A 1-kW CW thin disc laser

Author

Stewen, Christian ; Contag, Karsten ; Larionov, Mikhail ; Giesen, Adolf ; Hügel, Helmut

Author_Institution

Inst. fur Strahlwerkzeuge, Stuttgart Univ., Germany

Volume

6

Issue

4

fYear

2000

Firstpage

650

Lastpage

657

Abstract

The thin disc laser is presented as an optimal laser design for the operation of a quasi-three-level laser active medium in the high power regime with high optical efficiency. Numerical calculations of the laser output power show that operation with an output power up to 1 kW with an optical efficiency of 50% and more is possible at room temperature utilizing 16 absorption passes. Scaling of the output power can be realized by scaling the pumped area using one or more discs. The experimental investigations yield a maximum output power of 647 W at 51% optical efficiency for one crystal and of 1070 W with 48% optical efficiency for four crystals at a temperature of the cooling water of 15/spl deg/C.

Keywords

optical design techniques; optimisation; solid lasers; ytterbium; 1 kW; 1070 W; 15 C; 48 percent; 50 percent; 51 percent; 647 W; YAG:Yb; YAl5O12:Yb; Yb:YAG laser; absorption passes; cooling water; high optical efficiency; high power regime; kW CW thin disc laser; laser output power; maximum output power; optical efficiency; optimal laser design; output power; pumped area; quasi-three-level laser active medium; room temperature; Absorption; Cooling; Laser excitation; Optical design; Optical pumping; Optical resonators; Power generation; Power lasers; Pump lasers; Temperature;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1077-260X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/2944.883380

Filename

883380