Passively Q-switched Tm:YLF laser generating 15 mJ, 500 kW peak power pulses

Lew Goldberg; Vernon King; Brian Cole; Alan Hays

doi:10.1117/12.2585798

5 March 2021 Passively Q-switched Tm:YLF laser generating 15 mJ, 500 kW peak power pulses

Lew Goldberg, Vernon King, Brian Cole, Alan Hays

Proceedings Volume 11664, Solid State Lasers XXX: Technology and Devices; 116640B (2021) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2585798
Event: SPIE LASE, 2021, Online Only

Abstract

A 1908 nm Tm:YLF laser, passively Q-switched (PQS) using a Cr:ZnS saturable absorber, is shown to generate significantly higher pulse energy and peak power than previously reported. Using a compact 13 cm-long, plano-concave resonator cavity, the end-pumped Tm:YLF laser generated 15.6 mJ, 26ns FWHM pulses, corresponding to a peak power of 600 kW, with a 0.5kHz PRF, and 7.8W average power. A 10 cm-long laser generated 10 mJ, 20 ns long pulses, with a 1 kHz PRF and 10 W average power. A laser utilizing the shortest, 4.5 cm-long cavity, generated 7 ns pulses with a pulse energy of 3.7mJ. All of the laser configurations incorporated a Volume Bragg Grating (VBG) high reflectivity cavity mirror to lock the laser wavelength and polarization. To minimize the energy fluence at Cr:ZnS saturable absorbers (To=88.6% and To=91.6%), they were placed near the concave output coupler where that laser mode field area of the plano-concave laser resonator was at its maximum.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Lew Goldberg, Vernon King, Brian Cole, and Alan Hays "Passively Q-switched Tm:YLF laser generating 15 mJ, 500 kW peak power pulses", Proc. SPIE 11664, Solid State Lasers XXX: Technology and Devices, 116640B (5 March 2021); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2585798

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