulse in a triple QD. It is shown that the reflected and transmitted pulses can be switched from subluminal to superluminal light propagation by changing either the rate of the incoherent pump field or the inter-dot tunneling between QD1, QD2 and QD3 in a slab. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the inter-dot tunnel coupling can significantly affect the behavior of optical bistability (OB) and optical multi-stability (OM) in a dielectric slab. The obtained results can be used for the development of new types of nanoelectronic devices for realizing the switching process. (paper)

[en] We demonstrate two flat plateaus and the low-noise spectrum of supercontinuum generation (SCG) in a highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF), injected by an amplified picosecond pulse seed of a carbon nanotube-based passively mode locked erbium-doped fiber laser. A broad spectrum of width approximately 1090 nm spanning the range 1130–2220 nm is obtained and the pulse width is compressed to the shorter duration of 70 fs. Variations of the injected peak power up to 33.78 kW into the HNLF are compared and the broad spectrum SCG profiles slightly expand for each of the injected peak powers. This straightforward configuration of SCG offers low output power and ultra-narrow femtosecond pulse width. The results facilitate the development of all fiber time-domain spectroscopy systems based on the photoconductive antenna technique. (paper)

[en] In this paper, a review of the most important results of the experimental studies of thermonuclear plasma in conical targets, the generation of shock waves and of spallation phenomena in different materials is presented, all of which have been carried out at the laser facilities of the A M Prokhorov General Physics Institute RAS since 1977. (paper)

[en] We describe the results of our efforts in suppressing spiking of a high power, high beam quality 1319 nm Nd:YAG microsecond-pulse laser with three different intracavity frequency doublers. The 1319 nm laser is generated by a quasi-continuous-wave diode-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser system. One potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP), two KTPs and one lithium triborate (LBO) as frequency doublers are installed in the ring resonator and tested, respectively. At 800 Hz repetition rate, with a pulse width of 100 µ s, performances of spiking suppression for each case are observed. The average output power are 23.6 W, 22.7 W and 23.4 W with beam quality factors of M ²  =  2.21, 1.28 and 1.25 for one KTP, two KTPs and one LBO, respectively. The corresponding brightness are 270 MW/(cm²·sr), 780 MW/(cm²·sr) and 860 MW/(cm²·sr). With better beam quality, higher brightness, and easier maintainability, the LBO is the best option of the three. A laser rate equation model including the insertion loss of the doubler is applied for theoretical analysis of the output temporal pulse shape and power, and the simulated results agree well with the experimental data. (paper)

[en] A nanosecond, high peak power, passively Q-switched laser for controllable Hermite–Gaussian (HG) modes has been achieved by manipulating the saturated inversion population inside the gain medium. The stable HG modes are generated in a Cr⁴⁺:YAG passively Q-switched Nd:YVO₄ microchip laser by applying a tilted pump beam. The asymmetrical saturated inversion population distribution inside the Nd:YVO₄ crystal for desirable HG modes is manipulated by choosing the proper pump beam diameter and varying pump power. A HG_9,8 mode passively Q-switched Nd:YVO₄ microchip laser with average output power of 265 mW has been obtained. Laser pulses with a pulse width of 7.3 ns and peak power of over 1.7 kW working at 21 kHz have been generated in the passively Q-switched Nd:YVO₄ microchip laser. (paper)

[en] In this paper, we study in detail the behavior of the precision of the parameter estimation in open quantum systems using the quantum Fisher information (QFI). In particular, we study the sensitivity of the estimation on a two-qubit system evolving under Kossakowski-type quantum dynamical semigroups of completely positive maps. In such an environment, the precision of the estimation can even persist asymptotically for different effects of the initial parameters. We find that the QFI can be resistant to the action of the environment with respect to the initial asymptotic states, and it can persist even in the asymptotic long-time regime. In addition, our results provide further evidence that the initial pure and separable mixed states of the input state may enhance quantum metrology. These features make quantum states in this kind of environment a good candidate for the implementation of different schemes of quantum optics and information with high precision. Finally, we show that this quantity may be proposed to detect the amount of the total quantum information that the whole state contains with respect to projective measurements. (paper)