The analysis of the transient temperature distribution of double-slab Nd:YAG laser medium

A novel double-slab Nd:YAG laser, which uses face-pumped slab medium cooled by liquid with different temperatures on both sides, is proposed. The thermal distortion of wavefront caused by the non-uniform temperature distribution in the laser gain media can be self-compensated. According to the method of operation, the models of the temperature distribution and stress are presented, and the analytic solutions for the model are derived. Furthermore, the numerical simulations with pulse pumping energy of 10 J and repetition frequencies of 500 and 1000 Hz are calculated respectively for Nd:YAG laser medium. The simulation results show that the temperature gradient remains the approximative linearity, and the heat stress is within the extreme range. Then the absorption coefficient is also discussed. The result indicates that the doping concentration cannot be too large for the high repetition frequency laser. It has been proved that the high repetition frequency, high laser beam quality, and high average outp     

A 526 mJ Subnanosecond Pulsed Hybrid-Pumped Nd:YAG Laser

A hybrid-pumped Nd:YAG pulse laser with a double-pass two-rod configuration is presented. The focal length of offset lens is particularly studied to compensate for the thermal lens effect and depolarization. For input pulse energy of 141μJ with pulse duration of 754 ps, the pulse laser system delivers 526 mJ pulse energy and 728 ps pulse width output at 10 Hz with pulse profile shape preservation. The energy stability of the laser pulse is less than 3%, and the beam quality factor M~2 is less than 2.26.     

Linear polarization output performance of Nd:YAG laser at 946 nm considering the energy-transfer upconversion

A theoretical model of quasi-three-level laser system is developed, in which both the thermally induced depolarization loss and the effect of energy-transfer upconversion are taken into account. Based on the theoretical investigation of the influences of output transmission and incident pump power on thermally induced depolarization loss, the output performance of 946 nm linearly polarized Nd:YAG laser is experimentally studied. By optimizing the transmission of output coupler,a 946 nm linearly polarized continuous-wave single-transverse-mode laser with an output power of 4.2 W and an optical–optical conversion efficiency of 16.8% is obtained, and the measured beam quality factors are M_x~2= 1.13 and M_y~2= 1.21.The theoretical prediction is in good agreement with the experimental result.     

Compact and high-energy diode-side-pumped Q-switched Nd:YAG slab laser system for space application

We develop a compact and high-energy Nd：YAG slab laser system consisting of an oscillator and an amplifier for space applications. The oscillator is a diode-side-pumped electro-optically Q-switched slab laser with a cross-Porro resonator. The KD＊P Pockels cell with a low driving voltage of 950 V is used to polarization output coupling. The amplifier is a Nd：YAG zigzag slab pumped at bounces. The maximum output pulse energy of 341 m3 with 13 ns pulse duration is obtained from the system at the repetition rate of 20 Hz and the beam quality factors are M2=3.1 and M2=3.5. The beam pointing stabilities of the laser system are 3.05μrad in the X-direction and 3.99 grad in the Y-direction, respectively.     

Three-Rod Resonator for Krypton Lamp Pumped 1.8 kW Continuous-Wave Nd：YAG Laser

A three-rod series resonator cw Nd:YAG laser suitable for the industrial applications is presented. The symmetrical resonator laser has been developed and is rated at 1820-W output power with beam parameter product 24 mm.mrad. By utilizing the symmetrical resonator design, the characteristic of beam with multi-rod is not obviously decreased compared with that of a single one. The system total electro-optics efficiency of lamp pumped YAG crystal is as high as 4.0%. The main factors, which affect output power and beam quality of high power solid-state laser module, are theoretically analysed.     

High-beam-quality, 5.4 J, 5 Hz diode-pumped Nd:YAG active mirror laser amplifier

A high-beam-quality diode-pumped neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet(Nd:YAG) active mirror laser amplifier was demonstrated. The size of the Nd:YAG crystal was 48 mm × 42 mm × 11 mm with 0.6 at.% Nd doped. When the pump energy was 26.8 J and the input energy was 0.3 J, the output pulse energy reached 5.4 J, and the pulse width of 11.3 ns at a 5 Hz repetition rate was obtained for the two gain modules in three-pass amplification, with corresponding optical-to-optical efficiency of 21.2%. The beam quality was measured as M_x~2=2.48 and M_~2y=2.43 in horizontal and vertical directions, respectively.     

A High-Pulse-Energy High-Beam-Quality Tunable Ti:Sapphire Laser Using a Prism-Dispersion Cavity

A high-pulse-energy high-beam-quality tunable Ti:sapphire laser pumped by a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser is demonstrated.Using a fused-silica prism as the dispersion element,a tuning range of 740-855 nm is obtained.At an incident pump energy of 774 mJ,the maximum output energy of 104 mJ at 790 nm with a pulse width of100 μs is achieved at a repetition rate of 5 Hz.To the best of our knowledge,it is the highest pulse energy at790 nm with pulse width of hundred micro-seconds for an all-solid-state laser.The linewidth of output is 0.5 nm,and the beam quality factor M~2 is 1.16.The high-pulse-energy high-beam-quality tunable Ti:sapphire laser in the range of 740-855 nm can be used to establish a more accurate and consistent absolute scale of second-order optical-nonlinear coefficients for KBe_2BO_3F_2 measured in a wider wavelength range and to assess Miller's rule q uantitatively.     

Efficient corner-pumped Nd:YAG/YAG composite slab laser

A corner-pumped type is a new pumping type in the diode-pumped all-solid-state lasers,which has the advantages of high pump efficiency and favourable pump uniformity.A highly efficient corner-pumped Nd:YAG/YAG composite slab laser is demonstrated in this paper.The maximal continuous-wave output power of the 1064 nm laser is up to 18.57 W with a slope efficiency and an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 44.9% and 39.8%,respectively.Inserting an acousto-optic Q-switch in the cavity,the highest average output power of the quasi-continuous wave 1064 nm laser of 6.73 W is obtained at a repetition rate of 9.26 kHz.The experimental results show that a corner-pumped type is a kind of feasible schedules in the design of diode-pumped all-solid-state lasers with low or medium output powers.     

High repetition rate,compact micro-pulse all-solid-state laser

A high repetition rate,compact micro-pulse all-solid-state laser is designed.The diffusion bonded crystal of YAG,Nd:YAG,and Cr~(4 ):YAG is taken as a monolithic cavity.The optimized initial transmission, output coupling,and pumping size of Cr~(4 ):YAG are calculated.The experimental results show that the laser satisfies the requirement of a spaceborne laser range finder.     

Comparison of laser performance of electro-optic Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic/single crystal laser

An electro-optic Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser operating at kHz repetition rate was demonstrated.Thermal induced lens' focus of ceramic rod was measured and compensated by plano-convex cavity structure. Depolarization loss at different output powers was measured in Nd:YAG single crystal and ceramic lasers. High-energy high-beam-quality laser pulse output was obtained in both laser structures. Pulse energy of about 20 mJ and pulse width of less than 12 ns were achieved, and the average power reached 20 W. The divergence of output laser beam was less than 1.2 mrad, and the beam propagation factor M2was about 1.4.