Title :
Efficient totally-passive compact high-repetition-rate picosecond UV source
Author :
Druon, F. ; Balembois, F. ; Georges, P. ; Brun, A.
Author_Institution :
Lab. Charles Fabry de l´Inst. d´Opt., CNRS, Orsay, France
Abstract :
Summary form only given. Our experiment is performed with a passively Q-switched Nd/sup 3+/,Cr/sup 4+/:YAG microchip laser which delivers 500-ps pulses. To optimize the repetition rate, different pump diodes were tried. The optimum is found with a high-brightness cw laser diode which enables us to obtain a very high repetition rate up to 45 kHz with an average power of 37 mW. For the amplifier, we choose a Nd:YVO/sub 4/ crystal which, because of its high emission cross section, gives a good energy extraction. To decrease thermal effects, we use as gain medium a composite crystal comprising 1-mm-long undoped YVO/sub 4/ bonded to 1%-doped 3-mm-long Nd:YVO/sub 4/. With this composite crystal both efficiency and beam profile quality (nearly gaussian) are optimized.
Keywords :
Q-switching; chromium; light sources; neodymium; optical pulse generation; optical pumping; solid lasers; 37 mW; 45 kHz; 500 ps; 500-ps pulses; Nd:YVO/sub 4/ crystal; YAG:Nd,Cr; YAl5O12:Nd,Cr; YVO/sub 4/; YVO/sub 4/:Nd; average power; beam profile quality; composite crystal; emission cross section; energy extraction; gain medium; high-brightness cw laser diode; high-repetition-rate picosecond UV source; passively Q-switched Nd/sup 3+/,Cr/sup 4+/:YAG microchip laser; pump diodes; repetition rate optimization; thermal effects; Absorption; Diodes; Laser excitation; Microchip lasers; Neodymium; Optical pulses; Oscillators; Pulse amplifiers; Pump lasers; Ultraviolet sources;
Conference_Titel :
Lasers and Electro-Optics, 1999. CLEO '99. Summaries of Papers Presented at the Conference on
Conference_Location :
Baltimore, MD, USA
Print_ISBN :
1-55752-595-1
DOI :
10.1109/CLEO.1999.833921
