A multi-clad optical fiber design is described in order to provide low optical loss, a high numerical aperture (NA), and high optical gain for the fundamental propagating mode, the linearly polarized (LP) 01 mode in the UV and visible portion of the optical spectrum. The optical fiber design may contain dopants in order to simultaneously increase the optical gain in the core region while avoiding additional losses during the fiber fabrication process. The optical fiber design may incorporate rare-earth dopants for efficient lasing. Additionally, the modal characteristics of the propagating modes in the optical core promote highly efficient nonlinear mixing, providing for a high beam quality (M.sup.2<1.5) output of the emitted light.

The present invention relates to a novel stand-off distance chemical detector system such as can be used, for example, for standoff detection of explosives. Instead of a conventional lasing medium, a Pr:YAG or Pr:BYF based UV laser is used which can be advantageously implemented in Raman spectroscopy.

The invention relates to a ceramic material (14) for generating light when irradiated with radiation, wherein the ceramic material comprises a stack of layers (15, 16) having different compositions and/or different dopings. The ceramic material may be used in a spectral computed tomography (CT) detector, in order to spectrally detect x-rays, or it may be used as a ceramic gain medium of a laser such that temperature gradients and corresponding thermo-mechanical stresses within the gain medium can be reduced.

A laser light source apparatus includes a laser diode, a first optical assembly having one or more lenses for generating a collimated laser beam from light emitted by the laser diode, a doped microstructured glass block configured to generate laser emissions at at least a first wavelength and a second wavelength when pumped by the collimated laser beam, an input beam lens for focusing the collimated laser beam onto an input surface of the microstructured glass block, an optical alignment assembly, an output light guiding assembly, and a housing for containing and supporting the optical alignment assembly and the output light guiding assembly.

An optical assembly provides dispersion control, modelocking, spectral filtering, and/or the like in a laser cavity. For example, the optical assembly may comprise a diffraction grating pair arranged to temporally and spatially disperse a beam on a forward pass through the optical assembly, a reflective device at an end of the optical assembly, and a focusing optic arranged to create a beam waist at the reflective device. The beam waist created at the reflective device may cause the beam to be inverted on a reverse pass through the optical assembly, and a temporal dispersion and a spatial dispersion of the beam may be doubled on the reverse pass through the optical assembly to form a temporally and spatially dispersed output from the optical assembly.

A laser light source unit for vehicles is provided, having a resonator containing a first end mirror and a second end mirror. Between the two, an active laser medium is arranged. The laser light source unit further has a pump device for generating a pump radiation which can be introduced via the first end mirror into the resonator. The pump radiation corresponds to a first wavelength and the active laser medium is configured such that laser light of the first wavelength and/or of a second wavelength and/or of a third wavelength can be radiated. An intermediate mirror and a third end mirror assigned to the same are provided. The intermediate mirror is configured in such a way that the radiation of the second wavelength is reflected, and the radiation of the third wavelength is transmitted, by means of said intermediate mirror. The third end mirror is configured in such a way that the radiation of the second wavelength is reflected, a color control module is provided, which acts on the radiation of the second wavelength and/or the radiation of the third wavelength in such a way that an intensity of the stimulated emission of the radiation of the second wavelength is adjusted to the radiation of the third wavelength, or vice versa.

A laser light source unit for vehicles, with a resonator containing a first end mirror and a second end mirror, between which an active laser medium is arranged, and with a pump device for generating pump radiation, which can be introduced into the resonator via the first end mirror, wherein a rotatable birefringent medium is arranged in the resonator such that, according to a rotation of the birefringent medium, preferred radiation of different wavelengths is stimulated in the active laser medium.

An optical material including: a silica host; and a Praseodymium dopant; wherein the Praseodymium atoms are configured to form nanoclusters in the silica host. In addition, the optical material may include an Ytterbium co-dopant. The nanoclusters include Ge, Te, Ta, Lu and/or F, Cl to minimize multi-phonon quenching. Moreover, the nanoclusters may be encapsulated in a low phonon energy shell to minimize energy transfer to the host matrix.

A solid state ring laser gyroscope comprises a laser block including a resonant ring cavity having an optical closed loop pathway; a plurality of mirror structures mounted on the block and including respective multilayer mirrors that reflect light beams around the closed loop pathway; and a pump laser assembly in optical communication with the closed loop pathway through one of the mirror structures. One or more of the multilayer mirrors includes a rare-earth doped gain layer operative to produce bidirectional optical amplification of counter-propagating light beams in the closed loop pathway. In some embodiments, the gain layer comprises a rare-earth dopant other than neodymium that is doped into a glassy host material comprising titania, tantalum oxide, alumina, zirconia, silicate glass, phosphate glass, tellurite glass, fluorosilicate glass, or non-oxide glass. Alternatively, the gain layer can comprise a neodymium dopant that is doped into a glassy host material other than silica.

A laser light source apparatus includes a laser diode, a first optical assembly having one or more lenses for generating a collimated laser beam from light emitted by the laser diode, a doped microstructured glass block configured to generate laser emissions at at least a first wavelength and a second wavelength when pumped by the collimated laser beam, an input beam lens for focusing the collimated laser beam onto an input surface of the microstructured glass block, an optical alignment assembly, an output light guiding assembly, and a housing for containing and supporting the optical alignment assembly and the output light guiding assembly.