LD-pumped gas-cooled multislab Nd:glass laser amplification to joule level

Abstract

We demonstrate a laser diode end-pumped helium gas-cooled multislab Nd:glass laser amplifier. The design and thermal management of the proposed laser amplifier are discussed. The thermally induced wavefront aberration of the slabs was also measured and compared with simulation results. A small-signal single-pass longitudinal gain of 1.8 was measured with a pump energy of 7.3 J. With an injected seed energy of 0.6 mJ, the output energy from the amplifier reached 0.5 J at 0.2 Hz and 0.43 J at 0.5 Hz in a multipass extraction geometry, thus demonstrating the feasibility of diode-pumped, high-energy lasers with direct gas cooling.

Effect of Li2O substitution on structures and properties of Nd3+‐doped Al(PO3)3‐Li2O glasses

“…The line strength of 745 and 801 nm can be calculated by Equations 6 and 7. 45 Obviously, the absorption intensities at 745 and 801 nm increase as Ω 4 and Ω 6 values increase. Table 5, ||U (2) || are null for all transitions from 4 F 3/2 state, therefore Ω 2 cannot affect the luminescent properties, but A rad is positively correlated with constants (||U (4) ||, ||U (6) ||) and Ω 4 , Ω 6 .…”

“…Nd 3+ -doped phosphate glasses have drawn the worldwide attention in high-power laser applications, owing to their low nonlinear refractive index and large stimulated emission cross section. [1][2][3][4] Several commercial phosphate glasses have been widely used in high-repetition-rate laser with large pulse energy, such as HAP4 (Hoya) and APG (Schott). Introduction of Al 2 O 3 and Li 2 O can improve the heat-shock resisting ability and thermal-mechanical properties.…”

“…5,6 Al 2 O 3 -Li 2 O-P 2 O 5 glasses have potential applications in high-repetition-rate laser with large pulse energy, due to their low thermal expansion coefficients and excellent thermal-mechanical properties. 7 In phosphate glasses, the fundamental structural unit is PO 4 tetrahedron, which is defined as Q n unit according to its interconnection. 8 The superscript of Q n nomenclature denotes the number of bridging oxygen atoms (BOs) linked with other P-tetrahedron.…”

Review of special issue on high power facility and technical development at the NLHPLP

“…[8] describe Nd:glass regenerative amplifiers with long-term output energy performance and Huang et al. [9] demonstrate a laser diode end-pumped helium gas-cooled multislab Nd:glass laser amplifier. Huang et al.…”

“…For the key units developed, Zhang et al [8] describe Nd:glass regenerative amplifiers with long-term output energy performance and Huang et al [9] demonstrate a laser diode end-pumped helium gas-cooled multislab Nd:glass laser amplifier. Huang et al [10] report an optically addressed liquid crystal modulator for wavefront control of 1053 nm 2 J. Zhu laser beam, introducing working principle, control method and spatial phase modulation capability.…”