Review of Multipass Slab Laser Systems

Dergachev, Alex; Flint, Jane; Isyanova, Yelena; Pati, Bhabana; Slobodtchikov, Evgueni; Wall, K. F.; Moulton, Peter F.

doi:10.1109/jstqe.2007.897177

Cited by 54 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…An optical to optical efficiency of 45% was realized for the weaker Nd:YLF laser transition, which compares extremely well with other reports at this wavelength 4,[11][12][13] . In fact to the best of our knowledge, this represents the highest average power from a diode-end-pumped near-diffraction-limited Nd:YLF laser.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Circular output from a high power Nd:YLF slab laser

Mackenzie

Clarkson

2008

SPIE Proceedings

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Neodymium-doped Yttrium Lithium Fluoride (YLF) lasers have traditionally been power-limited by the relatively low tensile strength of the crystal. When power-scaling solid-state lasers, the choice of the gain media geometry, the doping level, and the pumping scheme is dictated by minimizing the impact of thermally induced stress. To date the slab architecture has been the most successful for scaling the average-power of Nd:YLF lasers due to its favorable thermal management. However, for efficient high-radiance laser action it is also necessary to have a good overlap between the cavity mode and the planar gain volume. We present the performance characteristics for an end-pumped slab-laser utilizing a stable low-loss resonator configuration that transforms a circular cavity mode at the output coupler into a very high aspect ratio elliptical beam in the slab gain element to match the pumped volume. The optical arrangement for transforming the beam shape is also suitable for a double-pass slab amplifier configuration.A polarized CW output power of 50W, on the weaker Nd:YLF 1053nm transition was obtained with a single slab gain element and 110W of incident pump power from three spatially multiplexed diode bars. Laser threshold was around 7W and the slope efficiency, with respect to incident power, 46%.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Circular output from a high power Nd:YLF slab laser

Mackenzie

Clarkson

2008

SPIE Proceedings

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“…Efficient extraction of this power in a near diffraction limited beam quality is conceivable with a multi-pass configuration as developed by Q-peak Ltd. 12 or with stable-unstable resonators utilised by EdgeWave Gmbh 13 . For the application described here, good beam quality in both axes is not necessary, due to the guiding structure of the holmium gain element.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-power slab-based Tm:YLF laser for in-band pumping of Ho:YAG

Mackenzie

Shepherd

et al. 2008

SPIE Proceedings

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Several remote sensing applications require pulsed sources in the mid-infrared spectral regime with high average powers and good beam quality. Ho:YAG lasers have a number of attractive features for high power generation at 2.1microns, either for direct applications or as a pump source for parametric conversion to longer infra-red wavelengths. Unfortunately, direct diode pumping of Ho:YAG is not practical, so a two-step process is generally employed in which one or more diode-pumped thulium-doped lasers are used to directly pump (in-band) the Ho:YAG laser. In response, we have investigated a slab-based architecture for scaling the output power of a Tm:YLF laser to the 100W power regime at 1.91microns, corresponding to a strong Ho:YAG absorption line. Multiple slab lasers with moderate beam quality in the plane of the slab can be combined to efficiently end-pump a low-doping concentration Ho:YAG rod in a pump-guided configuration. In a preliminary demonstration, two 2at.% doped Tm:YLF slab lasers with a spatially multiplexed output of 74W were employed to end-pump a 1.5mm diameter, 80mm long, 0.25at.% Ho:YAG barrel-polished rod. A twomirror plano-concave cavity, with 11% output coupling transmission, produced a CW output of 38W with a slope efficiency of 60% with respect to the incident power. Q-switched operation at a repetition rate of 20Hz with two intracavity Brewster plate polarizers and a 60% transmitting output coupler produced 14mJ pulses with a pulse duration (FWHM) of 18ns. This architecture offers an attractive route for future high-power 2micron lasers.

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“…Lastly, Cr:colquiriites also suffer from a relatively low limit for thermal fracture which causes damage of the laser crystal at high pump powers. These drawbacks considerably limit the output performance available from Cr:colquiriite lasers [12][13][14], considerably restricting their functionality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The highest cw output power reported from Cr:colquiriites to date is 3 W [14]. For this result, Dergachev et al used a multi-pass slab laser geometry and a 27 mm long and 1 mm thick Cr:LiSAF crystal that is pumped by two 15-W diode bars.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diode-pumped continuous-wave and femtosecond Cr:LiCAF lasers with high average power in the near infrared, visible and near ultraviolet

Demırbas¹,

Baali²,

Acar³

et al. 2015

Opt. Express

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Abstract:We demonstrate continuous-wave (cw), cw frequency-doubled, cw mode-locked and Q-switched mode-locked operation of multimode diode-pumped Cr:LiCAF lasers with record average powers. Up to 2.54 W of cw output is obtained around 805 nm at an absorbed pump power of 5.5 W. Using intracavity frequency doubling with a BBO crystal, 0.9 W are generated around 402 nm, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 12%. With an intracavity birefringent tuning plate, the fundamental and frequency-doubled laser output is tuned continuously in a broad wavelength range from 745 nm to 885 nm and from 375 to 440 nm, respectively. A saturable Bragg reflector is used to initiate and sustain mode locking. In the cw mode-locked regime, the Cr:LiCAF laser produces 105-fs long pulses near 810 nm with an average power of 0.75 W. The repetition rate is 96.4 MHz, resulting in pulse energies of 7.7 nJ and peak powers of 65 kW. In Q-switched mode-locked operation, pulses with energies above 150 nJ are generated.

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Review of Multipass Slab Laser Systems

Cited by 54 publications

References 30 publications

Circular output from a high power Nd:YLF slab laser

Circular output from a high power Nd:YLF slab laser

High-power slab-based Tm:YLF laser for in-band pumping of Ho:YAG

Diode-pumped continuous-wave and femtosecond Cr:LiCAF lasers with high average power in the near infrared, visible and near ultraviolet

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