Improvements in monoblock performance using external reflector

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

doi:10.1117/12.906378

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6 February 2012 Improvements in monoblock performance using external reflector

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

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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.

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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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