D. A. Kuzin, A. V. Starobor, I. I. Kuznetsov, O. V. Palashov
- Federal Research Center Gaponov-Grekhov Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 603950, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
Abstract: A laser amplifier based on an active element in the shape of a Yb:YAG slab is developed. It combines the propagation of an amplified elliptical beam without internal reflections, the use of high-brightness diode pump channel combining, and a heat sink made of silicon carbide. Its laser characteristics and factors limiting the output pulse energy are studied. It is shown that the application of an active element with gradient doping ensures stable operation of the laser head at pump powers of ∼0.5 kW. The use of signal radiation diverging along one axis compensates for the effect of reducing the output cross section of the amplified beam; as a result, a gain of G = 4 is ensured with a beam quality factor M 2 < 1.4.
Keywords: Yb:YAG, high average power, slab laser, thermal effects, thermal lens.
The work on the development of the laser head was funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation within the framework of the state assignment to the Federal Research Center Gaponov-Grekhov Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (project no. FFUF-2024-0038). The study of beam quality and gain was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (grant no. 23-12-00199).
Received: 16.11.2023
Revised: 25.01.2024