Abstract

A simple approach for alleviating thermal lensing in end-pumped solid-state lasers using a pump beam with a ring-shaped intensity distribution to decrease the radial temperature gradient is described. This scheme has been implemented in a diode-end-pumped $\mathrm{Nd}\text{:}{\mathrm{YVO}}_4$ laser yielding 14 W of ${\mathrm{TEM}}_{00}$ output at 1.064 μm with a corresponding slope efficiency of 53% and a beam propagation factor (${\mathrm{M}}^2$) of 1.08 limited by available pump power. By comparison, the same laser design with a conventional quasi-top-hat pump beam profile of approximately equal radial extent yielded only 9 W of output before the power rolled over due to thermal lensing. Further investigation with the aid of a probe beam revealed that the thermal lens power was $\sim 30\%$ smaller for the ring-shaped pump beam compared to the quasi-top-hat beam. The implications for further power scaling in end-pumped laser configurations are considered.

© 2017 Optical Society of America

Influence of a ring-shaped pump beam on temperature distribution and thermal lensing in end-pumped solid state lasers

D. J. Kim, S. H. Noh, S. M. Ahn, and J. W. Kim
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