title: Power and energy scaling of a diode-end-pumped Nd:YLF laser through gain optimization.
abstract: An end-pumped Nd:YLF laser was demonstrated, which delivered 60.3 W continuous-wave and more than 52 W Q-switched average power for all repetition rates from 5 to 30 kHz. To achieve this, an analytical solution to estimate and optimize the unsaturated gain in an end-pumped laser gain medium was derived. The approach presented here should open up the route for scaling end-pumped lasers to even higher power and energy levels.
authors.affiliation: National Laser Centre, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Pretoria, South Africa. cbollig@csir.co.za
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bollig
authors.forename: Cobus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: M J Daniel
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Esser
authors.forename: Edward H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Bernhardi
authors.forename: Hubertus M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: von Bergmann
mesh_terms: D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004867:Equipment Design; D054023:Lasers, Semiconductor; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009354:Neodymium; D055100:Optical Fibers
chemical_list: D009354:Neodymium