End-Pumped ND:BEL Laser Performance

Richard Scheps; Joseph Myers; E. J. Schimitschek; D. F. Heller

doi:10.1117/12.7976769

1 September 1988 End-Pumped ND:BEL Laser Performance

Richard Scheps, Joseph Myers, E. J. Schimitschek, D. F. Heller

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 27, Issue 9, 279830 (September 1988). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.7976769

Abstract

Performance data for a cw Nd:BEL laser end pumped by two 500 mW laser diode arrays are presented and compared with the performance data for a Nd:YAG laser in a similar configuration. The phased arrays used as the pump source are cooled by a temperature-controlled heat sink to permit wavelength tunability. Although the absorption band-width for Nd:BEL is substantially broader than for Nd:YAG, the Nd:BEL was found to have a higher threshold for lasing. Both rods gave slope efficiencies of 42%. The dependence of the output power on output mirror reflectivity was measured, with Nd:BEL showing a greater sensitivity to reflectivity than Nd:YAG. The optimum reflectivities were found to be 0.98 for Nd:BEL and 0.97 for Nd:YAG. The maximum TEM00 cw power achieved for each rod at these reflectivities was 250 mW for Nd:BEL and 283 mW for Nd:YAG. The observed electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency was factored into a product of analytic component terms, and excellent agreement was found between observed and calculated efficiencies. It is concluded that under the conditions used in this work, both BEL and YAG hosts perform comparably. The conditions under which BEL might out-perform YAG as a host for diode-pumped Nd are discussed.

Citation Download Citation

Richard Scheps, Joseph Myers, E. J. Schimitschek, and D. F. Heller "End-Pumped ND:BEL Laser Performance," Optical Engineering 27(9), 279830 (1 September 1988). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.7976769

Published: 1 September 1988

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