The power scaling of an all-solid-state visible laser is limited by the mode-to-pump ratio related to the thermal effect based on the spatial rate equation. The mode-to-pump ratio is also known as the overlap efficiency factor (OEF). We investigated the thermal effect as a function of pump power, the waist radius of pump beams, and the waist position of pump beams and have simulated the three-dimensional distribution of the OEF as a variable of the waist position and size of pump beams. Also, it is seen that the calculated optimal OEF under a plane–concave cavity is a decreasing function of input pump power, and it is less than unity in the case of high pump power. The practical example of a Pr:YLF laser pumped by 9-W fiber-coupled laser diodes confirms our theoretical analysis. The output power instability was < ± 1 . 625 % (RMS) within 1 h. In addition, by changing the cavity length to 38 mm, the output power of 607 nm is up to 103 mW with an OEF of 0.741.
In a high-power Pr:YLF solid-state laser, the thermal effect of gain medium is one of the prime limiting factors, and its thermal damage has become the major concern. The thermal effect of Pr:YLF crystal was analyzed theoretically, and the distribution of temperature, thermal stress, thermal focal length, and pump polarization effects of the Pr:YLF crystal were simulated. The thermal effect investigation indicates that under reasonable pumping power density, crystal length, and beam waist size and location, the temperature rise and nonuniformity of thermal distortion are not intensified under high-power operation. Additionally, the relationship between Gauss or Super-Gaussian pump mode and thermal focal length of Pr:YLF crystal was simulated. To the best of our knowledge, this analysis is the first to examine the thermal effect of Pr:YLF crystal for power scaling, and this thermal effect investigation of Pr:YLF crystal provides first-hand data for a high-power, visible, solid-state laser that could be helpful for high-power Pr:YLF solid-state laser design.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
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.