Influences of pump beam distribution on thermal lensing spherical aberration in an LD end-pumped Nd:YAG laser

A numerical investigation is made on the thermal lensing and spherical aberration effect in an LD end-pumped Nd:YAG laser. Based on the finite element method (FEM), the laser rod temperature distribution is calculated and the focal length of the thermal lens is deduced, the influences of pump beam on the thermal lensing spherical aberration are mainly studied. The results show the thermal lens which focal length varied with the radial coordinate r is not an ideal lens. Given the heat dissipation boundary conditions, the radial dependent focal length will be shortened when the pump power raised or the waist radius of the pump beam reduced, meanwhile the radial differences of the focal length will decrease when the pump power increased. For a Super-Gaussian profile pump beam, the higher the exponent number, the more similar to flat top the pump beam is, and the less the radial differences of the focal length are.     

端侧面组合抽运DPL热透镜效应研究

通过数值计算发现：在端侧面组合抽运DPL中,晶体横截面上的温度分布接近于轴对称分布,并且端面抽运功率占有率越大,温度分布越接近于轴对称分布。将端侧面组合抽运DPL中的热效用等效薄透镜近似,给出了等效热透镜焦距的计算方法,分析了组合抽运引起的热透镜效应对基横模振荡光的光斑尺寸和衍射损耗的影响。在总抽运功率一定的情况下,端面抽运功率占有率的变化对热透镜焦距有一定的影响,占有率越大,热透镜焦距越长。提高端面抽运功率占有率,可在一定程度上减小热透镜效应对振荡光束尺寸和衍射损耗的影响。     

纵向泵浦固体激光介质热透镜效应的理论研究

 在分析了纵向泵浦、周边致冷固体激光棒内加热及冷却机理的基础上,将热传导方程合理简化为一维形式,求解出以级数方式表达的棒内温度分布。并根据热弹性力学原理,获得了激光棒中热致应力场和应变场。在考虑了与热透镜效应有关的三个因素：即热色散、热致应力双折射和端面变形后,推导出了纵向泵浦固体激光棒有效热焦距的解析表达式。将所获结果运用于常用的激光晶体Nd:YAG,发现当使用10W半导体激光器泵浦时,所产生的有效热焦距在毫米量级。     

纵向泵浦固体激光介质热透镜效应的理论研究

在分析了纵向泵浦、周边致冷固体激光棒内加热及冷却机理的基础上,将热传导方程合理简化为一维形式,求解出以级数方式表达的棒内温度分布。并根据热弹性力学原理,获得了激光棒中热致应力场和应变场。在考虑了与热透镜效应有关的三个因素：即热色散、热致应力双折射和端面变形后,推导出了纵向泵浦固体激光棒有效热焦距的解析表达式。将所获结果运用于常用的激光晶体Nd:YAG,发现当使用10W半导体激光器泵浦时,所产生的有效热焦距在毫米量级。     

10 kHz 40 W Ti:sapphire regenerative ring amplifier

A cryogenically cooled Ti:sapphire regenerative ring amplifier was developed as a laser for generating a laser-produced plasma light source. With a 10 kHz 180 W pump laser, the amplifier output is 40 W before compression and 26 W after compression. We believe it to be the current highest average-power output from a single stage Ti:sapphire amplifier. The effective focal length of the thermal lens is measured to be 2.2 m at 100 K for 180 W of pump power. With a 1 m focal length lens placed in the resonator, the effect of a thermal lens on the resonator mode is suppressed. High conversion efficiency is achieved for the whole pumping power range without any additional measures for thermal compensation.     

基于侧面热对流的LD泵浦Yb:KGd(WO4)2热透镜效应研究

基于对LD端面泵浦Yb∶KGW激光晶体工作特点的分析,建立了符合条件的激光晶体热模型.考虑晶体侧面的热对流,运用MATLAB和FORTRAN软件,通过有限差分法求解各向异性介质热传导方程,得到了该晶体的温度场分布、端面热形变分布和不同泵浦功率下的热焦距.结果表明:在泵浦功率为14 W时,泵浦面最高温度达272.8℃、最...     

端面抽运Tm,Ho:YLF激光器热转换系数及热透镜效应的研究

根据激光二极管纵向抽运Tm,Ho:YLF激光器的能级跃迁和能量传递过程，在考虑能量传递上转换和基态重吸收的前提下，建立了准三能级速率方程理论模型.给出了Tm,Ho:YLF激光器的热转换系数的解析表达式，讨论了抽运光斑半径与激光束腰半径的比值对热转换系数的影响.实验上得到了热焦距随抽运功率的变化关系，并将其与理论结果进行了对比，发现符合较好. 关键词： Tm Ho:YLF晶体 能量传递上转换 速率方程 热转换系数     

More precise determination of thermal lens focal length for end-pumped solid-state lasers

A method of more precise determination of the focal length of equivalent thermal lens (TL) is presented in this paper. The method is based on the diffraction theory of aberrations. By numerically calculating the optical path difference (OPD) distribution and the Strehl ratio, the focal lengths for “top-hat” pumping and Gaussian pumping are obtained and the equations for the focal lengths are presented by curve fitting. Also the equations for average pump radii are presented. The experiment on a fiber-coupled LD pumped Nd:YAG laser is carried out. The experimental results verify the validity of the method.     

薄片激光器热效应及其对输出功率的影响

建立了光强分布为高斯型的抽运光端面单程抽运时薄片激光器的温度模型, 实验测量了不同抽运功率下薄片介质表面的 温度分布、温度随时间的变化特性以及介质表面的温度差. 采用Hartmann法测量了薄片介质的热焦距. 考虑热焦距随抽运功率的变化, 基于四能级系统薄片激光器的速率方程组, 建立了薄片激光器热效应对输出功率影响的物理模型, 薄片激光器输入-输出功率曲线与实际相符. 所得结果对薄片激光器的设计和优化具有一定的指导意义.     

Thermo-optic effects affecting the high pump power end pumped solid state lasers: Modeling and analysis

A complete solution of the thermal effect for continuous wave laser diode array fiber coupled high pump power end pumped actively solid state laser is presented. In this paper, the thermal loading resulted from energy transfer up-conversion effect for laser operated under different pulse repetition frequency has been taken into account in the overall thermal effects. The thermal loading transfer the absorbed pump power into non-uniform temperature distribution in the laser rod, and thus results in thermal strain, thermal stress, thermal dispersion of index, and thermally induced diffraction losses. For a practical laser cavity configuration containing the internal optical elements, we use spherical aberration theory to give a better explanation of experimental results via calculating diffraction losses quantitatively. According to analysis of thermal focal length experimental data, the results show that our calculated value of thermal loading under fixed Nd³⁺ doped concentration laser crystal is not a constant but a function of pump power instead. The theoretical predicted curve of thermal focal length based on our model is in good agreement with experimental measurements. At low pump power, the thermal loading is a linear function varying with pump power, but it begins to saturate at pump powers exceeding 6 W. This phenomenon is consistent with our physical intuitions.     

自加热式铜蒸气激光器的热气体透镜研究

本文分析了自加热式铜蒸气激光器放电管内的热气体透镜效应,并指出不同的铜蒸气激光器在稳定工作时可能等效为正透镜,也可能等效为负透镜。在实验部分,本文给出了热气体透镜焦距与输入功率、缓冲气体压强的关系,描绘了热气体透镜从负透镜变化到正透镜的动态过程。     

基于数字全息的热透镜效应测量

提出一种数字全息定量测量半导体激光二极管侧面泵浦Nd∶YAG晶体热透镜效应的方法。CCD采集Nd∶YAG晶体在不同泵浦电流下的数字全息图,通过数值重建得到热透镜效应引起的相位分布及其变化过程。再由相位分布计算得到对应的热透镜焦距。实验结果表明,利用数字全息技术可以准确和有效测量热透镜效应及热透镜焦距。     

Experimental study on injection-locked Ti:sapphire lasers

An injection-locked Ti:sapphire laser is developed,with injection locking achieved using the Pound-DreverHall technique.By measuring the dependence of output power on the pump power with various Ti:sapphire laser parameters,we experimentally studied the influences of the ring cavity length,the focal length of the pump-laser mode-matching lens,and the output-coupler transmission on the threshold and slope efficiency.The dependence of the output power on the master laser power is also investigated.The present study provides a guideline for developing a Ti:sapphire laser with high slope efficiency and low threshold.     

Pulsed pump: Thermal effects in solid state lasers under super-Gaussian pulses

Solid state laser (SSL) powers can be realistically scaled when pumped by a real, efficient and multimode pulse. In this work, a fourth-order super-Gaussian pulse was assumed as a pump for SSL’s and a complete analytical expression for the thermal phase shift is given. Moreover, the focal length of thermal lens in paraxial ray approximation regime was studied. The results when applied to a Ti: sapphire crystal show an appreciable correction for abberation compared to a top-hat pulse.     

激光热透镜焦距测量实验及其公式改进

通过平平非稳腔法对激光热透镜焦距进行了实验测量,研究了不同抽运光束腰位置对热透镜焦距的影响.从理论上引入抽运光远场发散角和束腰位置,对端面抽运激光晶体热透镜焦距公式进行了改进.     

Thermal optics distortion of face pump slab lasers with two pump arrangements

Two pump arrangements, which are the slow axis and the fast axis of LD stacks parallel to the length direction of the slab, are simulated. From the results the optical intensity along the width of the slab is Gaussian and super-Gaussian distribution, respectively. Then based on heat conduction equation and conductively cooling boundary condition, the calculation of the distribution of absorbed pump power, temperature and thermal stress with the tool of finite element analyses is performed. From these results we numerically calculate the thermal focusing in zigzag and perpendicular zigzag planes using the ray tracing method running at low and high repetition rates. It is found that the temperature distribution along width has a significant impact on the thermal stress and thermal optics distortion, especially running at high repetition rate or high average power. Finally, the conclusion was that the pump arrangement with the fast axis of LD stacks parallel to the length direction of the slab is superior to the slow axis of LD stacks parallel to the length direction of the slab in decreasing thermal lens effect and obtaining high beam quality.     

Thermal lensing of diode side-pumped solid-state lasers

The pump energy distribution in a diode side-pumped solid-state laser, is an overlap of propagating Gaussian beams. A simple model has been developed to calculate the thermal focal length of a diode side-pumped solid-state laser, which is based on a thermal model with a Gaussian heat density in any cross section of a laser rod. It can be seen that as the waists of pump beams increase, the energy distribution tends to be uniform and the thermal focal length tends to be long, which means a smaller thermal focusing.     

Theoretical investigation on thermal lensing effects of Yb:KY(WO4)2 in diode-pumped lasers

Based on the features of laser diode end-pumped lasers, a thermal model of Yb:KY(WO₄)₂(Yb:KYW) with square cross-section was established. Considering the heat transfer on side faces, the anisotropic of thermal conductivity and the latest reports about thermo-optic coefficient, thermal expansion coefficient and thermal conductivity, temperature distribution, end-pumped face distortion and thermal lens focal length of Yb:KYW were more precisely obtained using finite difference method to solve Poisson equation in a rectangular Cartesian coordinate for the first time. At the pump power of 14 W, the highest temperature located at the center of end-pumped face was 243.8 °C, the highest distortion was 0.28 μm, and the thermal lens focal length was 5.4 cm along z-axis and −4.9 cm along x-axis. The results show that thermal lensing effects in the b-cut Yb:KYW were mainly determined by the anisotropic thermal expansion of Yb:KYW, and further present thermal lensing effects become weaker after considering the heat transfer. This work is significant for compensating the thermal lensing effect and improving the resonator stability of diode-pumped anisotropy crystal lasers.     

Analysis and compensation of thermal lens effects in Tm：YAP lasers

The thermal lens effects in Tm：YAP laser are analyzed by solving the Poisson equation with finite difference method. The thermal focal lengths measured are in the range of 40-90 mm at the pump power of 16-34 W, consistent with the simulation results. The temperature contribution coefficient （the linear coefficient between the maximum temperature in the laser crystal and the pump power） of 1.19 K/W is also obtained. The convex lens and plano-concave mirror thermal lens compensation methods are proposed and applied to a high power pumped Tm：YAP laser.     

Efficient design considerations for end-pumped solid-state-lasers

The temperature distribution in the gain medium and key design parameters for an ideal-four level end-pumped solid-state laser have been analyzed depending on the crystal's length, absorption coefficient, and pump beam M² factor. The optimum key design parameters and thermal focal lens are obtained by minimizing the root mean square of pump beam radius in the laser crystal. It is found that the focal thermal lens and key design parameters are dependent on the gain medium characteristics and pump beam properties as well. By considering the Poisson equation in cylindrical coordinate and Top-Hat pumping profile, an analytical formula has been derived to introduce the thermal focal length in the end-pumped lasers. A formula is also presented to relate the requirements of pump source to the gain medium properties for working laser at the design point.