Solid-state suspension laser
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorsAlexander A. Betin, Kalin Spariosu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A solid-state suspension laser. The novel laser includes a gain medium comprised of a plurality of solid-state gain particles suspended in a fluid. The laser also includes a pump source for pumping the gain particles and a resonator for amplifying and outputting laser light generated by the gain medium. In an illustrative embodiment, the gain medium is adapted to flow, and the pumping of the gain medium occurs outside of the resonator. The flow velocities and the densities of the gain particles in the gain medium can be optimized for optimal absorption efficiency during the pumping and/or for optimal extraction efficiency in the resonator as well as for overall laser performance optimization, including power, efficiency and beam quality scalability.
Claims44
A laser gain medium comprising:
- a fluid and
- a plurality of solid-state gain particles suspended in said fluid.
A laser comprising:
- a gain medium comprised of a plurality of solid-state gain particles suspended in a fluid and
- first means for pumping said gain particles.
A laser comprising:
- a gain medium comprised of a plurality of solid-state gain particles suspended in a fluid;
- a pump source adapted to pump said gain particles;
- and
- a resonator for amplifying and outputting laser light generated by said gain medium.
A laser system comprising:
- a gain medium comprised of a plurality of solid-state gain particles suspended in a fluid;
- a pump source adapted to pump said gain particles;
- one or more pump modules for containing said gain medium during said pumping;
- an injection mechanism for injecting said gain medium into said pump module or modules;
- a resonator adapted to receive said gain medium from said pump modules;
- and
- a recycling mechanism for receiving said gain medium from said resonator and returning said gain medium to said injection mechanism.
A method for generating laser energy including the steps of:
- forming a gain medium comprised of a plurality of solid-state gain particles suspended in a fluid;
- pumping said gain particles;
- and
- amplifying laser energy generated by said gain medium in a resonator.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.