Role of UV illumination for enabling cold temperature operation of a LiNbO3 Q-switched Nd:YAG laser

Brian Cole; Vernon King; Jeff Leach; Lew Goldberg

doi:10.1117/12.873935

3 March 2011 Role of UV illumination for enabling cold temperature operation of a LiNbO₃ Q-switched Nd:YAG laser

Brian Cole, Vernon King, Jeff Leach, Lew Goldberg

Proceedings Volume 7912, Solid State Lasers XX: Technology and Devices; 791224 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.873935
Event: SPIE LASE, 2011, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

We have explored using UV illumination as a method to mitigate pyroelectric effects, and their associative loss in hold-off for lithium niobate Q-switch materials under cold temperature operation. It has been observed that by illumination of the LiNbO₃ Q-switch material from the side, the above bandgap light can provide for an increase in conductivity via an increase in photocarriers. In the presence of strong pyroelectric fields associated with a change in temperature, these carriers can be effectively swept in the direction to eliminate the field. We quantified the improvement in conduction by measuring the decay time for the pyroelectric induced loss in extinction. At negative 20°C, the decay rate for the pyroelectric field in the absence of UV illumination was measured to be 16.7 hours. It was found that by illuminating the LiNbO₃ from the side with two UV LEDs operating at 500mA, the decay constant for a built-up pyroelectric charge could be reduced to 1minute. With this technique applied to a LiNbO₃ Q-switched laser, the laser was shown to perform over rapid cooling without a degradation in performance.

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Brian Cole, Vernon King, Jeff Leach, and Lew Goldberg "Role of UV illumination for enabling cold temperature operation of a LiNbO₃ Q-switched Nd:YAG laser", Proc. SPIE 7912, Solid State Lasers XX: Technology and Devices, 791224 (3 March 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.873935

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KEYWORDS

Ultraviolet radiation

Q switching

Q switched lasers

Temperature metrology

Nd:YAG lasers

Ultraviolet light emitting diodes

Diodes

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