13-W picosecond Nd:GdVO4 regenerative amplifier with 200-kHz repetition rate

We report a diode-pumped picosecond Nd:GdVO₄ regenerative amplifier system designed for micro-machining applications. Nd:GdVO₄ was chosen as gain material because it offers – in comparison to the commonly used Nd:YVO₄ – improved thermal properties and a larger gain bandwidth. At the maximum repetition rate of 200 kHz, the system generated 6.8-ps-long pulses with a pulse energy of 65 μJ, which corresponds to an average output power of 13 W. At 100 kHz, the pulse energy increased to 123 μJ, whereas the average power of 12.3 W remained almost identical. The broadening of the pulses due to gain narrowing was investigated in dependence on the number of cavity round trips and on the repetition rate. At 200 kHz, the injected 5.3-ps-long pulses broadened slightly to about 6.8 ps.     

Generation of 0.1-TW optical pulses with a single-stage Ti:sapphire amplifier at a 1-kHz repetition rate

We present a kHz-rate all-solid-state Ti:sapphire oscillator-amplifier system producing 1.8 mJ sub-20 fs pulses using a single multipass amplifier stage pumped by ᄺ mJ pulses. Compensation for gain narrowing and high-order dispersion is provided by chirped dielectric multilayer optics. The focused peak intensity approaches 10¹⁸ W/cm², making this compact high-repetition-rate source attractive for a wide range of high-field applications.     

208-W TEM00 operation of a diode-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser

208-W average-power TEM(00) -mode operation from a diode-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser was demonstrated. The side-pumping method of generating a high-gain aberration-free rod, the bifocusing-compensation technique with two identically pumped rods, and a suitable choice of beam spot size were employed in the design of this laser. At the maximum pump power of 1.1 kW the fundamental transverse-mode operation (M(2)<1.1) was characterized by 7.6% electrical efficiency. The extraction efficiency was almost 60% of full multimode operation. Stable operation was obtained within a pump-power range of 15% of the maximum pump power.     

550-W diode-pumped Nd:YAG disk laser

When a thin laser crystal disk is used with a nearly flat-top pump profile, the heat flux can be considered to be one-dimensional. This results in a homogeneous temperature and stress profile within the laser medium leading to reduction of thermal effects. A nearly flat-top pump profile is achieved with a two-pass cylindrical-lens coupling system. An average output power of 550 W is obtained by an average pumping     

550-W diode-pumped Nd:YAG disk laser

When a thin laser crystal disk is used with a nearly flat-top pump profile, the heat flux can be considered to be one-dimensional. This results in a homogeneous temperature and stress profile within the laser medium leading to reduction of thermal effects. A nearly flat-top pump profile is achieved with a two-pass cylindrical-lens coupling system. An average output power of 550 W is obtained by an average pumping power of 1650 W with a 40-mm diameter Nd:YAG disk. The optical-optical efficiency is 33%.     

16.2-W average power from a diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:YAG thin disk laser

We demonstrate a power-scalable concept for high-power all-solid-state femtosecond lasers, based on passive mode locking of Yb:YAG thin disk lasers with semiconductor saturable-absorber mirrors. We obtained 16.2 W of average output power in pulses with 730-fs duration, 0.47-muJ pulse energy, and 560-kW peak power. This is to our knowledge the highest average power reported for a laser oscillator in the subpicosecond regime. Single-pass frequency doubling through a 5-mm-long lithium triborate crystal (LBO) yields 8-W average output power of 515-nm radiation.     

Diode-pumped self-Q-switched Cr,Nd:YAG laser with 7-W average output power

We report a diode-pumped self-Q-switched 1064-nm Cr,Nd：YAG of 16-18 ns. The maximum average output power up to 7 W, 3370, is obtained in a simple and compact linear cavity by using transmittance of 1570. The laser operates at TEM00 mode with a laser with pulse duration in the range corresponding to a slope efficiency of a plane-concave output coupler with a pump power of 14.2 W.     

Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser with 10-W average power in a diffraction-limited beam

We present a passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser with 10.7-W average output power in a diffraction-limited beam. Stable self-starting mode locking with a pulse duration of 16 ps and a pulse energy of 120 nJ is obtained with a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror. The laser is directly side pumped with two 20-W diode bars. Single-pass frequency doubling in an external 5-mm-thick KTP crystal yields 3.2-W average power at 532 nm.     

100-W class diode-pumped Nd:YAG MOPA system with a double-stage relay-optics scheme

We describe a diode-pumped master-oscillator power-amplifier system with two-rod Nd:YAG media and double-stage relay optics scheme. At the repetition rate of 2.4 kHz it delivers an average power of 108 W with Q-switched pulses of 47 ns duration. The laser beam is characterized by an M² factor of 2.5×2.7. A model of amplification, which takes into account the temporal overlap between the beams that propagate forwards and backwards in the amplifier stage, was developed to explain the experimental results.     

Self-Q-switched and mode-locked Nd,Cr:YAG laser with 6.52-W average output power

Simultaneous self-Q-switched and mode-locked have been demonstrated in a diode-pumped Nd,Cr:YAG laser. For the first time as we know, almost 100% modulation depth has been achieved at an intracavity intensity of 5.6 × 10⁵ W/cm². The maximum average output power of 6.52 W corresponding to a slope efficiency of 30% is obtained at 1064 nm. The laser produces high-quality pulses in a TEM₀₀-mode at the pump power of 16.5 W. The pulse duration of the mode-locked pulses is about 600 ps with 136 MHz repetition rate.     

36-W diode-pumped continuous-wave 1319-nm Nd:YAG ceramic laser

Continuous-wave output at 1319 nm was obtained from a laser-diode-pumped 1% ceramic Nd:YAG laser. As much as 36.3-W output was obtained under pump power of 290 W, with an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 12.5%.     

High power diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO_4 laser at repetition rate of 3.2 GHz

A compact high power diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO_4 laser with high repetition rate is realized.Using an Nd:YVO_4 crystal and a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror(SESAM) in the oscillator, the picosecond pulse output with an average power of 1.38 W, a repetition rate of 3.24 GHz, and a pulse duration of 11.4 ps is achieved. After one stage of amplification, the final output power reaches 11.34 W, corresponding to a total optical-to-optical efficiency of about 32%. The root mean square(RMS) value of power fluctuation is demonstrated to be less than 0.6% in 24 hours,showing a superior stability with the compact configuration.     

高重复频率水冷Nd:YAG激活镜放大器的温度特性

为解决高重复频率大能量激光放大器的热管理问题,采用数值模拟与实验分析的方法,对背面水冷Nd:YAG激活镜放大器的流体散热进行了研究.基于低雷诺数k-e湍流模型,建立了流-固共轭传热多物理场耦合分析模型,对比分析了近壁面处理方法对流体流动、对流扩散和热传导过程及温度分布的影响,分析研究了不同冷却液流量和泵浦参数对流场特性...     

Diode-pumped composite ceramic Nd:YAG planar waveguide amplifier with 327 mJ output at 100 Hz repetition rate

We present a diode-pumped high-energy ceramic Nd:YAG planar waveguide that is demonstrated as a record in output energy for the ceramic planar waveguide fabricated by nonaqueous tape casting and solid-state reactive sintering. Under a repetition rate of 100 Hz and a pulse width of 250 μs,a maximum output pulse energy of 327 mJ is obtained with a beam quality factor of =2.6×7.0. The corresponding peak power is 1308 W.The extraction efficiency of the system is about 56%.     

Large-field-of-view, high-gain, compact diode-pumped Nd:YAG amplifier

We present a compact diode-end-pumped Nd:YAG amplifier with a FWHM angular bandwidth of 100 degrees . Using a 1.064-microm probe beam, we measured a 2-pass gain of 23 (13.6dB) and a 4-pass gain of 420 (26.2dB). High-gain image amplification with such a laser amplifier is also demonstrated.     

Diode-pumped 250-W zigzag slab Nd:YAG oscillator amplifier system

A laser-diode-pumped zigzag slab Nd:YAG master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system featuring high pulse energy and high average power was developed for pumping of an ultrashort-pulse laser system. The MOPA system consists of an oscillator, a preamplifier, two postamplifiers, and image-relay telescopes. The postamplifiers have an angle-multiplexed ring-type double-pass configuration. A pulse energy of 1.26 J and an average power of 251 W were obtained at a repetition rate of 200 Hz. The frequency-doubled power when a LiB(3)O(5) crystal was used was 105 W at a repetition rate of 170 Hz. The intensity profiles of the fundamental and the second harmonic are nearly top-hat shaped and are suitable for pumping.     

500-W high average power, high beam quality Nd:YAG solid-state laser with one focusing reflector

In order to explore a 56-J high energy, high frequency lamp-pumped pulsed Nd:YAG solid-state laser,the main factors influencing the higher laser output energy are analyzed, the relation between output power and input power and reflectivity is simulated theoretically, and the effective measures to improve the efficiencies of the laser are brought forward. As a result, pulse width is tunable between 0.1 and 10 ms, frequency between 1 and 1000 Hz. When the input electrical power is 12 kW, the laser can output maximum single pulse energy of 56 J and average power of 500 W with the beam quality of 16.5 mm·mrad,total electro-optic efficiency of 4.2%, and the in stability of ±2% output power. It is indicated that the parameters corresponds with the results of theoretical analysis and simulation.     

Passively mode-locked diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 oscillator operating at an ultralow repetition rate

We demonstrate the operation of an ultralow-repetition-rate, high-peak-power, picosecond diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 passively mode-locked laser oscillator. Repetition rates lower than 1 MHz were achieved with the use of a new design for a multiple-pass cavity and a semiconductor saturable absorber. Long-term stable operation at 1.2 MHz with a pulse duration of 16.3 ps and an average output power of 470 mW, corresponding to 24-kW peak-power pulses, is reported. These are to our knowledge the lowest-repetition-rate high-peak-power pulses ever generated directly from apicosecond laser resonator without cavity dumping.     

468-W CW operation of a diode-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser with high beam quality and highly efficient concentrator of pump light

A novel design of an efficient, highly reliable, and good beam quality diode-pumped solid-state laser for precise material processing application is presented. Effort has been done to obtain a highly uniform pumping intensity in the active area, which simultaneously reduces the effects of thermal gradient. In this design a novel lens duct configuration which send the light into the center of the rod is used. By this way a uniform power distribution and a maximum absorption of pump power is resulted. Adopting this design, the maximum laser power of 468 W with optical to optical efficiency of 33% in CW mode and M² factor of less than 15 is obtained. Numerical analysis also indicates the superiority of the design to other methods such as direct and diffusive pumping techniques.     

Passively Q-switched Nd:YAG ring lasers with high average output power in single-frequency operation

Applying Cr(4+):YAG saturable absorbers, we demonstrate efficient passively Q -switched operation of diode-pumped Nd:YAG lasers with a maximum average output power of more than 800 mW. Pulse durations below 3 ns, energies of 70 muJ, and peak powers of 30 kW are observed with kilohertz repetition rates. Single-frequency operation is accomplished for all output powers by a nonplanar ring geometry.