Title :
Reduction of thermally induced lenses in Nd:YAG with low temperatures
Author :
Glur, Hansjürg ; Lavi, Raphael ; Graf, Thomas
Author_Institution :
Inst. of Appl. Phys., Univ. of Bern, Switzerland
fDate :
5/1/2004 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
At high pump powers, Nd:YAG lasers suffer from thermally induced optical effects such as graded-index lenses, birefringence, and bi-focusing. Due to more favorable material properties at low temperatures, the thermal lenses are significantly reduced by cryogenic cooling. In the present study, we measured the thermal lens in a Nd:YAG rod to be reduced by more than an order of magnitude when cooled with liquid nitrogen.
Keywords :
birefringence; cooling; gradient index optics; lenses; low-temperature techniques; neodymium; nonlinear optics; optical focusing; solid lasers; thermal lensing; Nd:YAG lasers; Nd:YAG rod; YAG:Nd; YAl5O12:Nd; bifocusing; birefringence; cryogenic cooling; graded-index lenses; high pump powers; liquid nitrogen; low temperatures; material properties; thermal lenses; thermally induced lenses; thermally induced optical effects; Birefringence; Cryogenics; Laser excitation; Lenses; Material properties; Optical pumping; Power lasers; Pump lasers; Temperature; Thermal lensing;
Journal_Title :
Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of
DOI :
10.1109/JQE.2004.826448
