Solid state lasers
AssigneeBarr & Stroud Limited
InventorJohn Robertson
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Abstract
A solid state laser has an elongate slab of lasing material having a rectangular cross section with the lower face of the slab contacting a slab mount which is of a high thermal conductivity material. Energy to drive the lasing medium is provided by a flash lamp. Upper and lower faces of the slab are polished to an optically smooth finish so that light is able to propagate in a generally axial direction through the slab. Side faces of the slab are polished and then re-roughened to provide a finish with a surface damage zone comparable in depth to the wavelength of the lasing emission. For a lasing wavelength of one micrometer, the depth of surface damage is in the region of one micrometer.
Claims6
A laser comprising an optically-pumped elongate solid state lasing medium in the form of a slab having a rectangular or square cross-section, the slab having two opposed polished faces arranged to support lasing within the medium at a laser wavelength and two opposed non-reflecting faces arranged to provide for egress of ASE radiation from the lasing medium, wherein said non-reflecting faces are provided with a surface finish achieved by polishing and then re-roughening to produce a surface finish which scatters incident light such that the depth of surface damage at the re-roughened faces is less than about five times the lasing wavelength and arranged to minimize heat generation by ASE and pump light radiation in the vicinity of the non-reflecting faces.
A laser comprising an optically-pumped elongate solid state lasing medium in the form of a slab having a rectangular or square cross-section, the slab having two opposed polished faces arranged to support lasing within the medium at a laser wavelength and two opposed non-reflecting faces arranged to provide for egress of ASE radiation from the lasing medium, wherein each non-reflecting face is provided by a polished face of the lasing medium and a covering layer of relatively low heat dissipating material covering said polished face, the outer surface of the covering layer having a rough surface finish and the covering layer having thermal and optical properties which are the same as or similar to those of the lasing medium.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.