A compact and simple laser has been developed to generate 5 mJ of energy and < 7ns pulses at 532 nm. A pump cavity has been uniquely designed to directly couple diode light to the laser crystal, thereby eliminating the need for mounting the diodes on sub-mounts and using a fast-axis collimating lens. An Nd:YAG crystal is side pumped by diode bars and the laser components are designed in order to extract the largest fundamental mode for better beam quality. The laser is passively q-switched by a Cr:YAG crystal. A type II KTP crystal is used to generate 532-nm wavelength.
We have built a small passively Q-switched solid-state laser with a volume of < 8 cm3 and a weight of < 20 g. The laser is passively Q-switched using a Cr4+ :YAG saturable absorber to generate pulses < 2 ns. The architecture is applied to different laser crystals such as Nd:YLF and Nd:YVO4 that produced 2 mJ at 20 Hz and 0.3 mJ at 10 kHz, respectively. The laser is side-pumped by single or stacked diode bars using a unique pump cavity to homogenize the pump intensity in the laser rod as well as make the structure alignment insensitive when subjected to shock, vibration, and thermal cycling. The laser components can easily be modified to change the output wavelength to green, UV, or mid IR.
Q-Peak has demonstrated a novel pulsed eyesafe laser architecture operating with >50 mJ pulse energies at Pulse Repetition Frequencies (PRFs) as high as 320 Hz. The design leverages an Optical Parametric Oscillator (OPO) and Optical Parametric Amplifier (OPA) geometry, which provides the unique capability for high power in a comparatively compact package, while also offering the potential for additional eyesafe power scaling. The laser consists of a Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Q-switched front-end seed laser to produce pulse-widths around 10 ns at 1.06-μm, which is then followed by a pair of Multi-Pass Amplifier (MPA) architectures (comprised of side-pumped, multi-pass Nd:YAG slabs with a compact diode-pump-array imaging system), and finally involving two sequential nonlinear optical conversion architectures for transfer into the eyesafe regime. The initial seed beam is first amplified through the MPA, and then split into parallel optical paths. An OPO provides effective nonlinear conversion on one optical path, while a second MPA further amplifies the 1.06-μm beam for use in pumping an OPA on the second optical path. These paths are then recombined prior to seeding the OPA. Each nonlinear conversion subsystem utilizes Potassium Titanyl Arsenate (KTA) for effective nonlinear conversion with lower risk to optical damage. This laser architecture efficiently produces pulse energies of >50 mJ in the eyesafe band at PRFs as high as 320 Hz, and has been designed to fit within a volume of 4,500 in3 (0.074 m3 ). We will discuss theoretical and experimental details of the nonlinear optical system for achieving higher eyesafe powers.
A compact laser producing green wavelength with a volume of <; 8 cm3 and a weight of < 80 g finds its application in many fields from military to space based. We built a small solid-state laser that produces 1 mJ of energy per-pulse at a 1 - 20 Hz repetition rate. The laser is passively Q-switched using a Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber to generate pulses <10 ns. A nonlinear crystal doubles the frequency to generate light at 523 nm. The laser is side-pumped by a single bar diode laser using a unique pump cavity to homogenize the pump intensity in the laser rod. The laser components can easily be modified to change the output wavelength from UV to mid IR.
A compact laser with a volume of < 8 cm3 and a weight of < 80 g finds its application in many fields from military to space based. We built a small solid-state laser that produces 1 mJ of energy per-pulse at a 1 - 20 Hz repetition rate. The laser is passively Q-switched using a Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber to generate pulses < 10 ns. A nonlinear crystal doubles the frequency to generate light at 523 nm. The laser is side-pumped by a single bar diode laser using a unique pump cavity to homogenize the pump intensity in the laser rod. The laser components can easily be modified to change the output wavelength from UV to mid IR.
Using a side-pumping geometry, we obtained 400 W of cw power with 56% optical-to-optical efficiency from a
cryogenically-cooled, Yb:YAG laser. In Q-switched operation, we obtained 200 W with a near diffraction limited beam.
We report on several developments in solid state lasers and nonlinear optics specifically for applications in remote sensing. In the area of UV sources for ozone monitoring, we have developed an efficient, third-harmonic, tunable Ti:sapphire-laser-based source. For long-range, eyesafe detection of aerosols, we report a high-energy optical parametric oscillator (OPO) driven by a flashlamp-pumped, Q-switched Nd:YLF laser. Finally, for mid-infrared DIAL, we have developed a Tandem-OPO that converts a common Nd-doped laser into a tunable source capable of providing wavelengths in the range 1500-5500 nm and 8000-12000 nm.
A compact and efficient laser source is required as an enabling technology for laser projection displays. We discuss a scalable green-pumped, non-critically phase- matched LBO optical parametric oscillator (OPO) which simultaneously generates red and blue wavelengths that are ideal for display applications. Pumping the OPO with 9.7 W of 523 nm green light from a frequency-doubled, diode-pumped Nd:YLF oscillator/amplifier laser system has resulted in a measured 4.0 W of 896 nm signal power and an estimated idler power of 2.8 W. The signal was extra-cavity frequency doubled to produce 1.10 W of blue light at 448 nm. Intra- cavity frequency doubling of the idler produced 1.95 W of red light at 628 nm.
A compact and efficient laser source is required as an enabling technology for laser projection displays. We discuss a scalable green-pumped, non-critically phase-matched LBO optical parametric oscillator (OPO) which simultaneously generates red and blue wavelengths that are ideal for display applications. Pumping the OPO with 9.6 W of 523 nm green light from a frequency-doubled, diode-pumped Nd:YLF oscillator/amplifier laser system has resulted in a measured 3.6 W of 896 nm signal power and an estimated idler power of 2.6 W. The signal was extra-cavity frequency doubled to produce 0.65 W of blue light at 448 nm. Intra-cavity frequency doubling of the idler produced 1.66 W of red light at 628 nm.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
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.