Composite polymer-glass edge cladding for laser disks
- Livermore, CA
- San Ramon, CA
- Palo Alto, CA
- Tracy, CA
Large neodymium glass laser disks for disk amplifiers such as those used in the Nova laser require an edge cladding which absorbs at 1 micrometer. This cladding prevents edge reflections from causing parasitic oscillations which would otherwise deplete the gain. Nova now utilizes volume-absorbing monolithic-glass claddings which are fused at high temperature to the disks. These perform quite well but are expensive to produce. Absorbing glass strips are adhesively bonded to the edges of polygonal disks using a bonding agent whose index of refraction matches that of both the laser and absorbing glass. Optical finishing occurs after the strips are attached. Laser disks constructed with such claddings have shown identical gain performance to the previous Nova disks and have been tested for hundreds of shots without significant degradation.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- Assignee:
- United States of America as represented by United States (Washington, DC)
- Patent Number(s):
- US 4849036
- OSTI ID:
- 867040
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Composite polymer-glass edge cladding for laser disks
Development of composite polymer-glass edge claddings for Nova laser disks
Related Subjects
polymer-glass
edge
cladding
laser
disks
neodymium
glass
disk
amplifiers
nova
require
absorbs
micrometer
prevents
reflections
causing
parasitic
oscillations
otherwise
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utilizes
volume-absorbing
monolithic-glass
claddings
fused
temperature
perform
expensive
produce
absorbing
strips
adhesively
bonded
edges
polygonal
bonding
agent
index
refraction
matches
optical
finishing
occurs
attached
constructed
shown
identical
performance
previous
tested
hundreds
shots
significant
degradation
bonding agent
composite polymer
cladding prevents
neodymium glass
glass laser
laser disks
parasitic oscillation
edge cladding
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