High energy nanosecond vortex beams and cylindrically polarized beams are generated in Nd:YAG amplifiers. Vortex seed beams and cylindrically polarized seed beams are converted from a conventional Nd:YAG laser by spiral phase plate and polarization converter, respectively. Maximum output energy of optical vortex up to 995 mJ and cylindrically polarized beams up to 772 mJ have been achieved at 10 Hz in a 10-ns pulse, respectively. The amplification efficiency, the beam quality and pulse width of the amplification output are studied. Both the topological charge of the vortex seed beams and polarization state of cylindrically polarized beams are confirmed to be conserved during the amplification. The generation of high energy vortex beams and cylindrically polarized beams would be beneficial to laser material processing.

Date Published: 18 April 2017
PDF: 3 pages
Proc. SPIE 10252, Optical Manipulation Conference, 102521B (18 April 2017); doi: 10.1117/12.2269444

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 10252:
Optical Manipulation Conference
Takashige Omatsu, Editor(s)