The study reviews the research and development of a prototype laser used to study one possible method of short-pulse production and amplification, in particular, a pulsed Nd:YAG ring laser pumped by laser diode arrays and injected seeded by a 100-ps source. The diode array pumped, regenerative amplifier consists of only five optical elements, two mirrors, one thin film polarizer, one Nd:YAG crystal, and one pockels cell. The pockels cell performed both as a Q-switch and a cavity dumper for amplified pulse ejection through the thin film polarizer. The total optical efficiency was low principally due to the low gain provided by the 2-bar pumped laser head. After comparison with a computer model, a real seed threshold of about 10 exp -15 J was achieved because only about 0.1 percent of the injected energy mode-matched with the ring.

Date Published: 1 June 1992
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 1627, Solid State Lasers III, (1 June 1992); doi: 10.1117/12.60155

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1627:
Solid State Lasers III
Gregory J. Quarles, Editor(s)