Evanescent coupling alternatives for YAG lasers

Johan H. Stiens; Roger A. Vounckx; Michele Ruggiero Banish; Rodney L. Clark

doi:10.1117/12.382754

14 April 2000 Evanescent coupling alternatives for YAG lasers

Johan H. Stiens, Roger A. Vounckx, Michele Ruggiero Banish, Rodney L. Clark

Proceedings Volume 3929, Solid State Lasers IX; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.382754
Event: Symposium on High-Power Lasers and Applications, 2000, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

Diffraction gratings are proposed as an alternative technique to couple a laser diode pump beam into the YAG crystal of a solid-state laser. These binary diffraction gratings are on the long axis of the crystal and are etched in high refractive index coating material. The paper reveals the set of grating parameters and tolerances for transforming vertically incident light into horizontally propagating light inside the crystal with theoretical efficiencies of more than 90%. Under optimal conditions the diffraction grating behaves like an excellent leaky waveguide structure. Theoretical comparisons are made between the efficiencies of gratings directly etched into the laser crystal and gratings etched in to a high index coating material. The resulting zig-zag pumped laser cavity is uniformly excited in order to minimize thermal loads and lensing effects. The maskless binary sub-micron pattern transfer is realized by combining interferometry and lithography.

Citation Download Citation

Johan H. Stiens, Roger A. Vounckx, Michele Ruggiero Banish, and Rodney L. Clark "Evanescent coupling alternatives for YAG lasers", Proc. SPIE 3929, Solid State Lasers IX, (14 April 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.382754

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