Title :
Continuous wave thin plate Nd:glass laser
Author :
Krausz, Ferenc ; Wintner, E. ; Schmidt, Arnold J. ; Dienes, Andrew
Author_Institution :
Abteilung Quantenelektronik und Lasertechnik, Tech. Univ. Wien, Austria
fDate :
1/1/1990 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
CW (continuous-wave) operation of end-pumped four-level glass lasers is modeled to obtain expressions for threshold, slope efficiency, and figures of merit. The thermal effects ultimately limiting performance in these lasers is also discussed. Basic design consideration for optimum performance of an end-pumped CW Nd:glass laser intended for mode locking are presented. On the basis of these investigations, a CW Nd:glass laser containing a heavily doped thin phosphate glass plate as the gain material has been built. The plate was inserted into a folded cavity and pumped longitudinally by a Kr laser at 0.8 μm. With 2.5% output coupling the pump threshold and the slope efficiency well above threshold were measured to be 10.5 mW and 36%, respectively. These values agree reasonably with theoretical predictions. Experimental confirmation of the predicted thermal limiting effects are also obtained
Keywords :
laser cavity resonators; laser mode locking; neodymium; optical pumping; phosphate glasses; solid lasers; 0.8 micron; 10.5 mW; 2.5 percent; 36 percent; CW laser; Kr; Nd:glass laser; P2O5:Nd3+; end-pumped four-level glass lasers; figures of merit; folded cavity; gain material; heavily doped thin phosphate glass plate; lasing threshold; mode locking; optimum performance; output coupling; pump threshold; pumped longitudinally; slope efficiency; thermal effects; thermal limiting effects; thin plate lasers; Glass; Laser excitation; Laser mode locking; Laser modes; Laser theory; Neodymium; Optical pulse generation; Pump lasers; Spectroscopy; Ultrafast optics;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
