Yb:YAG thin-disk laser performance at room and cryogenic temperatures

N. Vretenar; T. Carson; T. C. Newell; T. Lucas; W. P. Latham; P. Peterson

doi:10.1117/12.924302

15 February 2012 Yb:YAG thin-disk laser performance at room and cryogenic temperatures

N. Vretenar, T. Carson, T. C. Newell, T. Lucas, W. P. Latham, P. Peterson

Proceedings Volume 8235, Solid State Lasers XXI: Technology and Devices; 82350S (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.924302
Event: SPIE LASE, 2012, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Cryogenic solid-state laser materials offer many improvements in thermal, optical, structural, and lasing properties over their room temperature counterparts. As the temperature of Yb:YAG decreases from room to 80K it transitions from quasi-three-level lasing to a 4-level laser. In this study, we compare Yb:YAG thin-disk laser performance at room 293K and 80K. To achieve this direct comparison we have built two cooling systems based on R134A refrigerant and also on liquid nitrogen (LN₂). We have made an analytical calculation of the small signal laser gain that takes into account the spurious amplified spontaneous emission and photon re-absorption. The cold thin-disk laser clearly outperforms room temperature operation, and the theoretical results shows room temperature gain flattening.

Citation Download Citation

N. Vretenar, T. Carson, T. C. Newell, T. Lucas, W. P. Latham, and P. Peterson "Yb:YAG thin-disk laser performance at room and cryogenic temperatures", Proc. SPIE 8235, Solid State Lasers XXI: Technology and Devices, 82350S (15 February 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.924302

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