Efficient Nd:YAG laser end pumped by a 20-W diode-laser bar

Area of Science:

• Laser physics
• Optics
• Materials science

Background:

• Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Nd:YAG) lasers are widely used for various applications.
• Efficient pumping is crucial for optimizing laser performance.
• Diode-laser pumping offers advantages in terms of efficiency and compactness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate efficient continuous-wave (cw) operation of a Nd:YAG laser.
• To implement a novel pump reshaping and focusing scheme.
• To achieve high output power in fundamental-transverse-mode operation.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal pumping of a Nd:YAG laser.
• Utilizing a 20-W cw diode-laser bar as the pump source.
• Employing a novel pump reshaping and focusing technique.

Main Results:

• Achieved efficient cw operation of the Nd:YAG laser.
• Demonstrated fundamental-transverse-mode operation at 1.064 micrometers.
• Obtained output powers of 6 W (unpolarized) and 5.3 W (linearly polarized) with 14.4 W of incident pump power.

Conclusions:

• The novel pump reshaping and focusing scheme enables efficient cw operation of Nd:YAG lasers.
• High output powers are achievable with optimized diode-laser pumping.
• This method is promising for developing high-performance laser systems.