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Persistent URL http://purl.org/net/epubs/work/21614416
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Record Id 21614416
Title DiPOLE: a 10 J, 10 Hz cryogenic gas cooled multi-slab nanosecond Yb:YAG laser
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Abstract The Diode Pumped Optical Laser for Experiments (DiPOLE) project at the Central Laser Facility aims to develop a scalable, efficient high pulse energy diode pumped laser amplifier system based on cryogenic gas cooled, multi-slab ceramic Yb:YAG technology. We present recent results obtained from a scaled down prototype laser system designed for operation at 10 Hz pulse repetition rate. At 140 K, the system generated 10.8 J of energy in a 10 ns pulse at 1029.5 nm when pumped by 48 J of diode energy at 940 nm, corresponding to an optical to optical conversion efficiency of 22.5%. To our knowledge, this represents the highest pulse energy obtained from a cryo cooled Yb laser to date and the highest efficiency achieved by a multi-Joule diode pumped solid state laser system. Additionally, we demonstrated shot-to-shot energy stability of 0.85% rms for the system operated at 7 J, 10 Hz during several runs lasting up to 6 hours, with more than 50 hours in total. We also demonstrated pulse shaping capability and report on beam, wavefront and focal spot quality.
Organisation CLF , CLF-LSD , STFC
Keywords (140.3580) Lasers, solid-state , (140.3538) Lasers pulsed , (140.3615) Lasers, ytterbium , (140.3280) Laser amplifiers
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Language English (EN)
Type Details URI(s) Local file(s) Year
Journal Article Opt Express 23, no. 15 (2015): 19542-19551. doi:10.1364/OE.23.019542 2015