Abstract
The optimization of solid-state laser cavities requires a deep understanding of the gain module, the most critical laser component. This study proposes a procedure for evaluating the performance of the solid-state laser gain module. The thermal effect and energy storage characteristics are the performance criteria. A normalized heating parameter was calculated as a quantitative indicator of the performance criteria. We proposed a method to quantify the heat dissipated into the gain medium using the wavefront distortion, thermal deformation theory of the gain medium, and the ray transfer matrix method. The suggested procedure was verified by evaluating the flashlamp type Nd:YAG rod gain module, but it can also even be extended to other solid-state laser gain modules by applying the appropriate thermal deformation theory.
Highlights
Nd:YAG-based lasers have been widely applied in industrial and research fields [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8].The recent switching trend toward diode pumping methods, advantageous for high efficiency, high power, and high stability, seems to call into question the utility of flashlamps
We suggested the performance evaluation procedure for the solid-state laser gain module, which is the key component in laser systems
We developed a method quantifying the heat dissipated into the gain medium to estimate the normalized heating parameter, χ, using the measured wavefront in the pump on and off states, the gain medium thermal deformation theory, and the ray transfer matrix method
Summary
Nd:YAG-based lasers have been widely applied in industrial and research fields [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. Thermal effects and energy storage characteristics for the gain module are essential to establish the structure and design parameters of the laser cavity and further to handle the power scaling and miniaturization. We proposed a method to quantify the heat generation using the wavefront distortion caused by pumped laser crystal and the thermal deformation theory of the gain medium and the ray transfer matrix method. It represents a relative change for the refractive index on the optical axis of the rod, which is sufficient to apply to the methodology proposed in this study This approximation was validated and utilized to model the thermal effects for the gain medium of the flashlamps pump scheme based on the assumption that the internal heat generation of the rod is uniform and rod length is much longer than the rod radius (r0 l): nG(r) = n0.
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