Dynamics of a laser with a nonlinear TIR Q switch
- B.I. Stepanov Institute of Physics, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk (Belarus)
Computer simulation and experimental investigations of the dynamics are carried out for a solid state laser with an intracavity nonlinear reflector. The nonlinearity appears upon the internal reflection of radiation from the interface between a transparent dielectric and an absorbing liquid due to a change in the refractive index of the latter upon its heating by a refracted laser wave. Our calculations reveal the dynamics of the reflection coefficient and the power of the laser radiation taking into account the variation of temperature and pressure in the boundary layer of the liquid. The dependences of the lasing parameters on the parameters of the nonlinear reflector and pumping power are studied theoretically and experimentally. It is shown that a Q switch based on the thermal nonlinearity of reflection provides the generation of giant laser pulses whose duration varies from a few hundred nanoseconds to a few nanoseconds. Such a Q switch can be fabricated for any spectral region because it is based on a linear absorber rather than on a saturable absorber. Another advantage of this Q switch is the absence of residual absorption, which is a characteristic feature of all phototropic Q switches. (control of laser radiation parameters)
- OSTI ID:
- 21450512
- Journal Information:
- Quantum Electronics (Woodbury, N.Y.), Vol. 32, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1070/QE2002v032n04ABEH002182; ISSN 1063-7818
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Fine structure of the spectra of giant pulses from actively Q-switched solid-state lasers with injection of external radiation
Generation of nanosecond laser pulses at a 2.2-MHz repetition rate by a cw diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd{sup 3+}:YVO{sub 4} laser
Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ABSORPTION
BOUNDARY LAYERS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DIELECTRIC MATERIALS
INTERFACES
LASER RADIATION
LASER-RADIATION HEATING
LIQUIDS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
PULSES
PUMPING
Q-SWITCHING
REFLECTION
REFRACTIVE INDEX
SOLID STATE LASERS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
FLUIDS
HEATING
LASERS
LAYERS
MATERIALS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PLASMA HEATING
RADIATIONS
SIMULATION
SORPTION