TY - JOUR

T1 - Compact powerful subnanosecond microchip laser based on Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG crystal operating without a thermal stabilization system

AU - Яковин, Михаил Дмитриевич

AU - Яковин, Дмитрий Васильевич

AU - Грибанов, Алексей Валерьевич

N1 - Russian Science Foundation (17-72-30006). The authors express their gratitude to Alexey Redyuk (NSU) and Sergey Mikerin (IAiE SB RAS) for their useful assistance in the preparation of the article. The authors express their gratitude to the coworkers of the company \u201CAKADEMLAZERMASH\u201D LLC for their useful discussions and ideas.

PY - 2023/12

Y1 - 2023/12

N2 - Subject of study. The subject of this study was a laboratory model of a small microchip laser system, which consists of an emitter based on an Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG active crystal with passive Q-switching, a pumping system (i.e., a multiwave laser diode array consisting of five laser diode bars), a lens system for collimation and focusing pump radiation, and a power source for laser diodes. The aim of the work was to develop and examine a compact, portable microchip laser with high peak power and energy per pulse operating over a wide temperature range. Method. Owing to the use of a multiwavelength laser diode array as a pump source, the laser does not require complex thermal stabilization circuits. The fast-axis collimation system developed for all laser diode lines ensures an efficient and stable performance. Main results. The possibility of using the array of multiwavelength laser diodes as a pump source for the passive Q-switched microchip Nd:YAG laser based on a saturable Cr:YAG absorber is demonstrated. This pumping enables the use of the thermal stabilization system to be avoided under typical environmental conditions. The small microchip laser system (the volume is 1 dm3 together with the power supply of the pump laser diodes) was fabricated. At a pulse repetition rate of the laser diode pump array of 20 Hz and a duration of 300 µs, the average output power of the laser is 203 mW at a wavelength of 1064 nm. The energy in the generated pulse is more than 10 mJ, which corresponds to a peak power of 50 MW. The radiation divergence is 3.5 mrad, and the beam diameter at a distance of 500 mm from the laser cavity is approximately 2 mm. The stability of the average output power of the laser system is higher than 3% in the ambient temperature range from 16◦C to 30◦C without the use of the thermal stabilization system. Practical significance. A compact source of powerful short pulses has been developed; it can operate over a wide temperature range without the thermal stabilization system, which makes it an ideal choice for portable systems and devices. It can find applications in various fields, such as optical location and rangefinding, atmospheric probing, spectroscopy, materials processing, and nonlinear optics.

AB - Subject of study. The subject of this study was a laboratory model of a small microchip laser system, which consists of an emitter based on an Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG active crystal with passive Q-switching, a pumping system (i.e., a multiwave laser diode array consisting of five laser diode bars), a lens system for collimation and focusing pump radiation, and a power source for laser diodes. The aim of the work was to develop and examine a compact, portable microchip laser with high peak power and energy per pulse operating over a wide temperature range. Method. Owing to the use of a multiwavelength laser diode array as a pump source, the laser does not require complex thermal stabilization circuits. The fast-axis collimation system developed for all laser diode lines ensures an efficient and stable performance. Main results. The possibility of using the array of multiwavelength laser diodes as a pump source for the passive Q-switched microchip Nd:YAG laser based on a saturable Cr:YAG absorber is demonstrated. This pumping enables the use of the thermal stabilization system to be avoided under typical environmental conditions. The small microchip laser system (the volume is 1 dm3 together with the power supply of the pump laser diodes) was fabricated. At a pulse repetition rate of the laser diode pump array of 20 Hz and a duration of 300 µs, the average output power of the laser is 203 mW at a wavelength of 1064 nm. The energy in the generated pulse is more than 10 mJ, which corresponds to a peak power of 50 MW. The radiation divergence is 3.5 mrad, and the beam diameter at a distance of 500 mm from the laser cavity is approximately 2 mm. The stability of the average output power of the laser system is higher than 3% in the ambient temperature range from 16◦C to 30◦C without the use of the thermal stabilization system. Practical significance. A compact source of powerful short pulses has been developed; it can operate over a wide temperature range without the thermal stabilization system, which makes it an ideal choice for portable systems and devices. It can find applications in various fields, such as optical location and rangefinding, atmospheric probing, spectroscopy, materials processing, and nonlinear optics.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85195100305&origin=inward&txGid=e265a4fc03594ac8bf2acb01935e5767

U2 - 10.1364/JOT.90.000725

DO - 10.1364/JOT.90.000725

M3 - Article

VL - 90

SP - 725

EP - 729

JO - Journal of Optical Technology (A Translation of Opticheskii Zhurnal)

JF - Journal of Optical Technology (A Translation of Opticheskii Zhurnal)

SN - 1070-9762

IS - 12

ER -