Compact Laser for Urological Applications
The team at MegaWatt Lasers (MWL) has developed an innovative design for a compact laser tailored to urological applications. This new device has been documented in their paper, entitled “2.1 μm Compact Laser with Fiber Launched Output for Urological Applications.”
The Abstract states:
For some urological applications such as lithotripsy and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) treatment, high average power and high pulse energy laser emission in the 2 μm spectral region is required. Often, this requires the usage of multiple laser resonators combined to overcome the thermal effects of the CTH:YAG gain media. Beam combining methods can be complicated and difficult to align. Our novel beam combining method, with the use of several enabling technologies, results in a physically and optically compact design capable of reaching high average power. We report on the output of a beam combined laser with 4 independently operating CTH:YAG resonators lasing on the 2.13 μm transition. Each resonator produced approximately 4 J at a repetition rate of 10 Hz, resulting in a combined output of more than 4 J at 40 Hz. We have demonstrated the output of beam combined resonators resulting in an output greater than 120 W through a 600 μm fiber at a 40 Hz repetition rate. We have also demonstrated the ability to launch a laser beam with output power of approximately 60 W through a 200 μm fiber.
To support this effort, MWL designed and built a quad flash lamp driver and developed a methodology of using phantom pulses to increase laser performance. In total, MegaWatt Lasers published five papers documenting this task. The other papers are:
- Compensation of Thermal Lensing in Solid-State Laser Gain Media using Phantom Pulses
- Quad Flashlamp Driver
- Compact Laser Beam Combiner
- 200 W Compact 2.1 μm CTH YAG Laser
About MegaWatt Lasers
MegaWatt Lasers (MWL) provides solid-state laser consulting, R&D, and manufacturing capabilities. The company manufactures best-in-class laser pump chambers for a variety of applications covering all solid-state wavelengths. These pump chamber designs provide unsurpassed performance, reliability, and leak integrity to meet the demanding needs of your laser system design. Through many years of experience, they have optimized their pump chamber designs to provide features such as high efficiency diffuse reflectors and symmetric radial cooling. MWL specializes in eye-safe laser technology. They maintain an inventory of standard pump chambers for immediate delivery, while modular design allows for cost-effective, custom solutions.
Their products include:
- Pump Chambers
- Resonators
- Diode-Pumped, Solid-State Lasers
- Drivers and Electronics
- Application-Specific Lasers
- Laser Components
- Laser Rods
- Laser Optics
- Laser Flashlamps
- Laser Trigger Transformers
For more information about products from MegaWatt Lasers, contact IL Photonics.