Characteristics and suppression of beam distortion in a high repetition rate nanosecond stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugation mirror

The stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugation mirror (SBS-PCM) based on liquid media is widely used in high-power laser systems due to its robust thermal load capacity, high energy conversion efficiency and improved beam quality. Nevertheless, with an increase in the pump repetition rate, thermally-induced blooming and optical breakdown can emerge, leading to distortions in the Stokes beam. In this study, we delved into the thermal effects in liquid SBS-PCMs employing hydrodynamic analysis, establishing a relationship between beam profile distortion and the thermal convection field. We calculated the temperature and convection velocity distribution based on the pump light parameters and recorded the corresponding beam profiles. The intensities of the beam profiles were modulated in alignment with the convection directions, reaching a velocity peak of 2.85 mm/s at a pump pulse repetition rate of 250 Hz. The residual sum of squares (RSS) was employed to quantify the extent of beam profile distortion relative to a Gaussian distribution. The RSS escalated to 7.8, in contrast to 0.7 of the pump light at a pump pulse repetition rate of 500 Hz. By suppressing thermal convection using a high-viscosity medium, we effectively mitigated beam distortion. The RSS was reduced to 0.7 at a pump pulse repetition rate of 500 Hz, coinciding with a twentyfold increase in viscosity, thereby enhancing the beam quality. By integrating hydrodynamic analysis, we elucidated and mitigated distortion with targeted solutions. Our research offers an interdisciplinary perspective on studying thermal effects and contributes to the application of SBS-PCMs in high-repetition-rate laser systems by unveiling the mechanism of photothermal effects.

Linewidth narrowing in free-space-running diamond Brillouin lasers

This study analyzes the linewidth narrowing characteristics of free-space-running Brillouin lasers and investigates the approaches to achieve linewidth compression and power enhancement simultaneously.The results show that the Stokes linewidth behavior in a free-space-running Brillouin laser cavity is determined by the phase diffusion of the pump and the technical noise of the system.Experimentally,a Stokes light output with a power of 22.5 W and a linewidth of 3.2 kHz was obtained at a coupling mirror reflectivity of 96%,which is nearly 2.5 times compressed compared with the linewidth of the pump(7.36 kHz).In addition,the theorical analysis shows that at a pump power of 60Wand a coupling mirror reflectivity of 96%,a Stokes output with a linewidth of 1.6 kHz and up to 80%optical conversion efficiency can be achieved by reducing the insertion loss of the intracavity.This study provides a promising technical route to achieve high-power ultra-narrow linewidth special wavelength laser radiations.

A 115 ps,100 Hz high-beam-quality laser based on transient stimulated Brillouin scattering pulse compression

This work demonstrates the generation of short pulse duration and high-beam-quality laser pulses using transient stimulated Brillouin scattering at a high repetition rate.Thermal effects and optical breakdown are identified as the main factors that restrict energy reflectivity and beam quality under high repetition rates and transient situations.Through experimental analysis,the interaction length and focal point size are determined to be the key parameters in reducing the thermal effect by reducing the absorption of the laser pulse by the medium.The obtained results show that pulses with a duration of 175 ps and beam quality M^(2)of around 1.2 can be achieved with a maximum energy reflectivity of over 40%under an interaction length of 50 mm.Furthermore,at an interaction length of 90 mm,a pulse output with a minimum duration of 115 ps(0.5τQ)is achieved.