Extending the narrow-bandwidth tunability of a thin disk Yb:YAG laser regenerative amplifier.
We investigate the characteristics of a thin disk laser system based on the master oscillator-power amplifier design. The amplifier emits parasitic laser oscillation (PL) when the wavelength of the tunable narrow-bandwidth seed pulse is detuned more than 4 nm from the gain maximum at 1030 nm. For suppression of this unwanted PL, a birefringent filter (Lyot filter) was inserted into the amplifier cavity in order to generate wavelength selective losses, especially at the gain maximum of the Yb:YAG crystal. It is shown that the tunability range of the laser system can be extended by a factor of 4, when a properly chosen Lyot filter is applied and its angle of rotation is adapted to the seed wavelength of the system.
Wagner
Volker
V
Institut für Photonische Technologien, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 9, 07745 Jena, Germany.
Paa
Wolfgang
W
Knappe
Christoph
C
Triebel
Wolfgang
W