Zigzag laser with reduced optical distortion
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy
InventorsGeorg F. Albrecht, Brian Comaskey, Steven B. Sutton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The architecture of the present invention has been driven by the need to solve the beam quality problems inherent in Brewster's angle tipped slab lasers. The entrance and exit faces of a solid state slab laser are cut perpendicular with respect to the pump face, thus intrinsically eliminating distortion caused by the unpumped Brewster's angled faces. For a given zigzag angle, the residual distortions inherent in the remaining unpumped or lightly pumped ends may be reduced further by tailoring the pump intensity at these ends.
Claims19
An apparatus for amplifying laser light comprising:
- (a) a solid state, slab geometry laser medium comprising:
- (1) lateral pump faces;
- (2) a beam entrance face cut perpendicular with respect to the pump faces;
- (3) a beam return face cut perpendicular with respect to the pump faces;
- (b) an excitation mechanism located along said laser medium comprising:
- (1) a first set of laser diodes producing a uniform intensity distribution along a central portion of said laser medium;
- (2) a second set of laser diodes producing a non-uniform intensity distribution along outer portions of said laser medium to provide a gradual reduction of optical excitation from said central portion to said entrance and return faces;
- and
- (c) a cooling system.
An apparatus for amplifying laser light comprising:
- (a) a solid state slab geometry laser medium comprising:
- (1) lateral pump faces;
- (2) a beam entrance face cut perpendicular with respect to the pump faces;
- (3) a beam return face cut perpendicular with respect to the pump faces;
- (b) an excitation mechanism comprising a plurality of laser diodes located along said laser medium, and wherein a portion of said laser diodes are uniformly spaced over a central region of said laser medium to provide a uniform optical excitation, and wherein a portion of said laser diodes are non-uniformly spaced from each end of said central region to said entrance and return faces respectively, providing a gradual reduction of optical excitation from said central region to said entrance and return faces;
- and
- (c) a cooling system.
A method of amplifying laser light comprising:
- (a) providing a slab of solid state laser material having lateral pump faces;
- (b) cutting an entrance face onto said slab such that it is oriented perpendicular with respect to said lateral pump faces;
- (c) cutting a return face onto said slab such that it is oriented perpendicular with respect to said lateral pump faces;
- (d) optically polishing said entrance face;
- (e) optically polishing said return face;
- (f) optically pumping a central portion of said laser slab with a first set of laser diodes producing a uniform intensity distribution along said central portion;
- (g) optically pumping outer portions of said laser slab with a second set of laser diodes to produce a non-uniform intensity distribution along said outer portions;
- and
- (h) cooling said laser slab.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.