2-kW Average Power CW Phase-Conjugate Solid-State Laser

Author

Zakharenkov, Yuri A. ; Clatterbuck, Todd O. ; Shkunov, Vladimir V. ; Betin, Alexander A. ; Filgas, David M. ; Ostby, Eric P. ; Strohkendl, Friedrich P. ; Rockwell, D.A. ; Baltimore, Robert S.

Author_Institution

Raytheon Space & Airborne Syst., El Segundo

Volume

13

Issue

3

fYear

2007

Firstpage

473

Lastpage

479

Abstract

We have demonstrated stable operation of a 2-kW Yb:YAG phase-conjugate master oscillator power amplifier (PC-MOPA) laser system with a loop phase-conjugate mirror (LPCM). This is the first demonstration of a continuous wave (CW)-input LPCM MOPA operating at a power greater than 1 kW with a nearly diffraction-limited output beam. The single-pass beam quality incident on the LPCM varied with the specific operating conditions, but it was typically _~20 times diffraction-limited (XDL). The measured beam quality with an MOPA output power of 1.65 kW was 1.3 XDL.

Keywords

laser beams; laser mirrors; optical phase conjugation; solid lasers; ytterbium; yttrium compounds; Yb:YAG laser; continuous wave laser; loop phase-conjugate mirror; phase-conjugate master oscillator power amplifier; phase-conjugate solid-state laser; power 1.65 kW; power 2 kW; single-pass beam quality; Diffraction; Laser beams; Laser stability; Mirrors; Operational amplifiers; Oscillators; Power amplifiers; Power lasers; Power measurement; Solid lasers; Beam quality; continuous wave (CW) high-energy laser; laser amplifiers; phase-conjugate mirror (PCM); power in the bucket; solid-state laser;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1077-260X

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JSTQE.2007.896565

Filename

4244471