Title :
Demonstration of a radiatively cooled laser
Author :
Bowman, S.R. ; Jenkins, N.W. ; Feldman, B. ; O´Connor, S.
Author_Institution :
Naval Res. Lab., Washington, DC, USA
Abstract :
Summary form only given. We have developed a new optical pumping technique that minimizes the thermal loading in a solid-state laser system. This technique incorporates optical cooling directly into a laser medium. Lasing conditions were studied in which the waste heat required by stimulated emission is offset by cooling from anti-Stokes spontaneous emission. We call this condition a radiation balanced laser. Under ideal conditions, the heat load within the lasing medium can be completely eliminated. Perturbation analysis of the RBL condition reveals that thermal loads in the range of 5 W/cm/sup 3/ should be obtainable in scalable solid-state laser designs such as for Yb:KGd(WO/sub 4/)/sub 2/ lasers.
Keywords :
cooling; optical pumping; perturbation theory; potassium compounds; solid lasers; ytterbium; KGd(WO/sub 4/)/sub 2/:Yb; Yb:KGd(WO/sub 4/)/sub 2/ laser; anti-Stokes spontaneous emission; heat load; lasing conditions; lasing medium; optical cooling; optical pumping technique; radiation balanced laser; radiatively cooled laser; scalable solid-state laser designs; solid-state laser system; stimulated emission; thermal loading; waste heat; Chemical lasers; Indium phosphide; Laser modes; Optical pumping; Pump lasers; Quantum cascade lasers; Quantum well lasers; Slabs; Temperature; Waveguide lasers;
Conference_Titel :
Lasers and Electro-Optics, 2002. CLEO '02. Technical Digest. Summaries of Papers Presented at the
Conference_Location :
Long Beach, CA, USA
Print_ISBN :
1-55752-706-7
DOI :
10.1109/CLEO.2002.1033589
