Laser oscillation of Nd-doped silica glass with a high thermal shock parameter for high-average-power laser

In this paper, high-average-power laser media must be operated under strict heating conditions during excitation, laser medium based on silica glass (Nd-doped silica glass:NdSG) is one of the candidate, because it has many favorable thermo-mechanical characters. The mechanical toughness of a laser medium can be evaluated by the thermal shock parameter R_T. It is considered that NdSG can work as a high-average power laser medium, such as an optical booster amplifier for Nd:YAG. Furthermore, since a high-power Nd:YAG laser with an NdSG booster amplifier can also be adapted for excitation of a Ti:Al₂O₃ amplifier or an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification system, it is expected that the realization of a 10-Hz, PW-class table-top laser system will be possible in the future. As the bandwidth of NdSG is wide enough to oscillate and amplify ultra-short pulses, high-average-power laser systems with ultra-short pulses may be also realized.