Energy scaling of phase-conjugate solid state lasers (Invited Paper)

David A. Rockwell; Metin S. Mangir; John J. Ottusch

doi:10.1117/12.60145

1 June 1992 Energy scaling of phase-conjugate solid-state lasers

David A. Rockwell, Metin S. Mangir, John J. Ottusch

Proceedings Volume 1627, Solid State Lasers III; (1992) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.60145
Event: OE/LASE '92, 1992, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

Phase conjugation offers a practical, realistic approach for scaling solid-state lasers to high energies and high peak powers with a minimum increase in complexity. The present approach involves coherently combining the outputs of multiple parallel amplifiers in a single phase-conjugate oscillator-amplifier configuration. The use of phase conjugation can eliminate phase distortions that would otherwise result from individual amplifiers having optical lengths that differ from one another by many optical wavelengths. The laser output energy can be scaled well beyond the limits imposed by traditional volume constraints of crystalline media. Hence, instead of selecting a laser medium based solely on the available sizes, a laser system designer can base the medium selection on tradeoffs among many other important material parameters. Since an increase in output energy also requires an increase in the energy incident on the PCM, the energy scalability of PCMs based on SBS has been actively investigated over the past decade. These investigations have shown that, while practical single-cell PCMs offer somewhat limited energy scaling potential, a series combination of two Brillouin cells can accommodate energies of several tens of joules. We summarize our effort in developing such a dual-cell PCM that has achieved excellent performance at energies approaching 5 J and is scalable to even higher energies.

Citation Download Citation

David A. Rockwell, Metin S. Mangir, and John J. Ottusch "Energy scaling of phase-conjugate solid-state lasers", Proc. SPIE 1627, Solid State Lasers III, (1 June 1992); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.60145

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available