Transverse mode selection in laser resonators using volume Bragg gratings

Brian Anderson; George Venus; Daniel Ott; Ivan Divliansky; Jay W. Dawson; Derrek R. Drachenberg; Mike J. Messerly; Paul H. Pax; John B. Tassano; Leonid Glebov

doi:10.1117/12.2053291

9 June 2014 Transverse mode selection in laser resonators using volume Bragg gratings

Brian Anderson, George Venus, Daniel Ott, Ivan Divliansky, Jay W. Dawson, Derrek R. Drachenberg, Mike J. Messerly, Paul H. Pax, John B. Tassano, Leonid Glebov

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9081, Laser Technology for Defense and Security X; 90810Y (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2053291
Event: SPIE Defense + Security, 2014, Baltimore, MD, United States

Abstract

Power scaling of high power laser resonators is limited due to several nonlinear effects. Scaling to larger mode areas can offset these effects at the cost of decreased beam quality, limiting the brightness that can be achieved from the multi-mode system. In order to improve the brightness from such multi-mode systems, we present a method of transverse mode selection utilizing volume Bragg gratings (VBGs) as an angular filter, allowing for high beam quality from large mode area laser resonators. An overview of transverse mode selection using VBGs is given, with theoretical models showing the effect of the angular selectivity of transmitting VBGs on the resonator modes. Applications of this ideology to the design of laser resonators, with cavity designs and experimental results presented for three types of multimode solid state lasers: a Nd:YVO4 laser with 1 cm cavity length and 0.8 mm diameter beam with an M² of 1.1, a multimode diode with diffraction limited far field divergence in the slow axis, and a ribbon fiber laser with 13 cores showing M² improved from 11.3 to 1.5.

Citation Download Citation

Brian Anderson, George Venus, Daniel Ott, Ivan Divliansky, Jay W. Dawson, Derrek R. Drachenberg, Mike J. Messerly, Paul H. Pax, John B. Tassano, and Leonid Glebov "Transverse mode selection in laser resonators using volume Bragg gratings", Proc. SPIE 9081, Laser Technology for Defense and Security X, 90810Y (9 June 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2053291

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