Nd : YAG ceramic laser obtained high slope-efficiency of 62% in high power applications

By using quite uniformly nine-stacks side-around arranged compact pumping system, a high power Nd:YAG ceramic quasi-CW laser with high slope efficiency of 62% has been demonstrated. With 450 W quasi-CW stacked laser diode bars pumping at 808 nm, performance of the Nd: YAG ceramic laser with different output coupling mirrors has been investigated. Optimum output power of 236 W at 1064 nm was obtained and corresponding optical-to-optical conversion efficiency was as high as 52.5%. The laser system operated quite stably and no saturation phenomena have been observed, which means higher output laser power could be obtained if injecting higher pumping power. The still-evolving Nd: YAG ceramics are potential super excellent media for high power practical laser applications. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.

Quasi-self-imaging planar waveguide lasers with high-power single-mode output

We describe high-power planar waveguide laser which can achieve single-mode output from a multi-mode structure. The planar waveguide is constructed with incomplete self-imaging properties, by which the coupling loss of each guided mode can be discriminated. Thermal lens effects are evaluated for single-mode operation of such high-power diode-pumped solid-state lasers. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Thermal and thermal-optical effects in high-power photonic crystal fiber lasers

A series-parallel model is introduced to calculate the effective thermal conductivities of hollow claddings of photonic crystal fibers ( PCFs ). The temperature distribution and thermal-optical properties of PCF lasers are studied by solving the heat transfer equations. The average power scaling of the PCF lasers in respect of the thermal effects is also discussed. (c) 2006 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

20-W average power, high repetition rate, nanosecond pulse with diffraction limit from an all-fiber MOPA system

In this article, we report an all-fiber master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system, which can provide high repetition rate and nanosecond pulse with diffraction-limit. The system was constructed using a (2 + 1) X 1 multimode combiner. The Q-Switched, LD pumped Nd:YVO4 solid-state laser wets used (is master oscillator. The 976-nm fiber-coupled module is used as pump source. A 10-m long China-made Yb3+-doped D-shape double-clad large-mode-area fiber was used as amplifier fiber. The MOPA produced as much as 20-W average power with nanosecond pulse and near diffraction limited. The pulse duration is maintained at about 15 its during 50-175 kHz. The system employs a simple and compact architecture and is therefore suitable for the use in practical applications such as scientific and military airborne LIDAR and imaging. Based oil this system. the amplification performances of. the all fiber amplifier is investigated. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

High-power Nd:YAG planar waveguide laser with YAG and Al2O3 claddings

Thermal effects in Nd:YAG planar waveguide lasers with non-symmetrical claddings are discussed. The heat generated in the active core can be removed more efficiently by directly contacting the active core to the heat sink. Several cladding materials are compared to optimize the heat removal. Furthermore, uniform pumping is achieved with oblique edge-pumping technique. Using quasi-CW pumping at 1 KHz repetition rate, an average output power of 280 W with a slope efficiency of 38% is obtained with a positive unstable resonator. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Beam collimation of high-power laser diode array with graded-index fiber lens array

Graded-index (GRIN) fiber lens arrays are fabricated from commercial GRIN fibers to collimate a high-power laser diode array. The beam divergence angles are reduced to 4.2 and 14.7 mrad in the fast and slow axes, respectively. The influences of smile and fluctuation in fiber length are discussed. Using an aspherical focal lens system, about 74% power can be launched into a fiber with a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.22 and a core diameter of 400 mu m. (c) 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.

Er3+ and Yb3+ codoped phosphate laser glass for high power flashlamp pumping

A novel Vb(3+)-Er-(3+) codoped phosphate glass for high power flashlamp pumping and high repetition rate laser at 1.54 mu m, designated EAT5-2, is developed. The weight-loss rate of is 1.3 x 10(-5) gcm(-2) h(-1) in boiling water, which is comparable to Kigre's QX-Er glass. Some spectroscopic parameters are analysed by Judd-Ofelt theory and McCumber theory The emission cross section is calculated to be 0.73 x 10(-20) cm(2). The thermo-mechanical properties of EAT5-2 are modified after an ion-exchange chemical strengthening process in a KNO3/NaNO3 molten salt bath. The thresholds for optical damage from the flashlamp pumping are tested on glass rods. A repetition rate of 15 Hz is achieved for chemically strengthened glass. The laser experimental results at. 1.54 mu m from flashlamp pumping are also reported.