High-energy, high-average-power 1-kHz burst-mode picosecond laser system

Ning Ma; Ce Yang; Meng Chen

doi:10.1117/12.2557662

23 April 2020 High-energy, high-average-power 1-kHz burst-mode picosecond laser system

Ning Ma, Ce Yang, Meng Chen

Proceedings Volume 11410, Laser Radar Technology and Applications XXV; 114100N (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2557662
Event: SPIE Defense + Commercial Sensing, 2020, Online Only

Abstract

We report a high-energy, high-average power burst-mode picosecond laser system, which is designed for space debris laser ranging. Pulses from a Nd : YVO₄mode-locked oscillator are first stretched by a piece of volume Bragg gratings (VBG) and then pass through an improved Michelson interferometer splitting system to obtain burst-mode pulses, which the relative amplitude and time-delay interval of each 4-pulse in bursts can be adjusted and controlled. A regenerative amplifier (RA), as a pre-amplifier, is adopted to decrease the repetition frequency of the seed beam from 80MHz to 1 KHz and raises the energy to millijoule-level. In order to reduce the performance requirement of the damage threshold of subsequent optical components and maximize the extraction of pulse energy, the Gaussian output beam of the RA is converted into a ring shaped pattern beam using an aspheric lenses reshaping system with the conversion efficiency of 93%. After a two-stage master oscillator power amplifier with 4f imaging systems, the pulse envelope energy is up to 100 mJ with the pulse duration of ~100 ps. To obtain high power green light, we compared the conversion efficiency of three crystals. When the fundamental frequency power is 80W, the second harmonic conversion efficiency of the first crystal (LBO, 6×6×10, Θ=90°, Φ=11.4°) is only about 50%, as well as the second (GTR-KTP, 7×7×7, θ=90°, Φ=23.5‡). But the conversion efficiency of the last crystal (LBO, 6×6×15, θ=90°, Φ=0°), reaches 68% and the output power of 532 nm as high as 50 W is obtained.

Citation Download Citation

Ning Ma, Ce Yang, and Meng Chen "High-energy, high-average-power 1-kHz burst-mode picosecond laser system", Proc. SPIE 11410, Laser Radar Technology and Applications XXV, 114100N (23 April 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2557662

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available