Search

• Cr,Er:YSGG crystal with thermal bonding and concave end-face is pumped by Xenon lamp. • Thermal distribution simulation shows thermal bonding can improve heat dissipation capability. • Thermal focal length indicates concave end-face can compensate thermal lens effect. • High single pulse energy of 3.48 J obtained for the concave thermal bonding Cr,Er:YSGG at 5 Hz. • Maximum energy of 1.155 J and slope efficiency of 3.65 % are achieved for the concave thermal bonding Cr,Er:YSGG at 20 Hz. We demonstrate the influence of thermal bonding and concave end-face on the 2.79 μm laser performance of Cr,Er:YSGG crystal. The simulation results of temperature distribution suggest that the two pure YSGG crystals bonded on the Cr,Er:YSGG as end-caps are beneficial to improve the heat dissipation capability. The experimental results of thermal focal length show that the thermal effects of un-bonding, planar thermal bonding, and concave thermal bonding Cr,Er:YSGG crystals are in descending tendency. The maximum output energies and slope efficiencies for concave thermal bonding Cr,Er:YSGG crystal are 3.480 J, 3.33 %@5 Hz; 2.126 J, 3.65 %@10 Hz; 1.384 J, 3.63 %@15 Hz; 1.155 J, 3.65 %@20 Hz, respectively, and the beam quality factors M x 2/ M y 2 are determined to be 7.68/8.63. The result is much better than the previous work, indicating that the xenon lamp pumped concave thermal bonding Cr,Er:YSGG crystal is a promising method to realize high energy laser output. All the results indicate that the thermal bonding and concave end-faces are promising methods to reduce the thermal effect and improve the laser performance of Cr,Er:YSGG crystal pumped by the xenon lamp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Four Cr,Er:YSGG crystal were processed with the size of Ø 3–6 mm × 105 mm. • A maximum pulse energy 1261 mJ operated at 5 Hz and 2.79 μm. • The formula of the thermal focal length is modified further. • Simulation results of the thermal focal lengths consist with the experiments well. Abstract We demonstrate the laser and thermal properties on the four Cr,Er:YSGG crystal rods with different diameters from 3 to 6 mm. A maximum pulse energy 1261 mJ operated at 5 Hz and 2.79 μm is obtained on the rod of 4 mm diameter, corresponding to electrical-to-optical efficiency of 1.53% and slope efficiency 1.82%, respectively. Combining with the electrical-to-optical efficiency and thermal distribution, the formula of the thermal focal length is modified further. The simulation results of the thermal focal length for four crystals with different diameters are in good consistence with the measurement values, suggesting the revised formula is accurate and effective to calculate the thermal focal length. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]