Date of Award

3-21-2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Engineering Physics

First Advisor

Glen P. Perram, PhD.

Abstract

Measurements of wavelength tunability, spectral linewidth, minimum spot size, and M2 were made for a rubidium diode-pumped alkali laser (DPAL) containing a volume Bragg grating (VBG) for resonator characterization. The output wavelength of the pump diode was measured as a function of volume Bragg grating temperature. A linear relationship was observed that corresponded to an output wavelength range of 780.08 nm 0.01 nm to 780.49 nm 0.01 nm with a tuning rate of 6.1 pm/ C for a diode chassis temperature of 37 C. Rubidium D1 fuorescence spectra were recorded as the diode wavelength was scanned across its full range in 3 pm steps. The integrated intensities of the D1 fluorescence peaks were used to generate a t to a Lorentzian lineshape with line center at 780.23 nm and a FWHM of 0.12 nm. A knife-edge experiment measured the power pro les of the pump diode beam along a 4.5 cm beam path. The pump diode M2 was determined by a nonlinear model t to be 132, resulting in a minimum spot size of 0.41 mm. These results enable the pump diode to be matched with a alkali gain media for the validation of unstable DPAL resonator designs.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-ENP-13-M-33

DTIC Accession Number

ADA582649

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