Solid-state laser resonators with diffractive optic thermal aberration correction

Author

Makki, Siamak ; Leger, James

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Minnesota Univ., Minneapolis, MN, USA

Volume

35

Issue

7

fYear

1999

fDate

7/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1075

Lastpage

1085

Abstract

A solid-state laser cavity is studied where the laser crystal aberrations are corrected by a diffractive optic element. The type of aberration and the location of the correction plate are found to significantly influence the modal performance of the cavity. The largest modal discrimination is obtained for axicon-like crystal aberrations and when the correction is performed close to the end mirror. An experiment is performed with a laser diode-pumped Nd:YVO₄ laser. With no correction, a thermal aberration of approximately two waves is measured across the crystal. By using a diffractive corrector plate, the single-mode slope efficiency is increased by a factor of 4, and the total single-mode output power is increased by a factor of 3

Keywords

aberrations; diffractive optical elements; laser cavity resonators; laser mirrors; laser modes; neodymium; optical pumping; solid lasers; thermo-optical effects; yttrium compounds; YVO₄:Nd; aberration; axicon-like crystal aberrations; correction plate location; diffractive corrector plate; diffractive optic thermal aberration correction; diffractive optical elements; end mirror; largest modal discrimination; laser crystal aberrations; laser diode-pumped Nd:YVO₄ laser; modal performance; single-mode output power; single-mode slope efficiency; solid-state laser cavity; solid-state laser resonators; thermal aberration; Electronic packaging thermal management; Laser excitation; Optical diffraction; Optical distortion; Optical materials; Optical pumping; Optical refraction; Optical resonators; Pump lasers; Solid lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.772179

Filename

772179