We have introduced several factors that can be useful for the modeling and analysis of high-power Ti:sapphire laser amplifiers. The amplification model includes the phase distortion effect caused by the atomic phase shift (APS) in gain medium and the thermal-induced phase distortion effect caused by the high-average-power amplification. We have provided an accurate amplification model for the development of ultra-high-intensity and high-average-power lasers.
The thermal lensing effect in high-average power Nd:YAG-laser amplifiers is compensated by stimulated Brillouin scattering in CS 2. Nearly diffraction limited laser beams with average powers above 100 Watts were obtained. The system emitted bursts of 10 to 30 pulses with 40 ns width. The bursts have a repetition rate of 100 Hz and a duration of 100 µs. The beam quality degrades by depolarization effects at the highest pump and output powers. This degradation is avoided using polarization preserving Nd:YALO-laser crystals.
In situ 3-D temperature mapping of high average power cryogenic laser amplifiers
