Pumping efficiency of solar-pumped Cr/Nd:YAG ceramic rod with fresnel lens

Pumping efficiency is the most important issue in the solar pumped laser. Using a new physical and numerical model, we use Fresnel lenses for pumping the laser media. We calculate the pump efficiency in view of four multiplied efficiencies. The result of our calculations of the pumping efficiency is 23.7%, and it is consistent with the previous experiments. The estimated pumping efficiency increases to 29% if one employs a double-stage secondary concentrator consisting of a 3D-CPC followed by a conical cavity.     

Improvement in solar-pumped Nd:YAG laser beam brightness

Solar-pumped solid-state lasers are promising for renewable extreme-temperature material processing. Here we report a large improvement in solar laser beam brightness by pumping a thin Nd:YAG single crystal rod. A fused silica light guide of 14 mm×22 mm rectangular cross-section is used to both transmit and homogenize the concentrated solar radiation from the focal zone of a 2.88 m² parabolic mirror to the entrance aperture of a modified 2D-CPC flooded pump cavity, within which a 4 mm diameter rod is efficiently pumped. 2.2% slope efficiency is reached. Laser beam brightness figure of merit B is three times higher than that of the most recent solar-pumped Nd:YAG laser by a Fresnel lens. The introduction of the rectangular cross-section light guide has also ensured a much more stable laser emission than previous pumping schemes.     

High efficiency diode laser side-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser

High efficiency laser performance of 2 mm diameter and 20 mm long Nd:YAG crystal rod transversely pumped by laser diode array is presented. Using the directly side-coupled geometry enclosed by cylindrical pump cavity plated with gold, we obtained long pulse energy of 4.6 mJ corresponding to optical-to-optical slope efficiency of 37%. The complete solid-state Nd:YAG laser is described to be simple, compact and highly efficient. Q-switching of the laser is also reported.     

Segmented circular LD arrays side-pumped a Nd:YAG laser rod

We design a Nd:YAG module with symmetrical LD side-pumped structure in a periodical arrangement between circular LD arrays and holders. This novel design has great potential to be used in compact and miniature laser systems. Design optimization and simulation on thermal effects have been performed. An experiment has also been carried out. The experiment results indicate the all-solid-state laser with the-Nd:YAG module can stably operate in the range of 10–30 Hz with no controlling temperature by TE cooler. The laser beam had a divergence angle less than 3.8 mrad and a maximum output pulse of 174 mJ has been obtained at the pump current of 50 A and working frequency of 23 Hz, corresponding to optical-optical conversion efficiency of 40.2%.     

High power CW diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser

We report on the characterization of a diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser operating at high CW output power. A four-fold pump configuration is designed and the pump light is directly coupled into the Nd:YAG rod without the help of any cylindrical lenses. The distribution of pump light in the Nd:YAG rod has been calculated by using ray tracing program. The thermal lens effect of the Nd:YAG rod has been experimentally measured. A maximum output power of 800 W at 1064 nm in multimode operation is obtained for a pump power of 2400 W with 33% optical-optical efficiency. At the same time, the maximum beam parameter product of 25 mm·mrad is achieved.     

Modeling of laser-diode side-pumped continuous wave Nd:YAG/KTP green laser

By reasonably assuming the distribution of the pump light in laser medium, the equations about the absorption and the gain for the end-pumped lasers are applied to the side-pumped ones, and a theoretical model for laser-diode side-pumped continuous wave intracavity-frequency-doubling lasers is given, in which the thermally induced diffraction loss and the variation of the fundamental wave radii with the pump power are considered. By using a Z-type cavity, a laser-diode side-pumped continuous wave Nd:YAG/KTP green laser is realized. The threshold pump power is 15 W, and the highest output power of the green laser is 3.75 W at the pump power of 160 W, corresponding to an optical–optical slope efficiency 2.6%. The experimental results are consistent with the numerical solutions.     

36 W侧面抽运腔内倍频Nd:YAG/KTP连续绿光激光器

通过优化平-凹-平三镜折叠腔结构设计,利用大功率半导体激光器侧面抽运、Ⅱ类相位匹配KTP晶体腔内倍频,获得高效高功率连续绿色激光输出.当抽运电流约为36 A时,得到最高36.6 W的连续绿光激光输出,对应的光—光转换效率为8.71％.在输出功率33 W时测量激光功率稳定性,其功率不稳定度为0.27%.用刀口法测量了激光器高输出功率时的光束质量,光束质量因子小于8.对高功率抽运情况下三镜折叠腔的像散补偿、失调灵敏度和基模在腔内分布情况做了数值模拟. 关键词： 侧面抽运 腔内倍频 连续波     

28% electrical-efficiency operation of a diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser

We propose a highly efficient quasi-cw Nd:YAG rod laser with a novel side-pumping design that uses microlens-free diode stacks. We demonstrate 320-W output power with 28% electrical-to-optical efficiency, which is, to our knowledge, the highest efficiency reported for diode-pumped solid-state lasers.     

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.     

Room-temperature continuous wave laser oscillations in Nd:YAG ceramic waveguides produced by carbon ion implantation

We report on the generation of continuous wave lasers at a wavelength of ∼1064 nm in a Nd:YAG ceramic waveguide at room temperature. The waveguide was fabricated by using 6 MeV carbon ion implantation at a fluence of 3×10¹⁴ ions/cm². Laser operation has been realized with a slope efficiency as high as ∼11%. The pump threshold of an 808-nm laser beam for the waveguide laser oscillation is 19.5 mW.     

Q-switched and mode-locked diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser with an LT-GaAs

Simultaneous Q-switching and mode-locking (QML) is accomplished in a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser using low-temperature GaAs (LT-GaAs) as the saturable absorber, which also acts as an output coupler at the same time. The repetition rate of the Q-switched envelope increased from 25 to 40 kHz as the pump power increased from 2.2 to 6.9 W. The mode-locked pulses inside the Q-switched pulse envelope had a repetition rate of 714 MHz. A maximum average output power of 770 mW was obtained.     

Thin Nd:YAG slab laser pumped by lens duct coupled diode laser stacks

High power continuous wave operation of a diode face-pumped thin Nd:YAG slab laser is reported. A novel pumping geometry for a thin Nd:YAG slab using cylindrical lens duct coupled diode laser stacks is demonstrated. In a close-coupled resonator, a maximum laser output power of 260 W in multimode operation is obtained. This corresponds to a slope efficiency of 34% and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 27%, respectively. In high-brightness operation, a polarized laser output of 70 W has been obtained with a beam quality factor close to 4 in both directions. The polarization contrast ratio is >100. PACS 42.55.Xi; 42.60.Pk; 42.60.By     

Nd:YAG laser delivery system utilizing GRIN rod lenses as focusing-collimating optics

A sequential electromechanical system capable of delivering the radiation coming from a medium power Nd:YAG laser to an array of multimode optical fibres is presented. The system utilizes GRIN-rod microlenses as focusing-collimating optics. A focusing unit positioned at the fibre distal-end, which can work in two different configurations, has also been designed and constructed.     

The dynamic stability resonant cavity design of two rod Nd:YAG laser

The stability of the higher output power with high-quality beams is very important parameter in material processing. This paper presents using the S parameter and Gauss beam parameters matching to design efficient resonant cavity of two-rod Nd:YAG. The fundamental mode beam radius in rod, fundamental mode beam radius on the mirror, beam quality factor, and the value of the degree of the symmetry of the TEM00 mode volume as a function of the between neighbor rods distance, laser rod end face to mirror distance, and input power are simulated. The design method of resonant cavity is illustrated and compared with previously published experimental measurements for different pump power and the length of the cavity parameters and a good agreement has been found.     

A passively mode-locked Nd:YAG laser using a half-symmetric unstable resonator with continuous output coupling

A mode-locked Nd:YAG laser has been operated using a half-symmetric unstable resonator consisting of a totally reflecting convex mirror and a 8% reflecting plane mirror formed by one end of the laser rod. The performance of this laser is reported for two resonator lengths. In the case of the longer resonator the far-field distribution retained the same radial symmetric form even when an intra-cavity aperture was adjusted to produce different near-field patterns. Beam divergence at the 1/e² point was measured to be (4.0±0.4) × 10^-4 radians. Pulse widths were confirmed as 30±3 ps within a pulse train of 52±5 mJ.     

采用液态金属传热的小型大功率全固态Nd∶YAG板条激光器

 为了满足小型光电系统对微小型大功率激光器的研制要求,通过液态金属传热设计,提高散热效率,使得激光器在小体积下实现高能量输出。采用复合板条工作物质集成谐振腔以及激光放大技术,在激光电源电流80 A、工作频率为5 Hz时,激光器在1064 nm输出单脉冲能量为160 mJ,脉宽为6 ns,发散角为3 mrad的激光。     

Efficient and high-power intracavity frequency doubled diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG/KTP continuous wave (CW) green laser

Highly efficient continuous wave (CW) green beam generation by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode side-pumped Nd:YAG laser using a single pump head based on a copper-coated flow tube in a V-shaped cavity geometry has been demonstrated. A maximum 30.5 W of CW green power was obtained at a total diode pumping power of 260 W corresponding to 11.7% conversion efficiency of diode pump power to CW green power and 4.7% conversion efficiency of electrical power to CW green power. The performance of the laser by considering the pump power induced thermal lensing effect and the M²-parameter at the fundamental wavelength has been analyzed.     

Analysis of TEM00 laser beam quality degradation caused by a birefringent Nd: YAG rod

The effects produced by a birefringent rod on the beam quality factor,M _infr ^sup2 , of a Gaussian TEM₀₀ laser beam are studied. Analytical expressions for the beam parameters at the output plane of a rod amplifier are derived. The theory predicts that the beam quality degrades rapidly with the heat power dissipated in the rod.     

Fiber Raman laser pumped by a Nd:YAG laser

We have pumped a fiber Raman laser with a cw mode-locked Nd:YAG laser operating at 1319 nm and generated pulses as short as 160 fsec using soliton pulse shaping in the fiber. We have also constructed a completely integrated oscillator loop using a fiber optic coupler and fusion splicing.