Development of a variable focal length concave mirror for on-shot thermal lens correction in rod amplifiers

An optical surface of variable concave parabolic shape and a clear aperture of 30 mm was created using two rings to deform a flat 50.8 mm diameter mirror. The deformable mirror assembly was modeled using finite element analysis software as well as analytical solutions. Measured parabolic surface deformation showed good agreement with those models. Mirror performance was quantitatively studied using an interferometer and focal lengths from hundreds of meters down to the meter scale have been achieved. In this publication, the deformable mirror has been applied to compensate on shot thermal lensing in 16 mm diameter and 25 mm diameter Nd:Phosphate glass rod amplifiers by using only a single actuator. The possibility to rapidly change focal lengths across two to three orders of magnitude has applications for remote sensing, such as laser induced breakdown spectroscopy, LIDAR, and control of laser filament formation.