Conceptual design of the Kumgang laser: a high-power coherent beam combination laser using SC-SBS-PCMs towards a Dream laser

Abstract

In this review paper, we introduce a self-phase controlled stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugate mirror (SC-SBS-PCM) and the Kumgang laser. The SC-SBS-PCM was proposed and demonstrated its success at the academic low power level, ∼100 mJ@10 Hz. The Kumgang laser is under development to verify whether the SC-SBS-PCM is operable at the kW level. It is a 4 kW beam combination laser combining four 1 kW beams using the SC-SBS-PCM. If the Kumgang laser functions successfully, it will be the most important step towards a Dream laser, a hypothetical laser with unlimited power and a high repetition rate.

Output characteristics of high-power stimulated Brillouin scattering pulse compression enhanced by thermal effects based on HT270

“…The signal waveform was recorded by a digital oscilloscope with a bandwidth of 3 GHz. The light source used for high-repetition rate SBS pulse compression was a Kumgang laser system with a tunable repetition rate [31]. The laser system included a kilohertz-level main oscillator seed source, an Nd:YAG regenerative amplifier, and a pre-amplifier.…”

Analysis of the beam-pointing stability in the high power laser system

“…This laser system is ideally suited for a wide variety of high-energy-density scientific experiments, including laser-induced damage mechanism for UV optics research [20][21][22], stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) [23][24][25][26][27] and stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) [28,29]. To obtain one beam with an aperture of 60-mm-diameter, the whole size of the laser system is designed to be about 7 m length, 2 m height and 1.5 m width.…”

Developments of Picosecond Lasers Based on Stimulated Brillouin Scattering Pulse Compression

“…Compared with nonlinear crystals for optical parametric amplification (OPA), SBS media, usually are liquids, can provide a much higher limitation on the power loading. Therefore, energy of up to tens of joules can be obtained through the "beam splitting-amplification-beam combination" method [29][30][31]. Additionally, optical limiters, a technique for transmitting a low-intensity beam, made by SBS technology have also been widely used in high-power lasers, which can effectively protect optical elements and improve the stability of the laser system [32,33].…”