Diode-Pumped Solid-State Lasers

Abstract

III The use ofdiode lasers instead ofHashlamps as optical pump sources for solid state lasers offers significant advantages such as higher efficiency and longer lifetime. We have demonstrated three novel lasers based on this technology. The first is a zig-zag slab laser pumped by hybrid planar microchannel-cooled diode arrays that allow high-repetition-rate operation in a pulsed mode. The second is an end-pumped laser that uses multiple diode lasers for power scalabilitywhile maintaining high efficiency and good beam quality. The third is a Yb:YAG laser, pumped by strained-layer InGaAs diode lasers, that offers advantages over AlGaAs-pumped Nd:YAG lasers. These advances should lead to lower-cost higher-power solid state lasers. I NTEREST HAS INCREASED in the past few years in using semiconductor diode lasers to excite solid state lasers based on rare-earth ion-doped transparent solids such as neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum