High-average-power planar waveguide lasers

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Description/Abstract

Reported in this thesis is some progress towards high-average-power diode-pumped planar waveguide lasers. As a format of the laser active medium, planar waveguides take advantage of their extreme slab geometry, which is compatible with that of high-power diode lasers, offer a great degree of versatility of the pump arrangement, have excellent thermal handling capability, and deliver high optical gains per unit pump power. Pumped with different schemes, three kinds of planar waveguides are investigated herein: direct-bonded double-clad planar waveguides, ion-exchanged tapered waveguides, and thick films fabricated by pulsed laser deposition, of which a double-clad planar waveguide produced laser output power of up to 58W. PLD planar waveguides are investigated as a flexible alternative in high-power planar waveguide laser systems. As an initial demonstration, a slope efficiency of 11.2% was obtained from a diode-stack-pumped 50μm Nd:GGG PLD waveguide. The effect of self-imaging was observed with a 27μm Nd:GGG PLD waveguide.