Improvements in monoblock performance using external reflector

A. D. Hays; John Nettleton; Nick Barr; Nathaniel Hough; Lew Goldberg

doi:10.1117/12.906378

6 February 2012 Improvements in monoblock performance using external reflector

A. D. Hays, John Nettleton, Nick Barr, Nathaniel Hough, Lew Goldberg

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8236, Laser Resonators, Microresonators, and Beam Control XIV; 823613 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.906378
Event: SPIE LASE, 2012, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

During the past few years the Monoblock laser has become the laser-of-choice for Army laser range-finders. It is eyesafe with emission at 1570 nm, high pulse energy, simple construction, and high efficiency when pumped by a laserdiode stack, providing advantages that are not available with other laser types. Although the divergence of the Monoblock output beam is relatively large, it can be reduced to <1 mR using a telescope with a large magnification. This solution, however, is not acceptable for applications where the laser and telescope size must be kept to a minimum. In this paper we present a simple and compact technique for achieving significant reduction in the Monoblock beam divergence using a partial reflector that is placed a short distance from the optical parametric oscillator (OPO). Using an ultra-compact 38 mm Monoblock with a 10 mm long KTP OPO, we achieved a beam divergence of <4 mR, corresponding to a >2.5 X reduction from the unmodified laser. Performance using this technique with various feedback and etalon spacings will be presented. Laser diode array and VCSEL pumping were both investigated with similar results.

Citation Download Citation

A. D. Hays, John Nettleton, Nick Barr, Nathaniel Hough, and Lew Goldberg "Improvements in monoblock performance using external reflector", Proc. SPIE 8236, Laser Resonators, Microresonators, and Beam Control XIV, 823613 (6 February 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.906378

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