Laser with absorption optimized pumping of a gain medium
First Claim
1. A solid state laser system comprising:
- a laser cavity having an optical axis passing through the laser cavity;
a solid state gain medium having a width in a transverse direction, the solid state gain medium having an absorption depth at a pumping wavelength less than the width in the transverse direction, the optical axis passing through the solid state gain medium; and
at least one semiconductor laser having an output at the pumping wavelength, the at least one semiconductor laser positioned to direct a beam of light to the solid state gain medium in a side pumping configuration, the laser cavity defining a laser mode of the solid state laser positioned at a mode depth so that the laser mode is spaced from a surface of the solid state gain medium and a width of the laser mode is between about one-half and two times the absorption length of the solid state gain medium at a pumping wave length.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A solid state laser includes a high absorption coefficient solid state gain medium such as Nd:YVO4 that is side pumped with a semiconductor laser diode array. The resonant cavity of the solid state laser is positioned so that the TEM00 mode is spaced from the face of the laser through which the laser is pumped by a distance sufficient to reduce diffraction losses but sufficiently near to allow coupling of pump light into the gain mode. The gain medium, the doping level of the gain medium, and the operating temperature of the pump laser are selected to efficiently couple pump light into the gain mode. The pump laser is positioned to side pump the gain medium without collimating or focusing optics between the pump laser and the face of the gain medium. A gap between the pump laser and the gain medium is empirically selected to match the angular extent of the pump laser output light to the height of the gain mode at the position of the gain mode fixed to optimize coupling and diffraction losses.
94 Citations
76 Claims
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1. A solid state laser system comprising:
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a laser cavity having an optical axis passing through the laser cavity;
a solid state gain medium having a width in a transverse direction, the solid state gain medium having an absorption depth at a pumping wavelength less than the width in the transverse direction, the optical axis passing through the solid state gain medium; and
at least one semiconductor laser having an output at the pumping wavelength, the at least one semiconductor laser positioned to direct a beam of light to the solid state gain medium in a side pumping configuration, the laser cavity defining a laser mode of the solid state laser positioned at a mode depth so that the laser mode is spaced from a surface of the solid state gain medium and a width of the laser mode is between about one-half and two times the absorption length of the solid state gain medium at a pumping wave length. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A laser system, comprising:
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a lasing medium for producing a laser beam of a desired wavelength;
at least one diode laser for directing a pumping beam along a pumping optical path for side pumping the lasing medium and producing a population inversion in the lasing medium;
optical elements for forming a resonant cavity around the lasing medium defining a set of modes and for producing the laser beam; and
wherein the optical elements are disposed to position the optical set of modes within the lasing medium and wherein the at least one diode laser provides a pump wavelength different from a peak of absorption of the lasing medium, the pump wavelength being selected by adjustment of the operating temperature of the at least one diode laser. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39)
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40. A laser system, comprising:
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a lasing medium for producing a laser beam of a desired wavelength;
at least one diode laser for directing a pumping beam along a pumping optical path for side pumping the lasing medium and producing a population inversion in the lasing medium;
optical elements for forming a resonant cavity around the lasing medium defining a set of modes and for producing the laser beam; and
wherein the optical elements are disposed to position the set of modes within the lasing medium, spaced from all sides of the lasing medium and parallel to a side face of the lasing medium by a distance that reduces diffraction losses through the side face to a sufficient level to allow at least ten percent optical to optical efficiency for the laser system, the optical elements further having a width of the set of modes between about one half and two times an absorption length of the lasing medium at a pumping wavelength. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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47. A laser system, comprising:
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a laser cavity defined by at least two optical elements and having an optical axis the optical elements defining a set of laser modes, the lowest order of the set of laser modes being a TEM00 mode;
a solid state gain medium positioned so that the optical axis passes through the solid state gain medium;
a blocking element positioned adjacent the optical axis between the solid state gain medium and at least one of the optical elements, the blocking element blocking at least a portion of a first lobe of a first higher order mode when laser output is provided from the laser cavity;
at least one semiconductor laser having a pumping wavelength, the at least one semiconductor laser positioned to direct a beam of light to the solid state gain medium in a side pumping configuration;
the blocking element further being positioned to limit gain of one or more of the set of laser modes; and
wherein an absorption of the solid state gain medium at the pumping wavelenth of the at least one semiconductor laser limits a gain of a second lobe of the fist higher order mode. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A method of assembling a laser system including a solid state laser, the method comprising:
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providing optics and a solid state gain medium to define a solid state laser cavity having a set of laser modes, the set of laser modes having a position within the gain medium and the gain medium having an absorption depth;
providing at least one semiconductor laser having a pumping wavelength, the semiconductor laser positioned to side pump the gain medium to produce a solid state laser output, the semiconductor providing a pump beam having a size; and
optimizing a configuration of the solid state laser beam with reference to an output power from the solid state laser by at least one of (1) varying the position of the set of laser modes within the gain medium, (2) varying the output wavelength of the semiconductor laser, and (3) varying the size of the pump. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. A method for manufacturing a laser system, comprising the steps of:
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providing a lasing medium for producing a laser beam of a desired wavelength;
providing at least one diode laser for directing a pumping beam along a pumping optical path for side pumping the lasing medium and producing a population inversion in the lasing medium;
providing optical elements for forming a resonant cavity around the lasing medium, the optical elements defining a set of modes and for producing the laser beam, wherein the width of the set of modes is between about one-half and two times an absorption length of the lasing medium of a pumping wavelength;
locating the optical elements to position the set of modes within the lasing medium;
locating the at least one diode laser to supply the pumping beam to the lasing medium, wherein a wavelength of the pumping beam produced by the diode laser varies with temperature of the diode laser;
varying the temperature of the diode laser a plurality of times and noting an output power of the laser beam for each of the plurality of temperatures; and
fixing the temperature of the diode laser at a selected value so that the output power is at least 50% of a maximum output power as determined in the varying step.
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74. A method for preparing a laser system for operation, comprising:
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a. providing a laser system, comprising;
i. a lasing medium for producing a laser beam of a desired wavelength ii. at least one diode laser for directing a pumping beam along a pumping optical path for side pumping the lasing medium and producing a population inversion in the lasing medium wherein the width of the set of modes is between about one-half and two times an absorption length of the lasing medium at a pumping wavelength; and
iii. providing optical elements for forming a resonant cavity around the lasing medium, the optical elements defining a Set of modes and for producing the laser beam, wherein the optical elements are located to position the set of modes within the lasing medium;
wherein the at least one diode laser is spaced at a distance from a face of the lasing medium to supply the pumping beam to the lasing medium;
b. varying a temperature of the diode laser so as to varying a wavelength of the pumping beam and noting an output power of the laser beam for each of the plurality of temperatures; and
c. fixing the temperature of the diode laser to a selected value so that the output power is at least 50% of a maximum output power as determined in the varying step.
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75. A solid state laser system comprising:
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a laser cavity having an optical axis passing through the laser cavity;
a solid state gain medium having the optical axis pass therethrough and having at least one characteristic excitation wavelength and a width in a transverse direction, the solid state gain medium having an absorption depth at a pumping wavelength less than the width in the transverse direction, the absorption depth being less than the width in the transverse direction at a wavelength different from the characteristic excitation wavelength;
at least one semiconductor laser having an output at the pumping wavelength, the at least one semiconductor laser positioned to direct a beam of light to the solid state gain medium in a side pumping configuration, the laser cavity defining a laser mode of the solid state laser positioned at a mode depth so that the laser mode is spaced from a surface of the gain medium.
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76. A solid state laser comprising:
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a laser cavity having an optical axis passing through the laser cavity;
a solid state gain medium having a width in a transverse direction, the solid state gain medium having a absorption depth at a pumping wavelength less than the width in the transverse direction, the optical axis passing through the solid state gain medium; and
at least one semiconductor laser having an output at the pumping wavelength, the at least one semiconductor laser positioned to direct a beam of light to the solid state gain medium in a side pumping configuration, the laser cavity defining a laser mode of the solid state laser positioned at a mode depth so that the laser mode is spaced form a surface of the gain medium including a side face of the gain medium by a distance that reduces diffraction losses through the side face to allow at least ten percent optical-to-optical efficiency for the laser system.
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Specification