Paper
25 March 1996 High-power 2-μm diode-pumped Tm:YAG laser
Raymond J. Beach, Steven B. Sutton, Eric C. Honea, Jay A. Skidmore, Mark A. Emanuel
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
Using a scalable diode end-pumping technology developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory we have demonstrated a compact Tm:YAG laser capable of generating greater than 50 W of cw 2 micrometer laser output power. The design and operational characteristics of this laser, which was built originally for use in assessing laser surgical techniques, are discussed. The 2 micrometer radiation produced by the 3F4 - 3H6 transition of Tm3+ has many practical applications because it is strongly absorbed by water and also because it is an 'eye-safe' wavelength. The strong absorption of 2 micrometer radiation by water makes this transition a very attractive candidate for performing laser surgical procedures as most tissue types are predominately composed of liquid water. The fact that 2 micrometer radiation is considered 'eye-safe' makes this transition attractive for laser range finding and remote sensing applications where other laser wavelengths could pose a safety hazard. At sufficiently high doping densities, Tm3+ exhibits a beneficial two-for-one quantum pump efficiency enabling well developed AlGaAs laser diode arrays to be used as efficient excitation sources. Many applications requiring 2 micrometer laser radiation such as remote sensing, laser radar, anti sensor, sensor spoofing, and OPO pumping have driven the development of diode pumped all solid state TM3+ laser systems because of their potential for efficiency, compactness, and ruggedness. Here we focus on Tm3+:YAG and the scalable diode end-pumping technology developed at LLNL which enables higher average power operation of diode pumped Tm3+ laser systems than has previously been possible. To date we have demonstrated cw operation of this laser to power levels of 51 W. The end-pumping technology used is the same as was previously used to demonstrate a 100 mJ Q-switched Nd:YLF laser. (Truncated.)
© (1996) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Raymond J. Beach, Steven B. Sutton, Eric C. Honea, Jay A. Skidmore, and Mark A. Emanuel "High-power 2-μm diode-pumped Tm:YAG laser", Proc. SPIE 2698, Solid State Lasers V, (25 March 1996); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.236152
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Cited by 3 scholarly publications.
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KEYWORDS
Semiconductor lasers

Laser applications

Rod lasers

Diodes

Continuous wave operation

Absorption

Microlens

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