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Excellent performance of a cryogenic Nd:YAlO 3 laser with low wavefront distortion based on zero thermal expansion.

Authors :
Song YJ
Xu YZ
Meng S
Jiang XX
Shao CF
Song ZX
Zong N
Wang ZM
Bo Y
Wang XJ
Lin ZS
Peng QJ
Source :
Optics letters [Opt Lett] 2021 May 15; Vol. 46 (10), pp. 2425-2428.
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

High-power solid-state lasers with good beam quality are attracting great attention on account of their important applications in industry and military. However, the thermal effects generated in the laser host materials seriously limit power scaling and degrade the beam quality. Thermal lensing and thermally induced wavefront deformation are the main causes of the beam quality deterioration. Here we investigate the performance of a zero thermal expansion (ZTE) solid-state laser gain material. In a proof-of-principle experiment, an ${a}$-cut rod ${\rm Nd}\!:\!{{\rm YAlO}_3}$ (Nd:YAP) perovskite crystal is chosen to be the gain medium for ZTE around 180 K. The laser performance spanning the temperature range from 80 to 290 K is studied. The maximum output power and minimum threshold pump power were obtained at a temperature of 180 K. Moreover, the measured thermal focal power and peak-to-valley value of the wavefront distortion also reach a minimum at this temperature, an additional benefit from the crystal's ZTE coefficient. We envisage that these results will open a new route towards the development of high-power and high-beam-quality lasers through the use of ZTE gain materials.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1539-4794
Volume :
46
Issue :
10
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Optics letters
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
33988600
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.424956