Cryogenic ceramic 277 watt Yb:YAG thin-disk laser

Vretenar, Natasa; Newell, Tim C.; Carson, Tyler; Peterson, Phillip; Lucas, Tim; Latham, William P.; Bostanci, Huseyin; Huddle-Lindauer, Jennifer J.; Saarloos, Benjamin A.; Rini, Dan

doi:doi:10.1117/1.OE.51.1.014201

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Optical Engineering / Volume 51 / Issue 1 / Lasers and Laser Optics

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Cryogenic ceramic 277 watt Yb:YAG thin-disk laser

Opt. Eng. 51, 014201 (Feb 09, 2012); http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.51.1.014201

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Abstract

References (15)

Citing Articles (21)

Natasa Vretenar

University of New Mexico, Center for High Technology Materials, 1313 Goddard SE Albuquerque, New Mexico 87106

Tim C. Newell, Tyler Carson, and William P. Latham

Air Force Research Laboratory Directed Energy Directorate, 3550 Aberdeen Avenue SE Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico 87117

Phillip Peterson and Tim Lucas

Boeing LTS Inc., P.O. Box 5670 MC RN-M1 Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico 87117

Huseyin Bostanci, Jennifer J. Huddle-Lindauer, Benjamin A. Saarloos, and Dan Rini

RINI Technologies, 582 South Econ Circle Oviedo, Florida 32765

A ceramic ytterbium:yttrium aluminum garnet (Yb:YAG) thin-disk laser is investigated at 15°C (288 K) and also at 80 K, where it behaves as a four-level laser. We introduce a new two-phase spray cooling method to cool the Yb:YAG. One system relies on R134a refrigerant while the other uses liquid nitrogen (LN₂). The use of two systems allows the same disk to be tested at the two temperatures. When the Yb:YAG is cooled from room to cryogenic temperatures, the lasing threshold drops from 155 W to near 10 W, while the slope efficiency increases from 54% to a 63%. A 277 W laser with 520 W of pump is demonstrated. We also model the thermal and structural properties at these two temperatures and estimate the beam quality.

History

Received Aug 24, 2011
Accepted Nov 02, 2011
Revised Nov 01, 2011
Published online Feb 09, 2012

Digital Object Identifier

http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.51.1.014201

Citation

Natasa Vretenar, Tim C. Newell, Tyler Carson, Phillip Peterson, Tim Lucas, William P. Latham, Huseyin Bostanci, Jennifer J. Huddle-Lindauer, Benjamin A. Saarloos and Dan Rini, "Cryogenic ceramic 277 watt Yb:YAG thin-disk laser", Opt. Eng. 51, 014201 (Feb 09, 2012); http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.51.1.014201