Performance of a CW pumped Nd:YVO 4 amplifier with kHz pulses

Until recently, simple and reliable high repetition-rate laser sources with nanosecond pulses much shorter than from conventional A-O Q-switch lasers were not available. However over the past 2 years we have developed such lasers based on proprietary fast E-O switching technology, which allows desig...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics and laser technology 2003-07, Vol.35 (5), p.375-379
Main Authors: Pearce, S, Ireland, C.L.M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Diode pumping
MOPA
Nanosecond pulses
Solid-state laser
YVO 4 amplifier
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Until recently, simple and reliable high repetition-rate laser sources with nanosecond pulses much shorter than from conventional A-O Q-switch lasers were not available. However over the past 2 years we have developed such lasers based on proprietary fast E-O switching technology, which allows designs delivering ∼1 ns pulses and subnanosecond jitter for good synchronisation. The technology provides pulses with multi-kW peak power and repetition-rates to >100 kHz . Most recently, the performance of these short pulse lasers has been developed further by implementing oscillator/amplifier (master oscillator and power amplifier, MOPA) technology which increases the output to >1 W average power. Here we report on a simple model that has been used to predict the performance of the CW pumped Nd:YVO 4 amplifier used in the MOPA laser. The model is based on the well-known expressions for the saturated gain applying to laser pulses, but more usually applied to pulse-excited amplifiers. The model is shown to allow a good interpretation of the amplifier behaviour for kHz pulses and to be a useful tool for predicting the performance of the MOPA laser.
ISSN:0030-3992
1879-2545
DOI:10.1016/S0030-3992(03)00031-8