Sodium beacon laser system for the Lick Observatory

The installation and performance characteristics of a 20 W sodium beacon laser system for the 3 m Shane telescope at the Lick Observatory are presented

Исследование влияния температуры на процесс восстановления ацетилдифенила изопропилатом алюминия

We present a compact module, emitting nearly diffraction limited green laser light at 531 nm at an average output power of more than 500 mW. As pump source for the second harmonic generation a DBR tapered laser with a total length of 6 mm was used. The RW section had a length of 2 mm including a 1 mm long passive DBR section. The devices were mounted p-side up on a copper block. For this mounting scheme, the device reaches up to 7 W maximal output power. At the power level of about 3.8 W used in the presented experiment, a wavelength of 1062.6 nm with a line-width below 0.02 nm (FWHM) was determined. More than 80% of the emitted power is originated within the central lobe of the beam waist profile illustrating the nearly diffraction limited beam quality. Using a 30mm long MgO-doped periodically poled LiNbO3 bulk crystal, the second harmonic wave is generated in a single-pass setup. Due to precise alignment and beam shaping based on the results of numerical simulations and a properly temperature control of the PPLN crystal, a maximum optical conversion efficiency of more than 14% (3.7%/W) was achieved. The fluctuation of the output power is far below 1%

Design optimisation of high-brightness laser diodes for external cavity operation in the BRIDLE project

We report on the design aspects of high performance diode lasers for application in high-brightness spectral beam combining and coherent beam combining modules. Key performance trade-offs are identified and potential solutions are explored

Coherent combining of high brightness tapered lasers in Master Oscillator Power Amplifier configuration

International audienceImproved diode laser beam combining techniques are in strong demand for applications in material processing. Coherent beam combining (CBC) is the only combining approach that has the potential to maintain or even improve all laser properties, and thus has high potential for future systems. As part of our ongoing studies into CBC of diode lasers, we present recent progress in the coherent superposition of high-power single-pass tapered laser amplifiers. The amplifiers are seeded by a DFB laser at λ = 976 nm, where the seed is injected into a laterally single-mode ridge-waveguide input section. The phase pistons on each beam are actively controlled by varying the current in the ridge section of each amplifier, using a sequential hill-climbing algorithm, resulting in a combined beam with power fluctuations of below 1%. The currents into the tapered sections of the amplifiers are separately controlled, and remain constant. In contrast to our previous studies, we favour a limited number of individual high-power amplifiers, in order to preserve a high extracted power per emitter in a simple, low-loss coupling arrangement. Specifically, a multi-arm interferometer architecture with only three devices is used, constructed using 6 mm-long tapered amplifiers, mounted junction up on C-mounts, to allow separate contact to single mode and amplifier sections. A maximum coherently combined power of 12.9 W is demonstrated in a nearly diffraction-limited beam, corresponding to a 65% combining efficiency, with power mainly limited by the intrinsic beam quality of the amplifiers. Further increased combined power is currently sought

High-power operation of coherently coupled tapered laser diodes in an external cavity

We demonstrate a rear-side phase-locking architecture with two high-brightness diode lasers. This technique is based on the passive phase-locking of emitters in an external cavity on their rear facet, and their coherent combination on the front facet. Two high-brightness high-power tapered laser diodes are coherently combined using a Michelson-based cavity. The combining efficiency is above 80% and results in an output power of 6.7 W in a nearly diffraction-limited beam. The rear-side architecture is then used with a laser bar of 5 tapered emitters using an interferometric extended cavity, based on a diffractive optical element. We describe the experimental evaluation of the diffractive optical element, and the phase-locked operation of the laser bar

Separate phase-locking and coherent combining of two laser diodes in a Michelson cavity

We describe a new coherent beam combining architecture based on passive phase-locking of two laser diodes in a Michelson external cavity on their rear facet, and their coherent combination on the front facet. As a proof-of-principle, two ridge lasers have been coherently combined with >90 % efficiency. The phase-locking range, and the resistance of the external cavity to perturbations have been thoroughly investigated. The combined power has been stabilized over more than 15 min with an optical feedback as well as with an automatic adjustment of the driving currents. Furthermore, two high-brightness high-power tapered laser diodes have been coherently combined in a similar arrangement; the combining efficiency is 70% and results in an output power of 4 W. We believe that this new configuration combines the simplicity of passive self-organizing architectures with the optical efficiency of master-oscillator power-amplifier ones