TY - JOUR

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

AU - Яковин, Михаил Дмитриевич

AU - Яковин, Дмитрий Васильевич

AU - Грибанов, Алексей Валерьевич

N1 - The authors express their gratitude to Alexey Redyuk (NSU) and Sergey Mikerin (IAiE SB RAS) for useful assistance in the preparation of the article. The authors express their gratitude to the coworkers of the company "AKADEMLAZERMASH" LLC for useful discussions and ideas. The work was carried out with the support of the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 17-72-30006). Yakovin M.D., Yakovin D.V., Gribanov A.V. Compact powerful subnanosecond microchip laser based on Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG crystal operating without thermal stabilization system [In Russian] // Opticheskii Zhurnal. 2023. V. 90. № 12. P. 14–23.

PY - 2023/12

Y1 - 2023/12

N2 - Subject of study. Laboratory model of a small-sized microchip laser system, which includes an emitter based on an Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG active crystal with passive Q-switching, a pumping system — a multiwave laser diode array consisting of 5 laser diode bars, a lens system for collimation and focusing pump radiation, as well as a power source for laser diodes. The aim of the work is to develop and research a compact, portable microchip laser with high peak power and energy per pulse operating over a wide temperature range. Method. Due 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 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 allows to avoid using thermal stabilization system under typical environmental conditions. The small-sized microchip laser system (the volume is 1 dm3 together with the power supply of pump laser diodes) has been created. 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 generation pulse is more than 10 mJ, which corresponds to a peak power of 50 MW. The radiation divergence is 3.5 mrad, the beam diameter at a distance of 500 mm from the resonator is about 2 mm. The stability of the average output power of the laser system is better than 3% in the ambient temperature range from 16 to 30 °С without the use of the thermal stabilization system. Practical significance. The compact source of the 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 application in various fields, such as optical location and rangefinding, atmospheric probing, spectroscopy, material processing and non-linear optics.

AB - Subject of study. Laboratory model of a small-sized microchip laser system, which includes an emitter based on an Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG active crystal with passive Q-switching, a pumping system — a multiwave laser diode array consisting of 5 laser diode bars, a lens system for collimation and focusing pump radiation, as well as a power source for laser diodes. The aim of the work is to develop and research a compact, portable microchip laser with high peak power and energy per pulse operating over a wide temperature range. Method. Due 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 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 allows to avoid using thermal stabilization system under typical environmental conditions. The small-sized microchip laser system (the volume is 1 dm3 together with the power supply of pump laser diodes) has been created. 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 generation pulse is more than 10 mJ, which corresponds to a peak power of 50 MW. The radiation divergence is 3.5 mrad, the beam diameter at a distance of 500 mm from the resonator is about 2 mm. The stability of the average output power of the laser system is better than 3% in the ambient temperature range from 16 to 30 °С without the use of the thermal stabilization system. Practical significance. The compact source of the 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 application in various fields, such as optical location and rangefinding, atmospheric probing, spectroscopy, material processing and non-linear optics.

U2 - 10.17586/1023-5086-2023-90-12-14-23

DO - 10.17586/1023-5086-2023-90-12-14-23

M3 - Article

VL - 90

SP - 14

EP - 23

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

M1 - 2

ER -