Characterization of Ti:Sapphire Laser Rods for Installation in the Polarized Light Source

Technical Report · Thu Feb 05 00:00:00 EST 2004

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/826723· OSTI ID:826723

Corum, S ^[1]

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1. SLAC

The F1ash:Ti laser in the Polarized Light Source at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) is used to obtain spin polarized electrons for high-energy particle physics experiments. The F1ash:Ti laser utilizes titanium-doped sapphire (Ti:Sapphire) crystals to produce laser light. The properties of these crystals, or laser rods, greatly affect the quality of the laser beam produced (e.g. power and jitter), which in turn affects the overall quality and reliability of the particle physics experiments at SLAC. In this interest, seven Ti:Sapphire laser rods were tested for absorption and transmission properties as a function of angular position (i.e. the rod was rotated along its geometrical axis). 833 nm light from a diode laser was linearly polarized and passed through the rods to test for transmission properties. The time-averaged power output of the emitted light was measured with a photodiode/powermeter apparatus. Similarly, the absorption properties of the rods were tested by passing linearly polarized light from a 543 nm green He:Ne laser through the rods. The rod with the best combination of absorption and transmission properties was selected for installation in the Polarized Light Source at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center.

• Research Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park, CA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (US)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00515
• OSTI ID: 826723
• Report Number(s): SLAC-PUB-9390
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
ABSORPTION
ELECTRONS
LASERS
LIGHT SOURCES
PHYSICS
RELIABILITY
SAPPHIRE
SPIN
STANFORD LINEAR ACCELERATOR CENTER