We have obtained fast loading of a rubidium magneto-optical trap and very high collection efficiency by capturing the atoms desorbed by a light flash from a polydimethylsiloxane film deposited on the internal surface of a cell. The atoms are trapped with an effective loading time of about 65 ms at a loading rate greater than $2\times {10}^8$ atoms per second. This rate is larger than the values reported in literature and is obtained by preserving a long lifetime of the trapped atoms. This lifetime exceeds the filling time by nearly two orders of magnitude. Trap loading by light-induced desorption from siloxane compounds can be very effectively applied to store and trap a large number of atoms in the case of very weak atomic flux or extremely low vapor density. It can be also effectively used for fast production of ultracold atoms.

We demonstrate efficient continuous-wave (CW) and passively Q-switched $\mathrm{Tm}\text{:}{\mathrm{LiLuF}}_4$ laser operation near 1.9 μm. The CW slope efficiency reached 54.8% with respect to absorbed power. Stable passive Q-switching with ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{2+}\text{:}\mathrm{ZnS}$ saturable absorbers resulted in minimum pulse duration of 7.6 ns and maximum pulse energy and peak power of 1.26 mJ and 166 kW, respectively.

Stable passive $Q$-switching of a $\mathrm{Tm}\text{:}{\mathrm{LiYF}}_4$ laser is obtained using polycrystalline ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{2+}\text{:}\mathrm{ZnS}$ as a saturable absorber. The achieved maximum pulse energy of 0.9 mJ and peak power of 65 kW for a pulse duration of $\sim 14\mathrm{ns}$ represent substantial improvement and highest values for a passively $Q$-switched diode-pumped Tm laser operating at $\sim 1.9\mathrm{\mu m}$.

An efficient $\mathrm{Ho}:\mathrm{Lu}\mathrm{Li}{\mathrm{F}}_4$ laser in-band pumped by a cladding-pumped Tm-doped silica fiber laser operating at $1937\mathrm{nm}$ is reported. At low-cavity output coupling, the $\mathrm{Ho}:\mathrm{Lu}\mathrm{Li}{\mathrm{F}}_4$ laser yielded $5.1\mathrm{W}$ of output at a wavelength of $2066\mathrm{nm}$ for $8.0\mathrm{W}$ of absorbed pump power with a slope efficiency of 70%. At high-cavity output coupling, the lasing wavelength shifted to $2053\mathrm{nm}$ and the laser produced an output power of $5.4\mathrm{W}$ with a slope efficiency of 76%. The beam propagation factor $\left({\mathit{M}}^2\right)$ was measured to be $\sim 1.1$ at the maximum output power confirming fundamental transverse mode $\left({\mathrm{TEM}}_{\mathrm{oo}}\right)$ operation. The influence of resonator design on laser performance is discussed, along with prospects for further power scaling and improvement of the laser efficiency.

We present a systematical study via scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) on the effect of the exposure of lithium on graphene on silicon carbide (SiC). We have investigated Li deposition both on epitaxial monolayer graphene and on buffer layer surfaces on the Si face of SiC. At room temperature, Li immediately intercalates at the interface between the SiC substrate and the buffer layer and transforms the buffer layer into a quasi-free-standing graphene. This conclusion is substantiated by LEED and STM evidence. We show that intercalation occurs through the SiC step sites or graphene defects. We obtain good quantitative agreement between the number of Li atoms deposited and the number of available Si bonds at the surface of the SiC crystal. Through STM analysis, we are able to determine the interlayer distance induced by Li intercalation at the interface between the SiC substrate and the buffer layer.

Tunable and mode-locked laser operation near 2 µm based on different Tm-doped YAG ceramics, 4 at.% and 10 at.%, is demonstrated. Several designs of GaSb-based surface-quantum-well SESAMs are characterized and studied as saturable absorbers for mode-locking. Best mode-locking performance was achieved using an antireflection-coated near-surface quantum-well SESAM, resulting in a pulse duration of ~3 ps and ~150 mW average output power at 89 MHz. All mode-locked Tm:YAG ceramic lasers operated at 2012 nm, with over 133 nm demonstrated tuning for continuous-wave operation.