Determination of the thermal lens in solid-state lasers with stable cavities

Journal Article · Thu Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1995 · IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/3.387046· OSTI ID:78402

Neuenschwander, B; Weber, R; Weber, H P ^[1]

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1. Inst. of Applied Physics, Berne (Switzerland)

A useful method to determine the thermal lens in a thermally loaded material inside a laser resonator under operation is presented. The laser beam emitted is focused with a lens placed exactly at the distance of its focal length behind the output mirror. For stable spherical resonators this focusing is not astigmatic even for an astigmatic cavity. This fact is used to experimentally determine the thermal lens including the beam quality factor (beam propagation factor) M{sup 2} of the laser beam. Measurements are presented for an end-pumped rod and longitudinally pumped slab laser serving as an example for an astigmatic cavity.

• OSTI ID: 78402
• Journal Information: IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics, Journal Name: IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 31; ISSN 0018-9197; ISSN IEJQA7
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
FOCUSING
LASER CAVITIES
LASER MIRRORS
LASER RADIATION
OPTICAL PUMPING
PHASE SHIFT
REFRACTIVE INDEX
SOLID STATE LASERS
TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION