Accurate high reflectivity measurement based on a novel optical feedback cavity ring-down technique

Yuan Gong; Bincheng Li; Yanling Han; Mingqiang Liu

doi:10.1117/12.804178

30 December 2008 Accurate high reflectivity measurement based on a novel optical feedback cavity ring-down technique

Yuan Gong, Bincheng Li, Yanling Han, Mingqiang Liu

Proceedings Volume 7132, Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 2008; 71320U (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.804178
Event: Boulder Damage Symposium XL Annual Symposium on Optical Materials for High Power Lasers, 2008, Boulder, Colorado, United States

Abstract

Highly reflective mirrors have been widely used in high power lasers, laser gyros, and gravitational-wave detection, etc. However, reliable measurement of high reflectivity (R>99.99%) is difficult. In this paper a novel optical feedback cavity ring-down technique (OF-CRD) by re-injecting the strong optical feedback from the ring-down cavity (RDC) into the oscillator cavity of a Fabry-Perot diode laser is developed for the ultra-high reflectivity measurement. The laser line is narrowed and occasionally in resonance with one or more ring-down cavity modes. The amplitude of the RDC output signal is enhanced by a factor of over two orders of magnitude, compared with the conventional phase-shift CRD technique. Four pairs of cavity mirrors with different reflectivity are used to investigate the sensitivity and reproducibility of the OF-CRD technique. The accuracy is greatly enhanced from about 0.003% to 0.00003% as the reflectivity of cavity mirrors increases from about 99.8% to 99.996%. A folded RDC with cavity length of 70cm is constructed by inserting a planar test mirror into the linear RDC and the reflectivity of the test mirror is statistically determined to be 99.9526±0.0004%. The OF-CRD is simple, reliable, highly-sensitive and cost efficient.

Citation Download Citation

Yuan Gong, Bincheng Li, Yanling Han, and Mingqiang Liu "Accurate high reflectivity measurement based on a novel optical feedback cavity ring-down technique", Proc. SPIE 7132, Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 2008, 71320U (30 December 2008); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.804178

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available