Propagation parameters of the beam extracted from a diode pumped Nd:YAG ceramic slab laser with a hybrid stable–unstable resonator

We analyze the propagation properties of the beam extracted from a diode pumped ceramic Nd:YAG slab laser adopting a hybrid stable–unstable resonator. Such a resonator produces a beam characterized by an Hermite–Gauss mixture-like distribution in one transverse direction and a hard-edge diffracted distribution on the other transverse direction. The beam propagation parameters M_x² and M_y² are measured for different values of the diodes driving current. We obtain a beam parameter product smaller than 3 mm mrad in both transverse directions and in the whole range of powers, up to an extraction of 220 W in a QCW regime.     

High beam quality in a HyBrID copper laser operating with an unstable resonator made of a concave mirror and a plano-convex BK7 lens

This paper presents a very simple unstable resonator, made of a concave mirror (total reflector) and a bare plane–convex BK7 lens working as a convex coupling mirror, which is quite efficient for HyBrID copper laser. In addition to a good quality factor (M²=4.9), experimental results showed that it is possible to control the laser output power by introducing a variable aperture iris inside the cavity, close to the coupling lens, without spoiling beam quality. A rough theoretical model helped to explain these results as a combined effect of unstable resonator plus radial gain distribution.     

Hybrid optical resonator type laser proposed for direct coupling into optical fiber

Combining one stable resonator with a concave mirror and a coupling-hole plane mirror, and another unstable resonator having a concave mirror and a convex mirror, a new hybrid optical resonator type laser has been proposed by overlapping the concave mirror as a common one and fitting the convex mirror exactly to the coupling-hole. Using theABCD law, the so-called g-parameters are first found for beam confinement. Then, based on the eigen-equation, the field distribution on the plano-convex mirror is obtained with the g-parameters above. Knowing this field distribution results in an effective transmittanceG _{e e}. Finally, the ratio of the inner convex to outer plane mirror radii can be determined for an optimum coupling in both the limiting cases of homogeneously and inhomogeneously broadened gain media. Some numerical examples will also be given for a CO₂ laser having the proposed hybrid resonator.     

激光二极管双端直接抽运混合腔板条激光器

为减少热透镜效应的影响, 获得高光束质量的激光, 本文利用激光二极管阵列双端直接抽运Nd:YVO₄, 采用负支共焦折叠混合腔结构, 获得最高功率为416 W 1064 nm的激光输出, 光–光转换效率为54.3%, 斜效率为61.6%. 在输出功率为370 W时, 光束质量因子M²在非稳腔和稳腔方向上分别为3.9和4.7.     

角锥棱镜激光谐振腔的基本特性

 分析了角锥棱镜对光束的相位变换作用，带二面角误差的角锥棱镜可等效于6块光楔的组合，其楔角的大小和方向由二面角误差决定。对在腔内往返传输的光线在镜面上的位置进行了分析，结果表明：3个二面角误差相同且不为零的角锥棱镜构成的谐振腔为约束非稳腔。用Fox-Li迭代法数值模拟得到了不同棱镜二面角误差情况下的谐振模式。模拟结果表明：圆形镜腔情况下基本振荡模式接近于TEM₀₃模的拉盖尔高斯光束；当3个二面角误差不相同时，模式中各个区域的强度分布不对称。采用3个二面角误差基本接近且绝对值较小的棱镜可以提高光束质量。     

End-pumped 20.2-W Nd:YVO4 cw slab laser at 1342 nm with a hybrid resonator

A 20.2 W laser-diode-end-pumped Nd:YVO₄ slab laser with a hybrid resonator at 1342 nm was demonstrated. The slope efficiency and optical-to-optical conversation efficiency were 30% and 23%, respectively. At output power of 16 W, the M² factor in stable direction was 2.3, and in the unstable direction was 1.2.     

A laser-diode-pumped acoustic-optic Q-switched Nd:YVO4 slab laser with a hybrid resonator

A 32.1 W laser-diode-stack pumped acoustic-optic Q-switched Nd:YVO₄ slab laser with hybrid resonator at 1064 nm was demonstrated with the pumping power of 112 W and repetition rate of 40 kHz, the pulse duration was 32.47 ns. The slope efficiency and optical-to-optical efficiency were 37 and 28.7%, respectively. At the repetition rate of 20 kHz and pumping power of 90 W, the average output power and pulse duration were 20.4 W and 20.43 ns, respectively. With the pumping power of 112 W, the beam quality M² factors in CW operation were measured to be 1.3 in stable direction and 1.6 in unstable direction.     

An unstable resonator Nd-YAG laser

The operating characteristics of an unstable resonator Q-switched Nd-YAG laser are reported and its suitability for a number of applications has been tested. At repetition rates up to 50 Hz, output energies of 150–200 mJ are obtained with a beam divergence of 0.25 mrad half-angle. Single longitudinal mode operation has been achieved either with passive Q-switching or with an active slow Q-switch.     

Bessel–Gauss beam optical resonator

In a simple picture, a Bessel beam is viewed as a transverse standing wave formed in the interference region between incoming and outgoing conical waves. Based on this interpretation we propose an optical resonator that supports modes that are approximations to Bessel–Gauss beams. The Fox–Li algorithm in two transverse dimensions is applied to confirm the conclusion.     

Partially end-pumped Nd:YAG slab laser with a hybrid resonator

A Nd:YAG slab is partially end pumped by a diode laser stack with three diode laser bars. The pumped volume has a rectangular cross section. A hybrid resonator, which is stable in the plane of small dimension and is off-axis unstable in the plane of large dimension of the gain cross section, was used to yield highly efficient laser operation at diffraction-limited beam quality. The laser design and experimental results are reported.     

High beam quality and compact diode end-pumped Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> slab laser with a hybrid resonator

A compact, high power and high beam quality diode-end-pumped CW Nd:YVO₄ slab 1064 nm laser with a hybrid resonator is demonstrated. The maximum output power of 23.0 W is obtained under the pump power of 66.7 W, which gives the slope efficiency and optical conversion efficiency of 52.0 and 34.0%, respectively. The beam quality M² factors are measured to be 1.5 in the unstable direction and 1.7 in the stable direction. The power stability of the LD end-pumped slab laser at an output power of 19 W is measured to be 0.7% for half an hour operation.     

A new grating tuning compound unstable resonator

A proposal of new grating tuning compound unstable resonator is presented. This new type of unstable resonator is profitable for generating single transverse mode, high energy, high-average power tunable laser radiation from TEA CO₂ laser and other gas lasers.     

Coaxial resonator for a megawatt 280 GHz gyrotron

To provide the required mode selectivity for a megawatt 280 GHz gyrotron, a coaxial resonator operating in a high order TE mode is considered. Mode discrimination is achieved both by exploring the differences in the transverse structures of the competing modes and investigating a suitable geometry for the coaxial insert. For modes with close eigenfrequencies the associated diffractionQ factors can be widely different in value, thereby ensuring an effective mode selection. In the resonator studied here, the frequency separation between the design mode TE_26,10,1 and its nearest competing mode TE_20,12,1 is about 0.6% and the ratio of the correspondingQ factors is as high as 6.5. Unlike the coaxial resonator, in the hollow cavity without the inner conductor the fundamental spectrum of eigenfrequencies is more dense, and all TE modes within the frequency interval 271–288 GHz have approximately the sameQ factor.     

Analysis of resonator modes in two-dimensional laser cavities containing a left-handed material

Resonator modes in two-dimensional laser cavities with curved end mirrors filled with a left-handed material were investigated numerically using the extended Fox-Li mode calculation method. The results reveal that the phase profile on the curved end mirrors of a left-handed cavity is inverted relative to that of a cavity filled with a right-handed material. Furthermore, we show that the phase on the end mirrors takes discrete values of zero and ±π under stable resonator conditions, while it varies continuously under unstable resonator conditions. The differences between stable and unstable resonators significantly alter the far-field patterns of the lowest-loss modes.     

高功率TEA CO_2激光器非稳腔实验研究

为了提高光束质量、压缩光束发散角,利用现有高功率稳定腔TEA CO2激光器进行了非稳谐振腔的技术改造及激光输出试验,非稳谐振腔采用正分支虚共焦型非稳腔方案。为充分研究谐振腔结构参数及激光振荡模体积对输出能量和光束发散角的影响,共设计加工了包含4种放大率、5种模体积的20组非稳腔腔镜组合。在其它参数都相同的试验条件下,进行了非稳腔镜的单脉冲输出对比试验,得到的最大输出能量为14 J,是原平凹稳定腔的70%,而光束发散角只是原平凹稳定腔的1/4。     

InnoSlab混合腔输出光束质量的理论研究

对InnoSlab Laser用混合腔的输出光束质量问题从热透镜效应和腔镜的不对准两个方面的影响进行理论分析,并从远场光强分布、远场发散角、光腰半径、光束质量因子M²值和桶中功率曲线等几个角度进行了讨论,特别是离轴非稳腔方向上腔镜倾斜对光束质量的影响,利用M²值和PIB曲线两个参数共同评价非稳腔的光束质量,对目前并无统一标准的非稳腔光束质量评价问题提供了有意义的参考. 关键词： InnoSlab 混合腔 光束质量 桶中功率     

大功率TEA CO2激光器非稳腔的设计与实验

相比于传统稳腔高功率TEA CO2激光器,如何在不降低功率的基础上,改善其光束质量一直研究者关心的问题。本文在原有稳腔激光器的基础上,设计了三组望远镜虚共焦腔镜,给出了完整的设计过程并进行了理论分析。同时对不同组的非稳腔激光器进行了对比实验研究,结果表明非稳腔能够在保证高单脉冲能量的基础上极大地改善激光远场发散角,其中最佳腔镜组合能够达到单脉冲能量13.7J,其发散角为1mrad（稳腔为2.4mrad）,激光脉宽50ns（稳腔为98ns）。这就为此种类型激光器应用于激光制造领域奠定了基础。     

Self-reproducing ray-cluster and misalignment of gas laser resonator having a coaxial discharge chamber

A laser resonator with two annular spherical mirrors is studied. The self-reproducing mode of this resonator is established by means of a self-reproducing ray-cluster. Its existence condition and area are analyzed and provided for the first time. The resonator's adjusting accuracy is analyzed in detail and the relevant calculation for typical cases is illuminated. The tolerance of mirror center displacement from the axis of the coaxial discharge chamber is proved to be about 0-0.15 mm, and the tilt tolerance 0-6″, when resonator length L≈1 m, the radius of curvature of the two mirrors ρ≈5-10 L, and the loss of applicable radial width of the coaxial discharge chamber for light propagation is smaller than 1 mm. The object-image relation of the resonator and its application in adjustment of the resonator are also discussed.     

A long-pulse TE CO2 laser with a negative-branch unstable resonator

Summary A long-pulse (>3 μs) CO₂ laser has been built using a negative-branch, frequency-selective, unstable resonator. The results obtained with this device are shown. The authors of this paper have agreed to not receive the proofs for correction.     

Properties of optical resonator with a layered metamaterial

The properties of longitudinal and transverse modes of an open optical resonator containing layers of a metamaterial with negative refractive index are studied. Due to the presence of these layers, the metaresonator acquires unique properties compared to a conventional open resonator. Eigenmodes of the metaresonator are studied in which the properties depend on the average dispersion and the average diffraction, which may be either positive, negative, or zero. The conditions of the existence and profiles of the waveguiding modes are obtained. The resonator with zero average diffraction is of particular interest. It is shown that, in this case, the waveguiding mode may have an arbitrary amplitude profile. Under these conditions, the discrete set of the transverse modes becomes continuous, and the eigenfrequencies become independent of the transverse amplitude profile. The resonator’s stability conditions are derived based on the ray-matrix method and diffraction theory. It is shown that insertion of a metamaterial into the resonator substantially affects the region of stability and existence of the waveguiding modes. In particular, the unstable empty resonator can thus be rendered stable.