Study of thermal relaxation in a respectively pumped Nd:glass laser rod

The birefringence produced in a cylindrical 30 cm × 1.9 cm Nd:glass rod, pumped by close-coupled, six flashlamps, symmetrically placed in a circular cavity, is investigated. The expression for the phase difference caused by the birefringence for the two waves polarized in the radial and tangential directions is derived and calculated as a function of the input pump power, normalized rod-radius, elastooptical coefficients and other material parameters. The expression for the ratio of output intensity to input intensity for a linearly polarized beam passing through the thermally strained rod, placed between two crossed polarizers, is derived and calculated. The thermal time constant measured from the appearance and disappearance of the birefringence effect is found to agree reasonably well with the computed values. Observation of the negative lensing effect from the conoscopic interference pattern as well as from the output intensity profile from the crossed polarizers is reported.