title: Extending the narrow-bandwidth tunability of a thin disk Yb:YAG laser regenerative amplifier.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Photonische Technologien, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 9, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Paa
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Knappe
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Triebel