Analytical and experimental studies on the characteristics of composite solid-state laser rods in diode-end-pumped geometry

Author

Tsunekane, Masaki ; Taguchi, Noboru ; Kasamatsu, Tadashi ; Inaba, Humio

Author_Institution

Biophotonics Inf. Labs., Yamagata, Japan

Volume

3

Issue

1

fYear

1997

fDate

2/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

9

Lastpage

18

Abstract

In this paper, we report analytical and experimental studies on the characteristics of end-pumped composite laser rods with undoped end, using mainly Nd:YAG rods as an example. It is found that the peak temperature rise in a composite rod decreases to <70% of that in a noncomposite crystal. Thermal stress is dramatically reduced to <60% by employing the composite rod structure, We also demonstrate high-power operation of the diode-end-pumped composite Nd:YVO₄ rod and a maximum CW output power of 9.3 W was achieved, which is about 1.5 times higher than that in the noncomposite rod. This high-power performance of the composite rod is primarily attributed to the reduction of thermal stress inside the rod

Keywords

laser modes; neodymium; optical pumping; solid lasers; thermal stresses; 9.3 W; Nd:YAG rod lasers; YAG:Nd; YAl5O12:Nd; composite rod; composite solid-state laser rods; diode-end-pumped composite Nd:YVO₄ rod; diode-end-pumped geometry; end-pumped composite laser rods; high-power operation; maximum CW output power; noncomposite crystal; noncomposite rod; peak temperature rise; thermal stress; undoped end; Diodes; Geometrical optics; Laser beams; Laser excitation; Power generation; Power lasers; Pump lasers; Solid lasers; Thermal lensing; Thermal stresses;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1077-260X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/2944.585807

Filename

585807