In this paper we review the current status of and progress towards higher power and more
wavelength diverse diode-pumped solid-state miniature lasers. Snake Creek Lasers now
offers unprecedented continuous wave (CW) output power from 9.0 mm and 5.6 mm TO
type packages, including the smallest green laser in the world, the MicroGreenTM laser,
and the highest density green laser in the world, the MiniGreenTM laser. In addition we
offer an infrared laser, the MiniIRTM, operating at 1064 nm, and have just introduced a
blue Mini laser operating at 473 nm in a 9.0 mm package. Recently we demonstrated
over 1 W of output power at 1064 nm from a 12 mm TO type package, and green output
power from 300-500 mW from the same 12 mm package. In addition, the company is
developing a number of other innovative new miniature CW solid-state lasers operating
at 750 nm, 820 nm, 458 nm, and an eye-safe Q-switched laser operating at 1550 nm. We
also review recently demonstrated combining volume Bragg grating (VBG) technology
has been combined with automatic power control (APC) to produce high power
MiniGreenTM lasers whose output is constant to ± 10 % over a wide temperature range,
without the use of a thermoelectric cooler (TEC). This technology is expected to find
widespread application in military and commercial applications where wide temperature
operation is particularly important. It has immediate applications in laser pointers,
illuminators, and laser flashlights, and displays.
We discuss progress towards a kilowatt class CW Yb:YAG cryogenic laser.
Cryogenically-cooled crystalline solid-state lasers, and Yb:YAG lasers in particular, are
attractive sources of scalable CW output power with very high wallplug efficiency and
excellent beam-quality that is independent of the output power. Results are presented for
a high power Yb:YAG oscillator that has produced over 550 W of output power with
good slope and optical-optical efficiencies while maintaining single transverse mode
output. We also describe a new oscillator-amplifier cryogenic Yb:YAG system nearing
completion, that will build on the work presented here and result in CW power output of
> 1 kW while maintaining near-diffraction-limited beam quality.
The oscillator described here consists of a distributed array of seven highly-doped thin
Yb:YAG-sapphire disks in a folded multiple-Z resonator. Individual disks are pumped
from opposite sides using 100 W fiber-coupled 940 nm pump diodes. The laser system
produces a near-diffraction-limited TEM00 output beam with the aid of an active
conduction-cooling design. In addition, the device can be scaled to very high average
power in an oscillator-amplifier configuration, by increasing the number and diameter of
the thin disks, and by increasing the power of the pump diodes with only minor
modifications to the current design. We will present experimental results including output
power, threshold power, and slope and optical-optical efficiencies.
In this paper we discuss a CW Yb:YAG cryogenic laser program that has resulted in the design and
demonstration of a novel high power laser. Cryogenically-cooled crystalline solid-state lasers, and
Yb:YAG lasers in particular, are attractive sources of scalable CW output power with very high
wallplug efficiency and excellent beam-quality that is independent of the output power. This laser
consists of a distributed array of seven highly-doped thin Yb:YAG-sapphire disks in a folded
multiple-Z resonator. Individual disks are pumped from opposite sides using fiber-coupled ~ 30W
940nm pump diodes. The laser system we have constructed produces a near-diffraction-limited
TEM00 output beam with the aid of an active conduction-cooling design. In addition, the device can
be scaled to very high average power in a MOPA configuration, by increasing the number and
diameter of the thin disks, and by increasing the power of the pump diodes with only minor
modifications to the current design. The thermal and optical benefits of cryogenically-cooled solid-state
lasers will be reviewed, scalability of our Yb:YAG cryogenic laser design will be discussed,
and we will present experimental results including output power, slope and optical-optical
efficiencies, and beam-quality.
In this paper we discuss a CW Yb:YAG cryogenic laser program that has resulted in the
design and demonstration of a novel high power laser. Cryogenically-cooled crystalline
solid-state lasers, and Yb:YAG lasers in particular, are attractive sources of scalable CW
output power with very high wallplug efficiency and excellent beam-quality that is
independent of the output power. This laser consists of a distributed array of seven
highly-doped thin Yb:YAG-sapphire disks in a folded multiple-Z resonator. Individual
disks are pumped from opposite sides using fiber-coupled ~ 30W 940nm pump diodes.
The laser system we have constructed produces a near-diffraction-limited TEM00 output
beam with the aid of an active conduction-cooling design. In addition, the device can be
scaled to very high average power in a MOPA configuration, by increasing the number
and diameter of the thin disks, and by increasing the power of the pump diodes with only
minor modifications to the current design. The thermal and optical benefits of
cryogenically-cooled solid-state lasers will be reviewed, scalability of our Yb:YAG
cryogenic laser design will be discussed, and we will present experimental results including output power, slope and optical-optical efficiencies, and beam-quality.
High power, CW and pulsed alexandrite lasers were produced by pumping the laser rod with a high quality diode pumped 532 nm laser sources. This pumping architecture provides stable performance with output
power > 1.4 W at 767nm in the free running mode and 0.78W at 1000 Hz. An output of 80 mW at 375.5 nm was achieved at 500 Hz. This approach holds promise for the production of a scalable diode-pumped, tunable alexandrite laser systems operating in the near infrared (750 nm), and the ultraviolet (375 and 250 nm) spectral regions.
Initial experiments with pulsed and CW pumping an alexandrite laser rod at 532 nm are presented. This pumping architecture holds promise for the production of scalable diode-pumped, tunable alexandrite laser systems operating in the near infrared (750 nm), and the ultraviolet (375 and 250 nm) spectral regions.
In this paper we discuss the design and performance of high-density microlaser devices we have been developing, including a series of compact Nd:Vanadate lasers operating at 1064 and 532 nm, and miniature green lasers producing 1-100 mW single-transverse-mode output at 532 nm. In particular, our miniature green lasers have been designed and tested in both 9 mm and 5.6 mm industry standard modified TO cans. These packages pave the way for mass production of low cost yet reliable green lasers that may eventually substitute for red diode lasers in many consumer-oriented applications.
A compact line-narrowed 248 nm solid state laser source operating at 15 mJ 100 Hz PRF was demonstrated. Constraints due to thermal loading of components were addressed. Tradeoffs between pulse energy and repetition rate were investigated. A method for overcoming thermal dephasing in the THG material was achieved by scanning a slab shaped crystal.
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