50W CW output power and 12mJ pulses from a quasi-2-level Yb:YAG ceramic rod laser end-pumped at the 969nm zero-phonon line

Christian Fries; Marco Weitz; Christian Theobald; Patric v. Löwis of Menar; Jürgen Bartschke; Johannes A. L'huillier

doi:10.1117/12.2079401

20 February 2015 50W CW output power and 12mJ pulses from a quasi-2-level Yb:YAG ceramic rod laser end-pumped at the 969nm zero-phonon line

Christian Fries, Marco Weitz, Christian Theobald, Patric v. Löwis of Menar, Jürgen Bartschke, Johannes A. L'huillier

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9342, Solid State Lasers XXIV: Technology and Devices; 93421O (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2079401
Event: SPIE LASE, 2015, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

With the advent of high power and narrow bandwidth 969 nm pump diodes, direct pumping into the upper laser level of Yb:YAG and hence quasi-2-level lasers became possible. Pumping directly into the emitting level leads to higher quantum efficiency and reduction of non-radiative decay. Consequently, thermal load, thermal lensing and risk of fracture are reduced significantly. Moreover pump saturation and thermal population of uninvolved energy-levels in ground and excited states are benefical for a homogenous distribution of the pump beam as well as the reduction of reabsorption loss compared to 3-level systems, which allows for high-power DPSS lasers. Beside continuous-wave (cw) operation, nanosecond pulses with a repetition rate between 1 and 5 kHz are an attractive alternative to flashlamp-pumped systems (10-100 Hz) in various measurement applications that require higher data acquisition rates because of new faster detectors. Based on measurements of the absorption and a detailed numerical model for pump beam distribution, including beam propagation and saturation factors, power-scaling of a ceramic rod Yb:YAG oscillator was possible. Finally a cw output power of 50 W with 33 % pump efficiency at 1030 nm has been demonstrated (M² < 1.2). Nanosecond pulses have been produced by cavity-dumping of this system. The cavity-dumped setup allowed for 3-10 ns pulses with a pulse energy of 12.5 mJ at 1 kHz (M² < 1.1). In order to achieve these results a systematic experimental and numerical investigation on gain dynamics and the identification of different stable operating regimes has been carried out.

Citation Download Citation

Christian Fries, Marco Weitz, Christian Theobald, Patric v. Löwis of Menar, Jürgen Bartschke, and Johannes A. L'huillier "50W CW output power and 12mJ pulses from a quasi-2-level Yb:YAG ceramic rod laser end-pumped at the 969nm zero-phonon line", Proc. SPIE 9342, Solid State Lasers XXIV: Technology and Devices, 93421O (20 February 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2079401

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available

Members: $17.00

Non-members: $21.00 ADD TO CART

PROCEEDINGS
11 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

GET CITATION

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Get copyright permission Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace

KEYWORDS

Absorption

Pulsed laser operation

Ions

Resonators

Commercial off the shelf technology

Ceramics

Oscillators

Show All Keywords

Keywords/Phrases

Search In:

Publication Years