| Popis: |
Erbium doped YAG, lasing at 1645 nm from a 1532 nm pump, is an intriguing alternative to wavelength shifted 1-micron lasers for eye-safe applications. In this paper, we will report on an end-pumped Er:YAG laser that employs diamond disks for heat extraction. Using an alternating arrangement of diamond and Er:YAG thin disks, heat flows from the gain material to the diamond along the optical axis and is then radially transmitted to a circulating cooling fluid at the perimeter of the diamond disks. This architecture allows larger diameter disks or rods to be used than conventional radial cooling architectures, thus allowing for higher powers through area scaling. This architecture also provides better beam quality for a given pulse energy. We have demonstrated excellent beam quality (M2=1.3) from a 10-Watt Er:YAG laser. We will also report on results of Q-switching and oscillator-amplifier experiments in a study of the well-known up-conversion process for relatively low dopant concentrations (0.5%-1.0% a.w. of Erbium).© (2006) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only. |
