Increasing Performance of Solid-State Lasers with Phantom Pulses
Based on their constant product research and development efforts, the staff at MegaWatt Lasers produced a paper, entitled “Compensation of Thermal Lensing in Solid-State Laser Gain Media using Phantom Pulses.”
The Abstract of this paper states:
Phantom pulses are low energy, high repetition rate pulses used to induce controlled thermal lensing in the laser rod for purposes of achieving full output energy at single shot operation and/or at a broad range of repetition rates. The energy of the phantom pulses is below the lasing threshold and the repetition rate is low enough so that there is minimal stored energy left in the gain media when the lasing pulse occurs. The method of using phantom pulses to increase performance benefits resonators that perform better at a higher average power. Additionally phantom pulses can be used to control divergence over a resonator’s operational range.
Their conclusions demonstrate that:
- Phantom pulses provide a reliable method of increasing performance of solid-state laser materials at a low repetition rate without altering the geometry of the laser rod. This method allows for a single resonator system which can perform over a large range of repetition rates, including single shot.
- Phantom pulses are useful for resonators that need to operate at full energy on the first pulse or for all pulses in a burst mode.
- Both the phantom pulses and lasing pulses can be provided by the same power supply and capacitor bank.
- There are some drawbacks to the use of phantom pulses such as lower wall plug efficiency. Given that the laser driver is supplying both the pulses for the phantom pulses and the laser pulses, a higher overall drive power is needed for low average power operation.
For all the details about this research activity, read the complete paper.
About MegaWatt Lasers
MegaWatt Lasers 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. MegaWatt Lasers 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.