Novel adaptive resonators and thermal lensing

Thomas Graf; Heinz P. Weber

doi:10.1117/12.420945

23 March 2001 Novel adaptive resonators and thermal lensing

Thomas Graf, Heinz P. Weber

Proceedings Volume 4350, Laser Optics 2000: Solid State Lasers; (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.420945
Event: Laser Optics 2000, 2000, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

Abstract

We present different approaches to improve the beam quality of solid-state lasers. The original dual- or variable- configuration resonator was improved to emit completely polarized output. This was achieved by enforcing unidirectional operation due to the polarization dependence of the thermal lenses and of the gain in Nd:YVo₄ crystals. Single-frequency operation was obtained in a miniaturized version of this resonator based on a polarizing beam splitter made of Nd:YAG. Our transversally pumped high-power lasers feature output powers exceeding 600W. In order to compensate for the power dependent thermal lenses we investigate the use of self-adaptive compensating thermo- optical elements which generate thermally induced lenses with the opposite sign as the lense in the gain medium. Furthermore, to speed up the optimization processes we have derived a general analytical solution of the heat conduction equation for arbitrary heating distributions with cylindrical symmetry.

Citation Download Citation

Thomas Graf and Heinz P. Weber "Novel adaptive resonators and thermal lensing", Proc. SPIE 4350, Laser Optics 2000: Solid State Lasers, (23 March 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.420945

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