A utilização de lasers de estado sólido bombeados por diodos laser tem atraído interesse crescente devido a sua alta eficiência, seu tamanho compacto e com a possibilidade da operação com altas potências-pico. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar configurações de cavidades ressonantes laser, que possibilitem a obtenção de pulsos chaveados Q e futura dobra de freqüência, para aplicações em LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), utilizando como meio ativo cristais de Nd:YLF crescidos pelo método de Czochralski no Centro de Lasers e Aplicações IPEN USP, com bombeio lateral por diodo laser, com uma, duas, quatro e nove reflexões internas totais do feixe laser na superfície do cristal. Das seis cavidades construídas, três cavidades foram desenvolvidas para operarem com baixo ganho, grande armazenamento de energia e com grande aproveitamento de inversão de população, bombeadas com diodo laser em 806 nm e outras três cavidades foram desenvolvidas para operarem com alta absorção de bombeio e alto ganho, bombeadas com diodo laser emitindo em 797 nm. Das seis cavidades desenvolvidas, as que apresentaram melhor eficiência de conversão óptica, foram as cavidades operando com alto ganho e alta absorção (cavidade quatro a seis), com 29,5% e 20,7% de eficiência de conversão óptica, propiciando a obtenção de pulsos chaveados de 20 ns com potência-pico de 160kW. / The use of diode pumped, solid state lasers has caused increasing interest due its high efficiency, compactness and possibility of operation in high peak powers. The goal of this work was the study of configurations of laser resonators that allow to obtain Q-switched pulses and a future frequency doubling, for LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) applications. Using as active medium Nd:YLF crystals grown by the Czochralski method at the Centro de Lasers e Aplicações IPEN USP, side pumping by laser diodes, with one, two, four and nine total internal reflexions of the laser beam at the surface of the crystals was employed. From the six resonators built, three of them were designed to work with low gain, pumped by a laser diode emitting at 806 nm. Another three laser resonators were designed to work with high pump absorption and high gain, pumped by a laser diode emitting at 797 nm. From the six developed resonators, the ones which showed the best optical conversion efficiency, were the resonators designed to work with high gain and high absorption (resonator four to six), showing 29,5% and 20,7% optical conversion efficiency, and enabling obtaining Q-switched pulses of 20 ns, with 160 kW peak power.

A utilização de lasers de estado sólido bombeados por diodos laser tem atraído interesse crescente devido a sua alta eficiência, seu tamanho compacto e com a possibilidade da operação com altas potências-pico. O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar configurações de cavidades ressonantes laser, que possibilitem a obtenção de pulsos chaveados Q e futura dobra de freqüência, para aplicações em LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), utilizando como meio ativo cristais de Nd:YLF crescidos pelo método de Czochralski no Centro de Lasers e Aplicações IPEN USP, com bombeio lateral por diodo laser, com uma, duas, quatro e nove reflexões internas totais do feixe laser na superfície do cristal. Das seis cavidades construídas, três cavidades foram desenvolvidas para operarem com baixo ganho, grande armazenamento de energia e com grande aproveitamento de inversão de população, bombeadas com diodo laser em 806 nm e outras três cavidades foram desenvolvidas para operarem com alta absorção de bombeio e alto ganho, bombeadas com diodo laser emitindo em 797 nm. Das seis cavidades desenvolvidas, as que apresentaram melhor eficiência de conversão óptica, foram as cavidades operando com alto ganho e alta absorção (cavidade quatro a seis), com 29,5% e 20,7% de eficiência de conversão óptica, propiciando a obtenção de pulsos chaveados de 20 ns com potência-pico de 160kW. / The use of diode pumped, solid state lasers has caused increasing interest due its high efficiency, compactness and possibility of operation in high peak powers. The goal of this work was the study of configurations of laser resonators that allow to obtain Q-switched pulses and a future frequency doubling, for LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) applications. Using as active medium Nd:YLF crystals grown by the Czochralski method at the Centro de Lasers e Aplicações IPEN USP, side pumping by laser diodes, with one, two, four and nine total internal reflexions of the laser beam at the surface of the crystals was employed. From the six resonators built, three of them were designed to work with low gain, pumped by a laser diode emitting at 806 nm. Another three laser resonators were designed to work with high pump absorption and high gain, pumped by a laser diode emitting at 797 nm. From the six developed resonators, the ones which showed the best optical conversion efficiency, were the resonators designed to work with high gain and high absorption (resonator four to six), showing 29,5% and 20,7% optical conversion efficiency, and enabling obtaining Q-switched pulses of 20 ns, with 160 kW peak power.

Abstract In this dissertation a rigorous analysis is performed on the reentrant non-planar ring laser cavity constructed by the Herriott-type multi-pass cell. Since the non-planar ring cavity is a non-orthogonal cavity, so the ABCD matrix method used to analyze the beam propagation is not valid. A rigorous method using Gaussian beam propagation is needed. The beam rotation, astigmatism, and spherical aberration are considered to obtain a self-consistent solution of the Gaussian beam. It turns out that spherical aberration is a very important issue for this non-planar resonator. Without taking into account the spherical aberration, a stable resonator would be difficult to realize. By using a self-consistent Gaussian beam propagation method, the characteristic of laser beam was analyzed and compared with that of the ABCD approximation method. The reentrant ring cavity is very sensitive to cavity length, especially when the planar and non-planar configurations have the same output beams; therefore, it is very important to consider a rigorous method using Gaussian beam propagation. By considering the coordinate transformation of the beam after mirror reflection, a non-planar figure-8 ring cavity can be treated as an orthogonal cavity except for an exchange of tangential and Sagittal planes after each reflection. A simple astigmatic Gaussian beam approach is used to analyze the non-planar figure-8 ring cavity, and an analytic solution is obtained. For the general case of the multi-pass non-planar ring cavity, a general astigmatic Gaussian beam approach is used to treat the problem. The general form of mirror phase shift is used, and two important differences compared to the ABCD method were found. Firstly, the spot size is always elliptical while the spot size is circular using the ABCD approximation. Secondly, a second stable region is found in the cavity, the width of the second stable region is smaller than the first stable regi

High power diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) lasers are a rapidly growing technology that is attractive for various applications in scientific and industrial fields. DPSS lasers are highly efficient, reliable and durable with superior beam quality when compared to flash-lamp pumped lasers. Double-tungstate crystals such as potassium yttrium tungstate Yb:KY(WO₄)₂ (Yb:KYW) are one of the most popular active materials used in DPSS lasers for generation of continuous wave radiation and ultrashort (i.e. femtosecond, 10⁻¹⁵ s) pulses with high average output power. The high pump power of laser diodes results in considerable heat generation in a laser crystal that in turn causes thermal lensing effect. Thermal lensing affects the performance and stability of a resonator, and plays an important role in limiting the output power and degrading the beam quality of solid state lasers. Despite these facts, no detailed studies of thermal effects in Yb:KYW lasers were reported to date. In this work thermal lensing in a diode-pumped Ng-cut Yb:KYW laser operating at the wavelength of 1.04 μm was characterized. A maximum output power of 3.5 W with a nearly diffraction limited output beam (M₂ < 1.2) was achieved under the absorbed pump power of 13.8 W. The focal lengths of the induced thermal lenses were obtained from the laser output beam size measurements at various incident pump power levels and ABCD matrix analysis. At maximum output power the focal length of the induced thermal lens was found to be 814 mm for the Nm direction (horizontal) and 144 mm for the Np direction (vertical). Thermal lens sensitivity factors were 1.26 m⁻¹/W and 0.32 m⁻¹/W for the Np and Nm directions, respectively. This highly astigmatic thermal lensing can be explained by strong anisotropy of thermo-optical properties of the crystal and its cooling geometry. In addition, the finite element analysis (FEA) method was employed to obtain the focal lengths of the induced thermal lens inside the crystal. Simulation results obtained from the theoretical model were compared to experimental data, and the accuracy of the model was verified. The results of this work are critical for practical design of the efficient and reliable Yb:KYW lasers with multi-Watt average output power.

High power diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) lasers are a rapidly growing technology that is attractive for various applications in scientific and industrial fields. DPSS lasers are highly efficient, reliable and durable with superior beam quality when compared to flash-lamp pumped lasers. Double-tungstate crystals such as potassium yttrium tungstate Yb:KY(WO₄)₂ (Yb:KYW) are one of the most popular active materials used in DPSS lasers for generation of continuous wave radiation and ultrashort (i.e. femtosecond, 10⁻¹⁵ s) pulses with high average output power. The high pump power of laser diodes results in considerable heat generation in a laser crystal that in turn causes thermal lensing effect. Thermal lensing affects the performance and stability of a resonator, and plays an important role in limiting the output power and degrading the beam quality of solid state lasers. Despite these facts, no detailed studies of thermal effects in Yb:KYW lasers were reported to date. In this work thermal lensing in a diode-pumped Ng-cut Yb:KYW laser operating at the wavelength of 1.04 μm was characterized. A maximum output power of 3.5 W with a nearly diffraction limited output beam (M₂ < 1.2) was achieved under the absorbed pump power of 13.8 W. The focal lengths of the induced thermal lenses were obtained from the laser output beam size measurements at various incident pump power levels and ABCD matrix analysis. At maximum output power the focal length of the induced thermal lens was found to be 814 mm for the Nm direction (horizontal) and 144 mm for the Np direction (vertical). Thermal lens sensitivity factors were 1.26 m⁻¹/W and 0.32 m⁻¹/W for the Np and Nm directions, respectively. This highly astigmatic thermal lensing can be explained by strong anisotropy of thermo-optical properties of the crystal and its cooling geometry. In addition, the finite element analysis (FEA) method was employed to obtain the focal lengths of the induced thermal lens inside the crystal. Simulation results obtained from the theoretical model were compared to experimental data, and the accuracy of the model was verified. The results of this work are critical for practical design of the efficient and reliable Yb:KYW lasers with multi-Watt average output power.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:28:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:57:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertacao (Mestrado Profissionalizante em Lasers em Odontologia) / IPEN/D-MPLO / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP; Faculdade de Odontologia, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:55:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:07:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Dissertacao (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN/CNEN-SP / FAPESP:06/52787-0

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:28:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:57:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertacao (Mestrado Profissionalizante em Lasers em Odontologia) / IPEN/D-MPLO / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP; Faculdade de Odontologia, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:55:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:07:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Para muitas aplicações de um laser, é necessário um feixe com boa qualidade no modo fundamental. Neste trabalho são investigadas as condições para se obter alta eficiência e qualidade do feixe, otimizando o acoplamento do modo fundamental com a região do meio ativo excitada pelo bombeamento, por meio da utilização de cavidades inovadoras. A maior eficiência já reportada para um laser de Nd:YLF com oscilação em 1053 nm sob bombeamento transversal por diodo é demonstrada usando uma cavidade compacta baseada em uma reflexão interna total na face de bombeamento, obtendo-se uma potência máxima de saída multimodo de 9,5W para 21W de bombeamento, o que corresponde a 45% de conversão óptica. Uma melhora significativa na qualidade do feixe é demonstrada por meio do desenvolvimento de uma cavidade com duas reflexões no meio ativo, obtendo-se uma potência máxima no modo fundamental de 6,9W com fator de qualidade M2 do feixe igual a 1,16 x 1,05 nas direções horizontal e vertical, respectivamente. / Dissertacao (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN/CNEN-SP / FAPESP:06/52787-0

Šios disertacijos tikslas – didelio tikslumo matuoklio, skirto šiluminio lęšio lazerių aktyviuosiuose elementuose matavimams sukūrimas, bei įvairių metodų, skirtų šiluminio lęšio įtakos mažinimui tyrimas. Matavimai buvo atliekami Shack‘o ir Hartmann‘o bangos fronto matuokliu, kuris buvo pritaikytas mažų skersinių matmenų (<1x1 mm) šiluminio lęšio matavimams. Pademonstruotas naujos konstrukcijos asferinis kompensatorius iš esmes mažinantis šiluminio lęšio aberacijų įtaką išilginio diodinio kaupinimo lazeriuose. Atlikti šiluminio lęšio aberacijų matavimai buvo panaudoti kompensatoriaus profilio skaičiavimams. Naudojant asferinį kompensatorių, pagamintą plonasienių dangų užgarinimo būdu, generacijos slenkstis sumažėjo daugiau kaip 3 kartus, taip pat ženkliai pagerėjo lazerio pluošto intensyvumo skirstinys. Darbe nagrinėjamas stiprinamų impulsų energijos didinimo būdas pasitelkiant eliptinę rezonatoriaus modą Yb:IAG lazeryje. Šis metodas leidžia kelis kartus padidinti stiprinamų impulsų energiją, išlaikant dirakciškai ribotus erdvinius pluošto parametrus. Taip pat, surasta lazerio rezonatoriaus konfigūracija, leidžianti palaikyti stipriai astigmatišką modą aktyviajame elemente, ir simetrišką modą lazerio išėjime. Pateikiami šiluminio lęšio matavimų rezultatai „atermalinės“ ir Ng orientacijos Yb:KGW kristaluose. Taip pat, parodėme, kad kristalo galų išsigaubimo įtaka Ng orientacijos Yb:KGW aktyviuosiuose elementuose gali siekti 50%. Atlikti tyrimai parodė, kad išbandyta... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In this thesis, analysis of thermal effects and various approaches for their mitigation in diode end pumped ultrafast lasers is presented. Experimental investigations were performed by employing Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor which was adapted for measurements of thermal lens in diode end pumped lasers. During research, operation of high average power, diode-pumped, Nd:YVO4 laser with aspheric aberration corrector was investigated. Actual thermal lens measurements were conducted in order to design properly shaped aberration corrector that was manufactured using a thin film deposition technology. This allows us to conclude that employment of proper thermal lens aberration compensator allowed for laser threshold reducing and ensured improved output beam quality parameter M2 in wide pump power range. Prospects of output pulse energy scaling in diode end-pumped Yb:YAG laser by employing elliptical mode geometry was investigated. During our experiments, maximum average power in of ~ 5.5 W was obtained at repetition rates of 30-100 kHz, while in CW operation mode the 8 W output power was achieved. In spite of strongly astigmatic thermal lens due to optimized cavity design the output beam exhibits high spatial quality: beam quality parameter M2 in both vertical and horizontal plane was close to unity. Detailed comparative study of thermal effects in Yb doped KGW crystals with different orientation was performed. Measurements confirm, that anisotropic optical and thermal properties... [to full text]