Pushing the boundaries of diode-pumped solid-state lasers for high-energy applications

We report on the successful demonstration of a 150 J nanosecond pulsed cryogenic gas cooled,diode-pumped multi-slab Yb:YAG laser operating at 1 Hz.To the best of our knowledge,this is the highest energy ever recorded for a diodepumped laser system.

Quantitative analysis of C, Si, Mn, Ni, Cr and Cu in low-alloy steel under ambient conditions via laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

A diode-pumped solid-state laser （DPSSL） with a high energetic stability and long service life is applied to ablate the steel samples instead of traditional Nd：YAG laser pumped by a xenon lamp, and several factors, such as laser pulse energy, repetition rate and argon flow rate, that influence laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy （LIBS） analytical performance are investigated in detail. Under the optimal experiment conditions, the relative standard deviations for C, Si, Mn, Ni, Cr and Cu are 3.3%-8.9%, 0.9%-2.8%, 1.2%-4.1%, 1.7%-3.0%, 1.1%-3.4% and 2.5%-8.5%, respectively, with the corresponding relative errors of 1.1%-7.9%, 1.0%-6.3%, 0.4%-3.9%, 1.5%-6.3%, 1.2%-4.0% and 1.2%-6.4%. Compared with the results of the traditional spark discharge optical emission spectrometry technique, the analytical performance of LIBS is just a little inferior due to the less stable laser-induced plasma and smaller amount of ablated sample by the laser. However, the precision, detection limits and accuracy of LIBS obtained in our present work were sufficient to meet the requirements for process analysis. These technical performances of higher stability of output energy and longer service life for DPSSL, in comparison to the Q-switch laser pumped by xeon lamp, qualify it well for the real time online analysis for different industrial applications.

Passively mode-locked Nd：GdVO4 laser at 912nm

This paper demonstrates the passively mode-locked Nd：GdVO4 laser operating on the ^4F3/2-^4I9/2 transition at 912 nm by using a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror for passive mode locking, stable continuous wave modelocked 912nm laser was achieved with a repetition rate of 176 MHz. At the incident pump power of 17.7W, 22.6mW average output power of stable mode-locked laser was obtained with a slope efficiency of 0.3%.

Judd-Ofelt analysis of spectra and experimental evaluation of laser performance of Tm^(3+) doped Lu_2SiO_5 crystal

This paper reports that the Tm^3＋：Lu2SiO5 （Tm：LSO） crystal is grown by Czochralski technique. The roomtemperature absorption spectra of Tm：LSO crystal are measured on a b-cut sample with 4 at.% thulium. According to the obtained Judd-Ofelt intensity parameters Ω2=9.3155×10^-20 cm^2, Ω4=8.4103×10^-20 cm^2, Ω6=1.5908×10^-20 cm^2, the fluorescence lifetime is calculated to be 2.03 ms for ^3F4 → ^3H6 transition, and the integrated emission cross section is 5.81×10^-18 cm^2. Room-temperature laser action near 2μm under diode pumping is experimentally evaluated in Tm：LSO. An optical-optical conversion efficiency of 9.1% and a slope efficiency of 16.2% are obtained with continuouswave maximum output power of 0.67 W. The emission wavelengths of Tm：LSO laser are centred around 2.06μm with spectral bandwidth of -13.6 nm.

High-power and high optical conversion efficiency diode-end-pumped laser with multi-segmented Nd：YAG/Nd：YVO-4

A novel flat-flat resonator consisting of two crystals（Nd：YAG ＋ Nd：YVO4） is established for power scaling in a diode-end-pumped solid-state laser. We systematically compare laser characteristics between multi-segmented（Nd：YAG ＋ Nd：YVO4） and conventional composite（Nd：YAG ＋ Nd：YAG） crystals to demonstrate the feasibility of spectral line matching for output power scale-up in end-pumped lasers. A maximum continuous-wave output power of 79.2 W is reported at 1064 nm, with Mx2= 4.82, My2= 5.48, and a pumping power of 136 W in the multi-segmented crystals（Nd：YAG ＋ Nd：YVO4）. Compared to conventional composite crystals（Nd：YAG ＋ Nd：YAG）, the optical-optical conversion efficiency of multi-segmented crystals（Nd：YAG ＋ Nd：YVO4） from 808 nm to 1064 nm is enhanced from 30% to 58.8%,while the laser output sensitivity as affected by the diode-laser temperature is reduced from 55% to 9%.

Power and spectral analyses in diode-pumped c-cut Pbnm Tm:YAP laser

Detailed power and spectral analysis of a diode-pumped c-cut Pbnm 3 at.% Tm-doped yttrium aluminum perovskite(Tm:YAP) laser in a continuous wave(CW) operation is presented. The laser was experimentally examined in terms of the dependence on the transmittance and radius of curvature of the output coupling mirrors.At room temperature, for an output coupling transmission of 10.8%, the maximum output power of 6.35 W was obtained under a total absorbed pump power of 13.67 W with an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 46.5%. The highest slope efficiency of 60.4% was indicated. A detailed spectral analysis was presented. For its dependence on output coupler transmission, the Tm:YAP laser generates wavelengths at approximately 1940 nm or 1990 nm.

Scaling diode-pumped, high energy picosecond lasers to kilowatt average powers

Recent results in the development of diode-driven high energy, high repetition rate, picosecond lasers, including the demonstration of a cryogenic Yb:YAG active mirror amplifier that produces 1.5 J pulses at 500 Hz repetition rate(0.75 kW average power) are reviewed. These pulses are compressed resulting in the generation of ~5 ps duration,1 J pulses with 0.5 kW average power. A full characterization of this high power cryogenic amplifier, including atwavelength interferometry of the active region under >1 kW average power pump conditions, is presented. An initial demonstration of operation at 1 kW average power(1 J, 1 k Hz) is reported.

Watt-level Pr^3+:YLF deep red laser pumped by a fiber-coupled blue LD module or a single-emitter blue LD

A power-scaled laser operation of Pr:YLi F4(YLF)crystal at 720.9 nm pumped by a 443.6 nm laser diode(LD)module was demonstrated.The 20 W module was used to pump the Pr:YLF crystal,and a maximum output power of 3.03 W with slope efficiency of 30.04%was obtained.In addition,a 5 W blue LD was also used to pump the Pr:YLF laser,and a maximum output power of 0.72 W was obtained at room temperature.The output power was limited by the wavelength mismatch between the single-emitter LD and the absorption peak of the crystal.

Development of a 100 J,10 Hz laser for compression experiments at the High Energy Density instrument at the European XFEL

In this paper we review the design and development of a 100 J, 10 Hz nanosecond pulsed laser, codenamed DiPOLE100 X,being built at the Central Laser Facility(CLF). This 1 kW average power diode-pumped solid-state laser(DPSSL) is based on a master oscillator power amplifier(MOPA) design, which includes two cryogenic gas cooled amplifier stages based on DiPOLE multi-slab ceramic Yb:YAG amplifier technology developed at the CLF. The laser will produce pulses between 2 and 15 ns in duration with precise, arbitrarily selectable shapes, at pulse repetition rates up to 10 Hz, allowing real-time shape optimization for compression experiments. Once completed, the laser will be delivered to the European X-ray Free Electron Laser(XFEL) facility in Germany as a UK-funded contribution in kind, where it will be used to study extreme states of matter at the High Energy Density(HED) instrument.

Modeling of the 3D spatio-temporal thermal profile of joule-class Yb3+-based laser amplifiers

Thermal profile modification of an active material in a laser amplifier via optical pumping results in a change in the material’s refractive index,and causes thermal expansion and stress,eventually leading to spatial phase aberrations,or even permanent material damage.For this purpose,knowledge of the 3D spatio-temporal thermal profile,which can currently only be retrieved via numerical simulations,is critical for joule-class laser amplifiers to reveal potentially dangerous thermal features within the pumped active materials.In this investigation,a detailed,spatio-temporal numerical simulation was constructed and tested for accuracy against surface thermal measurements of various endpumped Yb^3+-doped laser-active materials.The measurements and simulations show an excellent agreement and the model was successfully applied to a joule-class Yb3+-based amplifier currently operating in the POLARIS laser system at the Friedrich-Schiller-University and Helmholtz-Institute Jena in Germany.

Ultrashort pulse capability at the L2I high intensity laser facility

The Laboratory for Intense Lasers(L2I) is a research centre in optics and lasers dedicated to experimental research in high intensity laser science and technology and laser plasma interaction. Currently the laboratory is undergoing an upgrade with the goal of increasing the versatility of the laser systems available to the users, as well as increasing the pulse repetition rate. In this paper we review the current status of the laser research and development programme of this facility, namely the upgraded capability and the recent progress towards the installation of an ultrashort, diode-pumped OPCPA laser system.

Comparative LIDT measurements of optical components for high-energy HiLASE lasers

Further advancement of high-energy pulsed lasers requires a parallel development of appropriate optical components.Several different optical components, such as mirrors and antireflection-coated windows, which are essential for the design of Hi LASE high average power lasers were tested. The following paper summarizes results on the measurements of laser-induced damage threshold of such components, and clearly shows their capabilities and limitations for such a demanding application.

Improvements in long-term output energy performance of Nd:glass regenerative amplifiers

Optical damages, which severely degrade the output energy performance of Nd:glass regenerative amplifiers, are discussed in detail in this paper. By a series of experiments, it has been confirmed that these damages result from laser-induced contamination. Based on this work, several improvements are made to boost output energy performance of the regenerative amplifier. The output energy of the regenerative amplifier after improvements declines 4% after 1000 h of operation, much less than it used to, 60% after 560 h of operation.

A high energy nanosecond cryogenic cooled Yb:YAG active-mirror amplifier system

A diode-pumped master oscillator power amplifier system based on a cryogenic Yb:YAG active-mirror laser has been developed.The performances of the laser amplifier at low temperature and room temperature have been investigated theoretically and experimentally.A maximum output energy of 3.05 J with an optical-to-optical efficiency of 14.7% has been achieved by using the master amplifier system.