Gain squaring in a Cr:Nd:GSGG active-mirror amplifier using a cholesteric liquid crystal mirror

Author

Lee, Jae-Cheul ; Kelly, John H. ; Smith, David L. ; Jacobs, Stephen D.

Author_Institution

Lab. for Laser Energetics, Rochester Univ., NY, USA

Volume

24

Issue

11

fYear

1988

fDate

11/1/1988 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2238

Lastpage

2242

Abstract

The small-signal gain of a Cr:Nd:GSGG active-mirror amplifier has been squared using a passive, 10-μm-thick, cholesteric liquid-crystal selective reflection mirror. This double/double-pass configuration was easy to align and solved difficulties, such as polarization leakage and back-reflection coupling, which had plagued previous multipass schemes. The mechanism for this gain squaring is explained in terms of the optical properties of cholesteric liquid crystals

Keywords

cholesteric liquid crystals; chromium; gadolinium compounds; garnets; liquid crystal devices; mirrors; neodymium; scandium compounds; solid lasers; 10 micron; GdScGG:Nd,Cr; GdScGa5O12:Nd,Cr; Nd, Cr:GdScGa₅O₁₂ laser; active-mirror amplifier; back-reflection coupling; cholesteric liquid crystal mirror; gain squaring; polarization leakage; selective reflection mirror; small-signal gain; Chromium; Laser fusion; Liquid crystals; Mirrors; Neodymium; Optical amplifiers; Optical polarization; Optical reflection; Optical sensors; Stimulated emission;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.8566

Filename

8566