Diode-pumped laser amplifier
AssigneeJENOPTIK Laser, Optik, Systeme GmbH
InventorsGuenter Hollemann, Jan Symanowski
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a diode-pumped laser amplifier the inventive object is to increase the tolerance of the amplifier arrangement relative to variations of the input parameters significantly, so that fine-tuning is no longer necessary for guaranteeing the stability of the amplifier. Into a laser-active solid-state medium where a thermal lens of a strength which is different in orthogonal planes is generated in consequence of the irradiated pump radiation, a laser beam to be amplified is directed into the laser-active solid-state medium while being focused in the plane with a strong thermal lens, wherein a beam waist that is being generated lies in the area of the thermal lens. The laser amplifier can be used for amplifying the radiation of an oscillator.
Claims16
A diode-pumped laser amplifier comprising:
- at least one laser-active solid-state medium which is permeated by mode matched beams of pump radiation and laser radiation to be amplified and in which a thermal lens forms because of the irradiating pump radiation whose lens strength is different in orthogonal planes;
- said beam of laser radiation to be amplified being directed into the laser-active solid-state medium focused in a first plane of the orthogonal planes with a strong thermal lens and collimated in a second plane of the orthogonal planes with a weak thermal lens;
- said beam of laser radiation having a waist that is being created lying in the area of the thermal lens.
The laser amplifier according to claim 17, wherein an element focusing in the plane with a strong thermal lens is used for creating the beam waist which is arranged in the beam path of the laser radiation at a distance equivalent to its focal length to the location of the thermal lens.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.