Maximizing output power of a low-gain laser system and the effects of a nonhomogeneous gain saturation law

David L. Carroll; Lee H. Sentman

doi:10.1117/12.150603

13 August 1993 Maximizing output power of a low-gain laser system and the effects of a non-homogeneous gain saturation law

David L. Carroll, Lee H. Sentman

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 1868, Laser Resonators and Coherent Optics: Modeling, Technology, and Applications; (1993) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.150603
Event: OE/LASE'93: Optics, Electro-Optics, and Laser Applications in Scienceand Engineering, 1993, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

Rigrod theory was used to model outcoupled power from a low-gain laser with good accuracy. For a low-gain overtone CW HF chemical laser, Rigrod theory shows that a higher medium saturation yields a higher overall overtone efficiency, but does not necessarily yield a higher measureable power (power in the bucket). For low absorption/scattering loss overtone mirrors and a 5 percent penalty in outcoupled power, the intracavity flux and hence the mirror loading may be reduced by more than a factor of two when the gain length is long enough to well saturate the medium. For the UIUC overtone laser which has an extensive data base with well characterized mirrors for which the Rigrod parameters g(0) and I(sat) were firmly established, the accuracy to which the reflectivities of high reflectivity overtone mirrors can be deduced using measured mirror transmissivities, measured outcoupled power and Rigrod theory is approximately +/- 0.07 percent. This method of accurately deducing mirror reflectivities may be applicable to other low-gain laser systems which use high reflectivity mirrors at different wavelengths. The use of a non-homogeneous gain saturation law indicated that a gain saturation law parameter of m = 1.2 models UIUC SSL fundamental data more accurately. A completely inhomogeneous saturation law (m = 2) models UIUC SSL overtone data more accurately than a completely homogeneous gain saturation law.

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David L. Carroll and Lee H. Sentman "Maximizing output power of a low-gain laser system and the effects of a non-homogeneous gain saturation law", Proc. SPIE 1868, Laser Resonators and Coherent Optics: Modeling, Technology, and Applications, (13 August 1993); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.150603

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KEYWORDS

Mirrors

Reflectivity

Solid state lighting

Data modeling

Hydrogen fluoride lasers

Chemical lasers

Continuous wave operation

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