Mali Gong

Numerical modeling of transverse mode competition in strongly pumped multimode fiber lasers and amplifiers

A model based on propagation-rate equations with consideration of transverse gain distribution is built up to describe the transverse mode competition in strongly pumped multimode fiber lasers and amplifiers. An approximate practical numerical algorithm by multilayer method is presented. Based on the model and the numerical algorithm, the behaviors of multitransverse mode competition are demonstrated and individual transverse modes power distributions of output are simulated numerically for both fiber lasers and amplifiers under various conditions.

Designing double freeform optical surfaces for controlling both irradiance and wavefront

We propose an improved double freeform-optical-surface design method for shaping a prescribed irradiance distribution whilst forming a desired wavefront from a given incident beam. This method generalizes our previous work [Opt. Exp. 21, 14728-14735 (2013)] to tackle non-separable beam irradiances. We firstly compute a proper ray mapping using an adaptive mesh method in the framework of the L2 Monge-Kantorovich mass transfer problem. Then, we construct the two freeform optical surfaces according to this mapping using a modified simultaneous point-by-point procedure which is aimed to minimize the surface errors. For the first surface, the modified procedure works by firstly approximating a value to the next point by only using the slope of the current point and then improving it by utilizing both slopes of the two points based on Snells law. Its corresponding point on the second surface can be computed using the constant optical path length condition. A design example of producing a challenging irradiance distribution and a non-ideal wavefront demonstrates the effectiveness of the method.

520-W continuous-wave diode corner-pumped composite Yb:YAG slab laser

We present a pumping scheme for a quasi-three-level solid-state laser. The scheme uses a slab laser configuration with the pump light incident from the slab corners. A diode-corner-pumped composite Yb:YAG-YAG slab laser operating in high-power cw mode was designed to prove the scheme. As much as 520 W of output power was obtained from a single 1-mm-thick composite slab with 0.5-at. %-doped Yb:YAG. The slope efficiency and the optical-to-optical efficiency with respect to the pump power were 32% and 25%, respectively. This result shows the validity of the corner-pumping concept and its feasibility in the development of high-power solid-state lasers.

Beam shaping system design using double freeform optical surfaces

A numerical double-freeform-optical-surface design method is proposed for beam shaping applications. In this method, both the irradiance distribution and the wavefront of the output beam are taken into account. After numerically obtaining the input-output ray mapping based on Energy conservation using the variable separation method, the two freeform optical surfaces can be constructed simultaneously and point by point corresponding to the ray mapping based on Snells law and the constancy of the optical path length. The method is only applicable for separable irradiance distributions. However, such a restriction is fulfilled by many practical laser beam shaping examples. Moreover, the restriction can simplify the computation considerably. Therefore, the method may be quite useful in practice, although it is not applicable to more general cases. As an example, the method was applied to design a two-plano-freeform-lens system for transforming a collimated 20 mm Gaussian laser beam (beam waist: 5mm) into a uniform 10 × 40 mm(2) rectangular one without changing the wavefront. Simulation results show that we can obtain a dual lens beam shaping system with the relative root mean square deviation of the irradiance ranging from 0.0652 to 0.326 and the power ratio concentrated on the desired region ranging from 97.5% to 88.3% as the output beam transfers from 0mm to 1000mm.

183 WTEM00 mode acoustic-optic Q-switched MOPA laser at 850 kHz.

We report a high-power, high-repetition-rate TEM00 mode MOPA laser using acoustic-optic Q-switching. Seed laser from the dual-end- pumped Nd:YVO4 oscillator was scaled up to 183.5 W average power at 850 kHz after behind amplified by the four-stage power amplifiers. The stable Q-switching operation worked at different pulse repetition rate from 60 kHz to 850 kHz while the pulse duration increased from 12.8 ns to 72 ns. The beam quality was near diffraction-limit with M2 factors measured as M2x = 1.28 and M2y = 1.21. In CW operation, 195 W TEM00 mode output was achieved corresponding to the total optical-optical efficiency of 44.7% and the absorbed pump power to output power efficiency of 53.3% respectively.

A 108W, 500 kHz Q-switching Nd:YVO 4 laser with the MOPA configuration

A high power, dual-end-pumped Nd:YVO(4) laser with a MOPA configuration was stably Q-switched at repetition rate up to 500 kHz. The thermally bonded Nd:YVO(4) crystal was used in our experiment. In acousto-optically Q-switching operation at repetition rate of 500 kHz, 35 W average power was produced by the oscillator, with optical-optical efficiency of 41.7%. 108 W average power was obtained by a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) configuration including two amplifier stages, corresponding to the total optical-optical efficiency of 42.2%. The pulse duration was 48 ns, with a stability of pulse peak value < 2.5%. The beam quality was better than two-times diffraction-limit (M(x)(2) = 1.99, M(y)(2) = 1.76).

Effects of the temperature dependence of absorption coefficients in edge-pumped Yb:YAG slab lasers

A study of the temperature dependence on an absorption coefficient is presented. We describe the absorption spectrum measurement of the laser material Yb:YAG that was performed over a wide temperature range. As the temperature increases from 23°C to 300°C, the central wavelength of the Yb:YAG absorption spectrum at 940 nm varies slightly from 941.2 nmto941.1 nm, and the maximal absorption cross section drops dramatically from 7.89×10−21 cm2 to 4.23×10−21 cm2. According to our experimental results, we have presented an analytic description of temperature distribution with the numerical iterative method and have investigated the pumping optimization and laser oscillator performance, taking into account that the absorption coefficient is strongly influenced by temperature. Our analyses also include the effect of pump absorption saturation and the temperature dependence of Boltzmann population fractions, stimulated emission cross section, and thermal conductivity. We have shown that the predicted laser output power exceeds the actual value if the temperature dependence of Yb:YAGs absorption coefficient is neglected.

High-power 266 nm ultraviolet generation in yttrium aluminum borate

A yttrium aluminum borate [YAl(3)(BO(3))(4)] (YAB) crystal with UV cutoff wavelength of 165 nm is used as the nonlinear optical crystal for fourth harmonic generation. The fundamental frequency laser at 1064 nm from an Nd:YVO(4) master oscillator power amplifier laser was frequency doubled to 532 nm. Using the type I phase-matching YAB crystal, a 5.05 W average power 266 nm UV laser was obtained at the pulse repetition frequency of 65 kHz, corresponding to the conversion efficiency of 12.3% from 532 to 266 nm. The experimental results show great potential for the application of using YAB as a nonlinear optical crystal to get high-power fourth harmonic generation.

A novel prism beam-shaping laser diode bar end-pumped TEM00 mode Nd:YVO4 laser

A beam-shaping diode end-pumped TEM00 mode CW Nd:YVO4 laser is presented. A special beam-shaping element made up of isosceles right-angled prism pieces is adopted to realize beam symmetric. Two cylinder lenses are used to couple the shaped beam into a 3 × 3 × 9 mm Nd:YVO4 crystal with 0.3 at % neodymium doping. By using this laser system, we have achieved 6.1 W CW laser operated in single transverse mode at 1064 nm with 95.2% reshaping efficiency and 25.6% optical-optical conversion efficiency.

End-pumped 300 W continuous-wave ytterbium-doped all-fiber laser with master oscillator multi-stage power amplifiers configuration

An end-pumped ytterbium-doped all-fiber laser with 300 W output in continuous regime was reported, which was based on master oscillator multi-stage power amplifiers configuration. Monolithic fiber laser system consisted of an oscillator stage and two amplifier stages. Total optical-optical efficiency of monolithic fiber laser was approximately 65%, corresponding to 462 W of pump power coupled into laser system. We proposed a new method to connect power amplifier stage, which was crucial for the application of end-pumped combiner in high power MOPAs all-fiber laser.