Diode-pumped lasers for ultra-high peak power

The generation of the highest laser peak intensities at a high degree of system compactness can be achieved by combining modern diode-pump technologies with the chirped pulse amplification technique. In principle, the spectroscopic properties of the gain medium determine the scaling laws of both high output pulse energy and short pulse duration. Here we introduce a novel criterion classifying laser materials with respect to their ability to generate pulses of highest peak power in a diode-pumped solid state laser system. Furthermore, amplified spontaneous emission as well as laser damage issues affecting the efficiency and compactness of a laser amplifier system are discussed. PACS 42.55.Ah; 42.55.Xi; 42.70.Hj     

高峰值功率大能量Nd∶Ce∶YAG激光器的研究

将氙灯抽运Nd:Ce:YAG激光器作为主振荡器,一级抽运Nd∶YAG放大,实现了能量为1.8J,脉宽为8ns,束散角为2.3mrad,重复频率为20Hz的激光输出,峰值功率达0.22GW。该激光器体积更小,效率更高,可靠性更强。     

高功率激光系统空间滤波小孔等离子体特性

 为解决高功率固体激光系统空间滤波小孔堵孔问题,针对空间滤波小孔中的等离子体溅射现象,对等离子体扩散１维分布模型进行了分析。分别对铝、金和碳等3种典型材料１维分布情况及扩散速度进行了数值模拟,得到等离子体扩散速度大约为107 cm/s。根据模拟计算结果,分析了神光Ⅲ原型装置助推放大级的堵孔风险,结果表明,在长脉冲情况下等离子体溅射造成的影响不可忽略。     

High power high beam quality diode-pumped 1319-nm Nd:YAG oscillator-amplifier laser system

This paper demonstrated a high power and high beam quality diode-pumped 1319-nm Nd:YAG master oscillator-power amplifier laser system. A thermally near-unstable resonator with four-rod birefringence compensation flat--flat cavity was adopted as the master oscillator. A solid etalon was inserted in the unidirectional ring resonator to compress the laser linewidth. Under a repetition rate of 500~Hz and pulse width of 160~\mus, the master oscillator delivers an average output power of 16.8~W at 1319~nm with linear polarisation, beam quality factor M^{2} = 1.16 and linewidth of 3.2~GHz. A double-pass power amplifier with two amplifier stages was employed for higher power scaling and the output power was amplified to be 25.9~W with M^{2} = 1.43.     

High-power continuous-wave output of master oscillator power amplifier system at 1053 and 1083 nm

We report the efficient generation of high-power laser radiation at 1053 and 1083 nm wavelength by using of a hybrid master oscillator fiber power amplifier system, consisting of a diode-pumped Yb-doped oxyorthosilicate solid state laser as the master oscillator and an Yb-doped large-mode-area fiber as the power amplifier. Efficient tunable diode-pumped Yb-doped oxyorthosilicate lasers at 1053 and 1083 nm have been constructed, which was scaled up to a maximum output power of 34.5 W at 1053 nm and 30.2 W at 1083 nm by a fiber power amplifier, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 93.9 and 87.8%, respectively.     

基于大基模体积的10mJ飞秒钛宝石激光再生放大器

文章报导了基于大基模体积的高能量飞秒钛宝石激光再生放大器的设计与实验研究,在重复频率10 Hz、抽运能量60 mJ的激励下,得到了单脉冲能量17.4 mJ的种子脉冲放大结果,压缩后的脉冲宽度为40.6 fs,能量为13.9 mJ.借助于此大基模体积再生腔,仅增加一级多通放大,实现了峰值功率达1.9 TW飞秒激光脉冲输出.结果表明,大模体积再生放大不仅降低了后续放大对抽运能量的要求,也可以单独压缩实现再生腔直接输出10 mJ量级的飞秒激光脉冲,是大能量高峰值功率飞秒激光系统的优质前端.     

低重复率的Ti:Al2O3飞秒激光放大器研究

本文报道了重复频率为10Hz的Ti:Al₂O₃飞秒激光放大器的研究.基于脉冲啁啾放大技术和采用再生/多通放大装置,得到了能量为8mJ的放大光脉冲,在该放大系统中,激光脉冲获M净增益约8×10⁷.     

100 W全光纤声光调Q光纤激光器实验研究

 报道了一台全光纤结构主振荡功率放大(MOPA)型掺镱脉冲光纤激光器,以光纤光栅为腔镜,光纤型声光调Q的光纤激光器为种子源,通过两级掺镱双包层光纤放大器实现功率放大。对声光调Q的光纤激光器输出特性进行了研究,比较了不同泵浦波长、不同重复频率对激光输出功率和脉冲宽度的影响,并实现了最短脉冲宽度25 ns、单脉冲能量45 μJ的脉冲激光输出。在重复频率50 kHz时,对脉冲宽度130 ns、平均功率0.6 W的种子光进行放大,得到了平均功率102.5 W、脉冲宽度约240 ns的激光输出。     

ICF驱动器中光束谐波分离技术

在激光惯性约束聚变研究过程中,激光驱动器打靶系统的光束谐波分离技术是驱动器建造研究的重要内容之一。根据高功率固体激光驱动器的发展历程,介绍了几种目前世界上正在应用的光束谐波分离技术,并对这些光束谐波分离方法的优缺点进行了对比分析。结合我国激光驱动器谐波分离技术的发展现状提出了将来的发展方向。这对大型激光驱动器的建造具有一定的指导意义。     

Single-frequency linearly-polarized 1083?nm all fiber nanosecond laser

Single-frequency linearly-polarized 1083?nm all fiber nanosecond master-oscillator power amplifier laser system is demonstrated. A ring laser, whose key components are one saturable absorber and two polarization controllers, delivers a single-frequency continuous wave laser. Using an electro-optic modulator as the modulator, the pulse laser seed is obtained by modulating the CW laser. By amplifying the pulse seed to the average power of 61.6?W in three stages, a single-frequency linearly-polarized laser with pulse duration of 16?ns, repetition rate of 10?MHz and pulse energy of 6.16???J is obtained. No nonlinear effect is observed in our experiment. Higher output power can be obtained by increasing LDs of the main amplifier.     

TW级Ti：Al2O3飞秒激光放大器

报道ＴＷ（１０＾１２Ｗ）级Ｔｉ：Ａｌ２Ｏ３飞秒激光放大器的研究，采用Ｔｉ：Ａｌ２Ｏ３自锁模激光振荡器和脉冲啁啾放大技术，获得了能量为８４ｍＪ，脉宽为７５ｆｓ的放大光脉冲，峰值功率达到ＴＷ量级。     

High-efficiency, single-stage 7-kHz high-average-power ultrafast laser system

We demonstrate a simple and practical single-stage ultrafast laser amplifier system that operates at a repetition frequency from 1 to 10 kHz, with millijoule pulse energy and as much as 13 W of average power. The repetition rate can be adjusted continuously from 1 to 10 kHz by new all-solid-state pump laser technology. This is to our knowledge the highest average power ever obtained from a single-stage ultrafast laser amplifier system. This laser will significantly increase the average power and the repetition rate that is easily accessible for high-field experiments such as coherent x-ray generation or for laser-synchrotron studies.     

Diode-pumped Nd:YLF slab master oscillator power amplifier laser system with 655 m J output at 50 Hz repetition rate

A laser-diode-pumped high-pulse-energy Nd:Li YF4 master oscillator power amplifier 1053 nm laser system is demonstrated. We design a home-made pump module to homogenize the pump intensity through the ray tracing method. To increase the extraction efficiency, the pre-amplifier adopts a double-pass amplification structure. At a repetition rate of 50 Hz, 655 m J pulse energy and 12.9 ns pulse width of 1053 nm laser is obtained from the master oscillator power amplifier system. The corresponding peak power is 51 MW. The optical-to-optical efficiency of the system is about 9.7%.     

High power single frequency solid state master oscillator power amplifier for gravitational wave detection

High power single frequency, single mode, linearly polarized laser output at the 1 μm regime is in demand for the interferometric gravitational wave detectors (GWDs). A robust single frequency solid state master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) is a promising candidate for such applications. We present a single frequency solid state multistage MOPA system delivering 177 W of linearly polarized output power at 1 μm with 83.5% TEM(00) mode content.     

采用光谱展宽技术的钛宝石飞秒激光放大器

报道了飞秒激光啁啾脉冲放大器中的激光脉冲光谱展宽技术，实验中使用了几种光谱展宽元件，结果表明使用激光光谱展宽元件能有效地将飞秒激光脉冲 光谱展宽，抑制了飞秒激光放大器中常见的激光脉冲光谱增益窄化现象，从飞秒放大系统的振荡级输出28fs种子脉冲，放大后得到了重复频率为10Hz、峰值功率为1．6TW、脉冲宽度37．5fs的超短强飞秒激光脉冲 。     

天光一号MOPA光学角多路系统的研制

 光学角多路系统是主振功放(MOPA)装置的重要组成部分。它不仅连接着主振荡器、预放大器及主放大器三个KrF激光系统，而且起着压缩激光脉宽的作用。光学角多路能使主振激光脉冲在能量上得到足够的放大，并使泵浦预放、主放激光腔的电子束能量及其脉宽得到充分的利用。介绍了天光一号装置上MOPA光学角多路系统的结构,并结合多年来运行的实践，提出了若干优化措施。     

1.8 mJ高倍率Nd:YAG板条皮秒激光放大器

设计了一种高倍率的固体皮秒脉冲激光放大器,采用Nd:YAG板条作为激光增益介质。借助板条结构的角度选通结构,搭建了板条五通放大系统,实现了对注入皮秒脉冲激光的高倍率放大。种子源工作在脉冲模式,放大器泵浦源在连续模式工作。皮秒光纤激光器可以在不同的重复频率下工作,脉冲宽度为13.4 ps。种子光经过隔离和耦合系统之后,注入板条的单脉冲能量为25 nJ。当种子源工作重复频率为24.46 MHz时,板条放大器输出平均功率377 W,单脉冲能量15.5 μJ;当种子源工作重复频率为49.8 kHz时,板条放大器输出平均功率89 W,单脉冲能量1.8 mJ,峰值功率为134 MW,放大倍率达到7.2×104。     

Compact directly diode-pumped femtosecond Nd:glass chirped-pulse-amplification laser system

An all-solid-state longitudinally diode-pumped Nd:glass chirped-pulse-amplification laser system producing pulses of 50-MW peak power has been developed. The diode-pumped Nd:glass regenerative amplifier produces pulses with energies as great as 56microJ at a 1-kHz repetition rate and pulse durations as short as 450 fs after compression in a compact single holographic-transmission-grating stretcher-compressor arrangement. Further, spectral gain shaping was shown to extend the bandwidth that was supported in the low-gain amplifier. To the best of our knowledge, this system provides the highest peak and average power obtained from a directly diode-pumped femtosecond laser.     

Injection-Seeded 500 Hz Repetition Rate High Peak Power Single-Frequency Nd:YAG Laser for Mid-Infrared Generation

We develop an injection-seeded single-frequency neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser with 500 Hz repetition rate and high peak power. The laser construction is designed as seed injection and master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) including single-frequency master oscillator, extra-cavity frequency doubling crystal, and round-trip power amplifier. The master oscillator can emit 1,064 nm laser of 8.4 mJ with 6.8 ns pulse width at the pump energy equal to 23 mJ. A green laser energy of 1.1 mJ is obtained by setting the proper temperature of the LBO crystal. The pulse energy of 1,064 nm laser decreases to 6.5 mJ after passing through the LBO crystal and rises to 25.3 mJ after a round-trip power amplifier corresponding to the extraction efficiency of 29%. The final output pulse width is 6.5 ns, representing a peak power of 3.9 MW. The 1,064 nm laser beam quality factor M² of the master oscillator and the amplified one are 1.3 and 1.5, respectively. The laser will be used to generate mid-infrared where the 532 nm laser with narrow pulse width is to pump sheet optical parametric oscillator (OPO) and the 1,064 nm laser with high peak power to pump the OPO.     

高稳定激光脉冲波形精密调控技术研究与应用

提出了基于激光脉冲波形精密调控和能量稳定性控制的双回路同步闭环设计方法,进而在任意波形发生器与预放大系统输出处建立脉冲波形闭环控制系统,在保偏大模场光纤放大器和再生放大器间建立能量稳定性闭环系统。依托大口径高通量实验平台,实现了激光脉冲波形的快速高稳定精密调控,脉冲波形闭环精度优于2%（RMS）,脉冲能量稳定性优于5%（PV）。该技术成功应用到物理实验正式发射中,常规整形脉冲波形的功率准确度优于2%,相关结果有力支撑了ICF激光驱动器激光参数精密调控设计。