The development of a 5-cm aperture ceramic Yb:YAG edge-pumped disk laser amplifier

John Vetrovec; David M. Filgas; Drew A. Copeland; Roger R. Thibault; Suraj J. Thiagarajan; Eldridge Briscoe

doi:10.1117/12.2511051

20 March 2019 The development of a 5-cm aperture ceramic Yb:YAG edge-pumped disk laser amplifier

John Vetrovec, David M. Filgas, Drew A. Copeland, Roger R. Thibault, Suraj J. Thiagarajan, Eldridge Briscoe

Proceedings Volume 10898, High Power Lasers for Fusion Research V; 108980J (2019) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2511051
Event: SPIE LASE, 2019, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

We have previously shown that the ceramic Yb:YAG-based edge-pumped disk laser amplifier offers significant advantages over traditional face-pumped disk amplifiers. Such amplifiers may be used in laser drivers for inertial confinement fusion, laser acceleration, and other applications, which require a combination of high-pulse energy and high-average power. Unlike face pumping, the edge-pumping architecture beneficially allows for reduced Yb doping and enables a construction of very simple, compact, and completely modular amplifiers comprising identical and interchangeable gain modules. This paper reports on the development and early testing of a Ø5-cm aperture edge-pumped ceramic Yb:YAG disk amplifier module pumped by 100-kW diodes at up to 20 Hz and cooled by a high-velocity gas flow at near ambient temperature. In early testing, the amplifier module has demonstrated very uniform transverse gain and 37 J of stored energy. A laser oscillator operating in a quasi-cw mode with 1- ms pump pulses produced 43 kW of instantaneous laser power and 31 J of energy at a wavelength of 1029 nm. Experimental results compare well to model predictions.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

John Vetrovec, David M. Filgas, Drew A. Copeland, Roger R. Thibault, Suraj J. Thiagarajan, and Eldridge Briscoe "The development of a 5-cm aperture ceramic Yb:YAG edge-pumped disk laser amplifier", Proc. SPIE 10898, High Power Lasers for Fusion Research V, 108980J (20 March 2019); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2511051

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