High power high beam quality diode-pumped 1319-nm Nd:YAG oscillator-amplifier laser system

This paper demonstrated a high power and high beam quality diode-pumped 1319-nm Nd：YAG master oscillator-power amplifier laser system. A thermally near-unstable resonator with four-rod birefringence compensation fiat-fiat cavity was adopted as the master oscillator. A solid etalon was inserted in the unidirectional ring resonator to compress the laser linewidth. Under a repetition rate of 500 Hz and pulse width of 160 μs, the master oscillator delivers an average output power of 16.8 W at 1319 nm with linear polarisation, beam quality factor M^2=1.16 and linewidth of 3.2 GHz. A double-pass power amplifier with two amplifier stages was employed for higher power scaling and the output power was amplified to be 25.9 W with M^2 = 1.43.

High-Stability High-Energy Picosecond Optical Parametric Chirped Pulse Amplifier as a Preamplifier in Nd：Glass Petawatt System for Contrast Enhancement

We demonstrate a novel picosecond optical parametric preamplification to generate high-stability, high-energy and high-contrast seed pulses. The 5ps seed pulse is amplified from 60pJ to 300μJ with an 8.6ps/ 3mJ pump laser in a signal stage of short pulse non-collinear optical parametric chirped pulse amplification. The total gain is more than 106 and the rms energy stability is under 1.35%. The contrast ratio is higher than 10s within a scale of 20ps before the main pulse. Consequently, the improvement factor of the signal contrast is approximately equal to the gain 106 outside the pump window.

The 5.2 kW Nd：YAG Slab Amplifier Chain Seeded by Nd：YVO4 Innoslab Laser

A high power Nd：YAG end-pumped slab amplifier chain with a Nd：YVO4 innoslab laser as the master oscillator is demonstrated. A chain output power of 5210 W with beam quality of 4 times the diffraction limit is achieved by double-passing the first amplifier stage and single-passing the second stage with an optical efficiency of 29% while working at a frequency of 1kHz and pulse width of 200 μs.

Thermal Stability and Spectroscopic Properties of Yb^3＋ -Doped New Gallium-Lead-Germanate Glass

yb^3＋-doped new gallium-lead-germanate glass is presented. Thermal stability, spectroscopic and laser performance parameters of the yb^3＋-doped new gallium-lead-germanate glass are calculated. The results show that the yb^3＋-doped new gallium-lead-germanate glass has good thermal stability （△T =198℃）, high stimulated emission cross section （0.79pm^2）, and long fluorescence lifetime （1.46ms）. Compared with other Yb^3＋-doped glass hosts, the yb^3＋-doped new gallium-lead-germanate glass has better laser performance parameters and laser properties, indicating that yb^3＋-doped new gallium-lead-germanate glass is a promising laser material for short pulse generation in diode pumped lasers, short pulse generation tunable laser, high-peak power and high-average power lasers.

Effect of thermally induced birefringence on high power picosecond azimuthal polarization Nd:YAG laser system

Pulse-burst 1064-nm picosecond azimuthal polarization beam amplification up to an average power of 16.32 W using side-pumped Nd: YAG amplifiers has been demonstrated. The maximum envelop energy as much as 16.32 mJ, corresponding to a power amplification factor of 299.5%. A simple criterion was defined to help estimate the amount of depolarization in Nd:YAG amplifier stages. The degree of depolarization of the beam was 7.1% and the beam quality was measured to be M2= 3.69. The reason for the azimuthal polarization depolarization and beam quality degradation were explained theoretically and experimentally during the amplification process.

Pump pulse characteristics of quasi-continuous-wave diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG laser

The influence of pumping laser pulse on the property of quasi-continuous-wave(QCW)diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG laser is investigated theoretically and experimentally.Under remaining a fixed duty cycle,the average output power increases,and the corresponding thermal focal length shorten with the increase of the pump pulse duration,which attributes to the decrease of the ratio of pulse buildup time to the pulse duration.At a pump power of 146 W,the laser output power changes from 65.1 W to 81.2 W when the pulse duration is adjusted from 150μs to 1000μs,confirming a significant enhancement of 24.7%.A laser rate equation model incorporating the amplified spontaneous emission is also utilized and numerically solved,and the simulated results agree well with the experimental data.

Laser diode array side-pumped medium-aperture Nd:glass square rod amplifier

A laser diode array side-pumped Nd：glass square rod amplifier of the dimensions 12 mm x 12 mm is designed. The fluorescence is evenly distributed in the Nd：glass amplifier. When the pump power is 66.32 kW, the small signal gain increases by 3.23 times. Under the condition of a 1 Hz repetition frequency, 50 mJ of injected seed- light energy, and a 10 mm × 10 mm aperture, the output energy of the laser beam can reach 1.62 J during the four-pass amplification. The output energy stability of the laser pulse is 2.94% （RMS）, and the square pulse distortion is smaller than 2. The energy amplification of the injected laser beam from millijoules to joules is realized.

掺Nd^(3+)激光材料的研究进展

介绍了掺Nd3+激光离子晶体、陶瓷、玻璃和微晶玻璃材料的研究现状,比较了各种掺Nd3+激光材料的性能,分析了不同的掺Nd3+激光材料的各自用途,评述了有代表性的掺Nd3+激光材料的光谱和激光特性,讨论了掺Nd3+激光材料研究和应用方面的发展趋势。

二极管泵浦Nd:YAG棒双通放大器技术

二极管泵浦Nd:YAG棒双通放大器采用两个峰值功率6.5 kW激光泵浦模块作为泵浦源。每个激光泵浦模块由81个二极管激光器组成,Nd:YAG棒直径为6 mm,Nd掺杂质量分数1%。在两个封装方式和结构一致的激光泵浦模块之间采用光学像传递和插入90°石英旋转片进行退偏补偿。在重复频率400Hz,谐振腔输出单脉冲能量6 mJ时,双通输出400 mJ,激光器光光转换效率为12.3%,光束质量4.6,脉宽15ns。

用于惯性约束核聚变激光驱动器的激光二极管抽运Nd,Y:CaF_2激光放大器的实验研究

对Nd,Y:CaF_2晶体作为激光放大器的增益介质进行了报道.研制了一台采用激光二极管面阵五向水平侧面抽运Ф5 mm×70 mm Nd,Y:CaF_2的激光放大器,对其进行了实验研究.测量了Nd,Y:CaF_2晶体的吸收谱、发射谱、以及放大器的荧光分布.在相同的抽运功率下,测量了Nd,Y:CaF_2与Nd:Glass放大器分别工作在10 Hz和1 Hz重复频率时的小信号增益,在抽运功率为9.63 kW时,Nd,Y:CaF_2放大器的小信号增益达6.12,为Nd:Glass的1.5倍.与Nd:Glass相比,Nd,Y:CaF_2晶体的重复工作频率不仅大大提高,而且增益性能也更强.测量了种子光和经Nd,Y:CaF_2放大器后的光谱,能量放大前后光谱几乎无变化.

激光二极管端面泵浦Nd∶YVO4混合腔板条激光放大器

选用光束质量接近衍射极限的种子激光器作为主振荡级激光器的功率放大系统可以同时获得较高的输出功率和良好的光束质量。由于板条晶体的特有尺寸,使得种子激光可以多次通过板条晶体,因此有利于实现高提取效率的激光放大器。Nd∶YVO4晶体因为具有比Nd∶YAG更大的受激发射截面和吸收截面、更宽的吸收谱线、输出偏振光等,因而在放大器中应用较多。本文采用侧泵Nd∶YAG棒激光器作为LD端面泵浦Nd∶YVO4混合腔板条激光放大器的种子激光器,种子激光通过整形后,往返3次通过激光晶体实现了功率的放大。实验中在泵浦功率140.9 W,种子功率3.2 W,重复频率20 kHz时,获得了29.5 W的激光输出,提取效率为21.2%,斜效率为35%。

掺Nd^(3+)硼硅酸盐玻璃的非线性光学特性

在调Q纳秒Nd:YAG强激光脉冲下,使用闭孔Z-扫描技术研究了硼硅酸盐基质玻璃及其掺Nd3+玻璃的三阶光学非线性特性。发现基质玻璃具有正的三阶非线性折射系数和非线性吸收系数,属于自聚焦反饱和吸收型的光学介质;而随着Nd3+的掺入,该硼硅酸盐玻璃的三阶非线性折射和吸收系数较基质玻璃有明显的增大,远高于一个量级。用开孔Z-扫描实验与光限幅实验进一步验证了掺Nd3+玻璃具有较高的三阶非线性吸收系数,表明Nd3+的掺入提高了硼硅酸盐玻璃在532 nm处的激光防护性能。

激光二极管侧面泵浦的Nd∶YAG激光放大器

研制了一台激光二极管面阵三向侧面泵浦Φ3 mm×55 mm Nd∶YAG的激光放大器。使用Zemax光学设计软件建立了激光二极管面阵三向对称侧面泵浦棒状Nd∶YAG的模型,给出了放大器的储能和小信号增益的数学表达式,并进行了实验研究。结果表明:激光放大器有着均匀的荧光分布,当重复频率为100 Hz,泵浦功率为1.8 k W时,Nd∶YAG放大器的小信号增益为23。

高效率多程折叠Nd∶YVO_4激光放大器

采用具有近共焦、非稳腔特点的多程折叠光路结构,使激光光束多次通过增益介质,实现了高提取效率的激光放大器。实验中在注入22W种子激光的条件下,以43.9%的提取效率得到了63W的激光输出,斜效率超过52%,激光放大器的输出光束质量从种子激光的M2X=2.08,M2Y=1.92变为M2X=2.84,M2Y=1.79。

Nd∶YLF激光放大器实验研究

描述了LD阵列侧面泵浦Nd∶YLF激光放大器的实验研究,采用LD阵列紧密围绕棒状Nd∶YLF直接泵浦,这种结构不但提高泵浦光利用率,而且具有很好的泵浦均匀性。该激光放大器的口径为3mm,在1053nm小信号增益为2.84。

无水冷LD侧面泵浦Nd∶YAG固体激光放大器

通过对行波放大器储能及小信号增益进行理论计算,模拟出输出激光特性,即随着放大器泵浦电流的增加,放大器增益介质内储存能量和小信号增益系数快速增长,提取效率达到76%以上.输出能量随放大器泵浦电流的增加,呈线性增长趋势,在泵浦电流为80A时,输出光能量逐渐饱和,最大输出能量为798mJ.实验中,放大器入射光源采用脉冲能量为350mJ、重复频率为10Hz、脉宽为10ns的脉冲激光,放大器中的Nd∶YAG晶体棒尺寸为Φ7.5mm×134mm,Nd^(3+)的掺杂浓度为1.1%,泵浦功率最大24kW,使用三个最大功率为66 W的半导体制冷器进行半导体热电制冷,在重复频率为10Hz,泵浦电流为80A,泵浦脉冲宽度为200μs时,获得了最大脉冲能量为700mJ、脉冲宽度为10ns的激光输出,通过光束质量诊断仪M-200S测得输出光束在水平和垂直两个方向的光束质量分别是7.9和12.4.

1.5 J high-beam-quality Nd:LuAG ceramic active mirror laser amplifier

A 1.5 J Nd:LuAG ceramic active mirror laser amplifier with a high beam quality is demonstrated in which a 0.8%(atomic fraction)Nd-doped Nd:LuAG ceramic disk with a diameter of 64 mm and a thickness of 5.5 mm is used as a laser gain medium.A maximum single-pass small-signal gain of 2.59 is measured when the pump energy is 11.5 J,with an injected seed energy of 0.4 J;a maximum output energy of 1.5 J is obtained at the repetition rate of 10 Hz.A far-field beam spot 1.25 times the diffraction limit(DL)is achieved by using a stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugation mirror(SBS-PCM)for wavefront correction.

High-beam-quality, 5.4 J, 5 Hz diode-pumped Nd:YAG active mirror laser amplifier

A high-beam-quality diode-pumped neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet(Nd:YAG) active mirror laser amplifier was demonstrated. The size of the Nd:YAG crystal was 48 mm × 42 mm × 11 mm with 0.6 at.% Nd doped. When the pump energy was 26.8 J and the input energy was 0.3 J, the output pulse energy reached 5.4 J, and the pulse width of 11.3 ns at a 5 Hz repetition rate was obtained for the two gain modules in three-pass amplification, with corresponding optical-to-optical efficiency of 21.2%. The beam quality was measured as M_x^2=2.48 and M_y^2=2.43 in horizontal and vertical directions, respectively.

Nd^(3+)/Yb^(3+)共掺磷酸盐玻璃光纤的发光与激光特性研究

以970 nm和808 nm半导体激光器作为抽运源,从光纤长度和抽运功率两个方面,探讨了Nd^(3+)/Yb^(3+)摩尔浓度比约为4:1的共掺磷酸盐玻璃光纤的发光与激光特性.在970 nm抽运下,光纤光谱以Yb^(3+)离子的发光为主,但Yb^(3+)→Nd^(3+)能量传递会对光纤光谱(激光和受激放大自发辐射)产生调制作用,调制作用随970 nm抽运功率或光纤长度的增加而显著,甚至出现显著的双波长激光现象.尽管玻璃样品中Nd^(3+)→Yb^(3+)的能量传递效率ηNd→Yb高达64%,但在808 nm抽运下,激光峰始终在1053 nm附近产生,且与808 nm抽运功率大小和光纤长度无关.为解释这一现象,推导了考虑Nd^(3+)离子受激辐射的能量传递模型.从理论模型来看,Nd^(3+)→Yb^(3+)能量传递作用随Nd^(3+)离子受激辐射信号光强度的增加而迅速减弱,这与该光纤实际测试的荧光光谱随808 nm抽运功率的变化规律相符合.因此,当采用Nd^(3+)离子来敏化Yb^(3+)离子时,需要考虑Nd^(3+)离子的受激辐射对Nd^(3+)→Yb^(3+)能量传递的抑制作用.

飞秒激光在掺Nd^(3+)光热敏折变玻璃中写入光波导

利用中心波长1 028nm、重复频率50kHz、脉冲宽度220fs的超短脉冲激光在掺Nd^(3+)光热敏折变玻璃中刻写双线型和压低包层管状波导.研究了激光功率、波导双线间距、管状波导直径对近场模式的影响,得到了两组导光模式较优的波导.利用波导的近场模式强度分布重构了其折射率分布图,得到两类波导最大的折射率增加量分别为+7.0×10^(-4)和+5.5×10^(-4).利用散射法测得双线型波导的传输损耗为1.29dB/cm;通过测量插入损耗得到压低包层管状波导的传输损耗小于1.95dB/cm.利用飞秒激光在掺Nd^(3+)光热敏折变玻璃中直接写入光波导,在集成光学器件上具有广阔的应用前景.