Characterization of a multi-kW, large-aperture gas-cooled Faraday rotator

Journal Article · 11 February 2025 · Optics Express

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.551390 · OSTI ID:2515650

Batysta, František  ^[1]; Novák, Jakub  ^[2]; Erdman, Emily ^[2]; Sistrunk, Emily ^[1]; Vella, Anthony ^[1]; Galvin, Thomas ^[1]; Torrance, Michael ^[3]; Mambourg, Joseph ^[3]; Scerbak, David ^[3]; Byrne, Conor ^[3]; Rus, Bedřich ^[2]; Bayramian, Andy ^[4]; Schaffers, Kathleen ^[1]; Heinbockel, Chuck ^[1]; Rosso, Paul ^[1]; Gibson, David ^[1]; Velas, Katherine ^[1]; Spinka, Thomas  ^[1]

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1. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
2. Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI ERIC) (Czech Republic)
3. Coherent, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (United States)
4. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Seurat Technologies, Wilmington, MA (United States)

We characterize a large-aperture gas-cooled Faraday rotator (FR) designed to mitigate stress-induced depolarization in high-energy, high-power laser systems. The rotator, based on ceramic TGG, was tested using a 150 mW probe beam at 1047 nm and a pump beam at 1070 nm. Compensating for the birefringence induced by the surrogate depolarization plate at 3.3 kW of effective pump power, the rotator reduces the spatially in-homogeneous depolarized light containing linear, circular, and elliptical polarization states to nearly linear with approximately 0.8% (or -21 dB) of residual depolarized energy. The FR demonstrated effective depolarization compensation across its 58×58 mm² aperture.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC52-07NA27344
• OSTI ID: 2515650
• Report Number(s): LLNL--JRNL-869397; 1104600
• Journal Information: Optics Express, Journal Name: Optics Express Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 33; ISSN 1094-4087
• Publisher: Optical Society of America (OSA)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English