Abstract
The 2–5 μm pulsed lasers with a relative high pulse repetition frequency (PRF) and high pulse energy are of great value for scientific and technical applications, such as laser medical diagnostics, lidar systems, spectroscopy, and mid-infrared countermeasures[
In this Letter, a high energy, high PRF polarized 2.09 μm Ho:YAG laser pumped by a homemade TDFL was first described. Then, the double-resonant ZGP-OPO was presented with this fundamental laser source. The maximum output 2.09 μm laser energy reached about 13.5 mJ at a PRF of 1 kHz, corresponding to continuous wave (CW) power of 16.7 W. The maximum 3–5 μm laser energy reached about 1.25 mJ at a PRF of 3 kHz, corresponding to the peak power of 71.6 kW.
Figure
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Figure 1.Layout of the TDFL-pumped Ho:YAG oscillator and amplifier system. (
The spectra of the TDFLs were first measured with a high-resolution spectral analyzer (AQ6375, Yokogawa). Figure
Figure 2.(Color online) Typical output spectra of
The main CW output characteristics of the Ho:YAG oscillator were shown in Fig.
Figure 3.(Color online) CW output characteristics of polarized the Ho:YAG oscillator. (a) The pump absorption efficiency of the Ho:YAG crystal, the CW output power, and the transmittance of
The main Q-switched output characteristics of the Ho:YAG oscillator were shown in Fig.
Figure 4.(Color online) Pulsed output characteristics of the polarized Ho:YAG oscillator. (a) Pulse energy and pulse duration versus PRF with pump power of 51.6 W; (b) the pulse profiles at eight different PRFs.
The
Figure 5.(Color online) Output characteristics of the polarized Ho:YAG amplifier. (a) Amplified output CW power versus pump power from
In the experiments above, the Ho:YAG laser performance was of value for the study of the mid-infrared nonlinear process. Here, we apply this fiber-bulk holmium laser system to ZGP-OPO to obtain a 3–5 μm pulsed laser. Figure
Figure 6.Layout of the TDFL-pumped Ho:YAG oscillator and amplifier system. (
The ZGP-OPO was first pumped with the pulsed output laser of the Ho:YAG oscillator. The focal length of lens
Figure 7.(Color online) (a) Comparison of typical pump pulse profile and parametric pulse profile; (b) the beam quality measurement of parametric light.
To further scale the mid-infrared pulse energy and the conversion efficiency, the ZGP-OPO was then pumped with the pulsed output laser of the Ho:YAG amplifier. The focal length of lens
Figure 8.(Color online) (a) Total parametric output average power versus incident pump average power at a PRF of 3 kHz; (b) the beam quality measurements at three typical parametric pulse energies.
In conclusion, the maximum polarized 2.09 μm CW power of 16.7 W and polarized 2.09 μm pulse energy of 13.46 mJ at a PRF of 1 kHz are achieved in a TDFL-pumped Ho:YAG laser. By applying this polarized 2.09 μm pulse laser to ZGP-OPO, the maximum 3–5 μm pulse energy of 1.25 mJ at a PRF of 3 kHz is achieved with a conversion efficiency of 41.73% and a slope efficiency of 53.29%. The peak power reaches about 79.13 kW. The parametric pulse energy and conversion efficiency can be further improved by increasing the pump intensity.
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