Aspheric lensing control for high power butt-coupled end-pumped laser

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] This invention relates generally to diode pumped lasers, and more particularly to a diode pumped laser with high efficiency that is achieved by tailoring an intensity profile to the pump beam rather than the laser cavity.

[0004] 2. Description of Related Art

[0005] Today, mode matching is well understood. In mode matching, the laser cavity has a fundamental mode (TEMoo) of a given diameter. The laser radiation from a pump source, including but not limited to a diode or Ti: Sapphire laser, is focused into this volume in a spot diameter smaller than the diameter of the TEMoo mode. Provided the TEMoo mode is larger than the pump spot, the laser can only laze TEMoo. Regardless of where the pump spot is placed within the TEMoo mode diameter, the laser produces a consistent TEMoo mode.

[0006] In the ideal mode-matching case, the pump spot has a gaussian intensity profile and matches perfectly to the gaussian profile of the TEMoo cavity mode. Researchers have struggled to improve the beam quality of laser diodes so their outputs can be coupled into smaller spots with lower NA—i.e, to make them more a like the Ti:sapphire lasers employed in the early days of end pumping. The recent surge in porgies with fiber lasers has stemmed almost entirely from the improvements in diode “brightness” allowing 10's of Watts of diode light to be coupled into 200 μm spots with low NA.

[0007] In a conventional side-pumped laser rod using flash pumps, the pump energy is deposited uniformly across the diameter of the laser rod, leading to a parabolic temperature distribution which causes a conventional spherical thermal lens. Spherical lenses can be accounted for in resonator design and also corrected using intracavity spherical lenses of opposite magnitude. In side-pumped lasers using diodes, the diode light is focused into the laser rod (especially in lower gain CW pumped systems). Such focusing maximizes gain and makes advantage of the optical quality of the diode pump light and its ability to overlap directed energy beam to a common spot in the center of the laser rod. The act of focusing induces strong aberrations in the thermal lens in such systems.

[0008] The act of end-pumping the laser places an intense heat source in the center of a crystal and causes an aberration in the parabolic temperature distribution and this aberration makes an Aspheric lens. The Aspheric lens cannot be compensated using spherical optics, and the cavity modes which have spherical wavefronts are distorted by the Aspheric lens. The result is that the cavity mode is changed in a way that cannot be predicted using the traditional laser designer's tools of ABCD matrixes which allow calculation of round-trip parameters and mode sizes using gaussian beam optics. The result is that the ensuing laser output is not TEMoo even when the pump spot is smaller that the TEMoo mode volume calculated using conventional means. Furthermore, even if the pump spot is made much smaller that the TEMoo mode size calculated by ABCD matrices, the output is far from TEMoo.

[0009] Researchers have corrected this phenomena by employing intracavity correcting optics that are fabricated with the Aspheric lens surface induced by end-pumping at the expense of additional complexity and losses caused by the imperfect surfaces of diamond turned optics. Additionally, this correction is perfect at only one pump power since the lens shape changes with pump power.

[0010] Researches have limited the lazing mode to the central region of the pump volume where the lensing is more spherical and employs special confocal or concentric laser cavities. This allows for expansion of the cavity mode in the laser crystal under strong thermal focusing. In general it is well understood that placing a strong lensing laser crystal in the center of a nearconfocal or concentric resonator will cause the TEMoo mode to expand within the crystal making mode matching between pump and TEMoo mode easier.

[0011] As pump power is scaled to higher levels, the central pump region over which lensing is spherical becomes smaller while the Aspheric region in the edges of the pump region expands. In order to extract TEMoo output the cavity mode must be constrained to this successively smaller region with a resulting reduction in efficiency.

[0012] These current methods of confining the TEMoo cavity mode to the central pump region, where the OPD is parabolic & lensing spherical, results in a dramatic reduction in extraction efficiency. This is particularly true for lasers pumped with low to moderate pump powers of 10w or less. However, at higher pump powers the thermal lensing produced in most gain media, such as Nd:YAG, or Nd:YV04, becomes significant.

[0013] There is a need for a diode pumped laser which is efficient at high pump powers equal to or exceeding 10 W. There is a further need for a diode pumped laser with high TEMoo mode extraction efficiency. Yet a further need exists for a diode pumped laser where the intensity profile is tailored to the pump beam rather than the laser cavity. Another need exists for a diode pumped laser where the gain media is pumped by a beam with a quasi-top-hat pump profile. Still another need exists for a diode pumped laser where the gain media is pumped by a beam with a sharp decrease in pump intensity at the edges of the pump region.

[0014] Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a diode pumped laser that is efficient at high pump powers of 10 W or greater.

[0015] Another object of the invention is to provide a diode pumped laser where the laser mode profile is controlled by the diode pump beam and not the laser cavity.

[0016] Still another object of the invention is to provide a diode pumped laser with a pump beam that has a quasi-top-hat pump profile.

[0017] Yet another object of the invention is to provide a diode pumped laser with a pump beam that provides a sharp decrease in pump intensity at the edge of a pump region.

[0018] Another object of the invention is to provide a diode pumped laser where an intensity profile of a diode pump source beam is tailored to produce a parabolic temperature gradient across the gain medium.

[0019] These and other objects of the invention are achieved in a laser with a high reflector and an output coupler defining a laser cavity. A gain medium positioned in the laser cavity. A first diode pump source produces a first pump source beam. An intensity profile of the first diode pump source beam is tailored to produce a parabolic temperature gradient across the gain medium.

[0020] In another embodiment of the invention, means are provided for modifying the pump source beam to produce a quasi-top-hat pump beam. The quasi-top-hat pump beam has a modified intensity profile that produces a parabolic temperature gradient.

[0021] In yet another embodiment of the invention, a method produces an output beam from a laser cavity. A high reflector and an output coupler are provided and define a laser cavity. A gain medium is positioned in the laser cavity. A first pump source producing a first pump source beam. The gain medium is pumped by the pump beam. A pump beam intensity profile is tailored and the output beam is produced.

[0022] FIG. 1 is a graphical representation of a top-hat pump beam.

[0023] FIG. 2 is a graphical representation of a quasi-top-hat pump beam.

[0024] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a laser of the present invention using a light pipe.

[0025] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the optical fiber of FIG. 3.

[0026] FIG. 5 illustrates a cooling medium positioned adjacent to a pump face of the gain medium.

[0027] FIG. 6 illustrates the gain medium with a surrounding thermally conductive media.

[0028] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the laser of the present invention with a relay lens.

[0029] FIG. 8 illustrates the use of two pump sources with the laser of the present invention.

[0030] FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of the laser of the present invention with two optical fibers replacing the light pipe of the laser shown in FIG. 3.

[0031] FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of the laser of the present invention with the gain medium that creates a quasi-top-hat effect.

[0032] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the gain medium of one embodiment of the invention.

[0033] FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the gain medium enclosed in a clam shell style mount.

[0034] FIG. 13 illustrates the amplifier of one embodiment of the laser of the present invention.

[0035] Referring now to FIG. 1, an ideal top-hat pump beam contains 100% of the energy in an aperture of diameter a′=1.4w, where w is the waist of a gaussian beam. A gaussian beam contains only 55% of its energy within this same aperture, leaving 45% outside. The intensity of the gaussian at this aperture is 60% of its peak. For a gaussian beam of waist w, 86% of the energy is contained within an aperture of diameter a=2w. The intensity of the gaussian at the edges of the aperture is 1/e2=13.5% of the peak.

[0036] As used in this specification, a quasi-top-hat pump beam, illustrated in FIG. 2, provides mode control if 20% or less of the energy resides outside the point at which the intensity falls to 50% of the peak. A sharp transition is provided from pumped to non-pumped regions of the gain medium and creates a soft-aperture. The sharp transition makes the heat source appear more homogeneous in the center of the gain media and appears like the boundary of the gain media in a conventional lamp-pumped rod laser. This boundary and the limited thermal conductivity of the gain media together form a parabolic temperature gradient across a gain media diameter. Additionally, the sharp transition defines a thermal boundary at the edge of the pump volume that acts like a mode limiting aperture and imposes a parabolic temperature gradient across the pump region. This allows TEMoo mode operation while limiting the aperture for other modes. At the boundary and outside the boundary the thermal lens is highly aberrated and prevents higher order mode operation.

[0037] The present invention is a laser pumped by a quasi-top-hat pump beam to achieve high gain facilitate mode matching.

[0038] In another embodiment, the laser of the present invention is pumped by a diode pump source at 10 W or greater. High power TEMoo mode operation is achieved with high efficiency by tailoring the intensity profile to the pump beam rather than by tailoring the laser cavity. Use of the quasi-top-hat pump beam results in a substantial increase in TEMoo mode extraction efficiency compared to that achieved when the TEMoo mode is confined to the central pump region. The quasi-top-hat pump beam produces a sharp decrease in pump intensity at the edges of the pump region in the gain media and causes severe Aspheric lensing components. This is utilized to create a soft aperture. Unlike a “hard” aperture, which creates high diffraction losses, the sharp transition does not cause significant loss for the TEMoo mode.

[0039] A preferred cavity mode is selected by the intensity profile of the pump beam. In one embodiment, a doughnut mode is preferred in applications where it is desired to achieve a uniform intensity mark with sharp edges.

[0040] The laser of the present invention eliminates or substantially reduces the need for higher brightness diode pump sources such as a “Beam Shaper”, available from Opto-Power Corporation, Tucson, Ariz., that is essential to pump fiber lasers. In one embodiment, two 16 W fiber-coupled diodes that emit diode light from a 1.11 mm aperture with 0.1 NA, available from Opto Power Corporation, Tucson, Ariz., were used to make a 10 W TEMoo end-pumped laser which focused the diode light into 500 μm spots to match the 500 μm TEMoo mode diameter. A higher brightness source is the Beam Shaper or a Spectra-Diode Laboratory, San Jose, Calif., P7 which provides a 0.2 mm aperture with the same 0.1 NA with a five-fold increase in brightness. In another embodiment, a light pipe was used to create the a top-hat pump beam without focusing and formed a 1 mm diameter TEMoo mode diameter.

[0041] At higher power levels, 3 diodes are coupled into a common aperture to produce 50 W of diode light from a 1.8 mm diameter aperture. This source has too much variation in pump intensity across the aperture to achieve TEMoo mode operation unless the pump is tightly focused (800 μm spot, 3×focusing) into the gain media in the traditional end-pumping style. Tight focusing places the images of individual fibers in the bundle sufficiently close together to eliminate the formation of multiple thermal lenses at each image. However, such tight focusing causes optical damage. A top-hat pump beam was expanded from its 1.8 mm diameter aperture to 3 mm diameter and achieved TEMoo mode operation.

[0042] Referring now to FIG. 3, a laser 10 includes a high reflector 12 and an output coupler 14 which together define a laser cavity 16. A gain medium 18 is positioned in laser cavity 16. In one embodiment, a pump beam face of gain medium 20 is the high reflector, and the need for a separate high reflector 12 is eliminated. One or more optical fibers 18 is coupled to a diode pump source 22. Diode light from optical fiber 18 is pumped into a light pipe 24 and delivers a pump beam 26 to laser cavity 16. Gain medium 20 can be end-pumped or side-pumped by pump beam 26. In one embodiment, pump beam 26 pumps a larger region of gain medium 20 than a TEM_oomode volume.

[0043] A Q-switch 28 can be positioned in laser cavity 16. A launch angle of the diode light from diode pump source 22 into optical fiber 18 approaches the limiting NA of optical fiber 18. The diode light makes many bounces on the walls of light pipe 24. These many bounces scrambles the mode quality of the diode light and homogenizes pump beam 26 which substantially eliminates hot spots. Light pipe 24 can be butt coupled to gain medium 20.

[0044] Breaking up of the wavefronts in light pipe 24 makes pump beam 26 more like a conventional distributed light source than a laser source. Light pipe 24 changes the gaussian profile of pump beam 26 so it can be re-imaged from the end of light pipe 24 to a disk image with ideal flat-top characteristics. Under high pump powers of 10 W or greater excellent TEMoo performance is achieved with TEMoo outputs from simple flat/flat resonators without apertures at the 50 W level.

[0045] Light pipe 24 generates the quasi-top-hat pump beam with an intensity profile of pump beam 26 that is tailored to produce a parabolic temperature gradient across the gain medium 20. The intensity profile of pump beam 26 can be tailored to produce the parabolic temperature gradient, an apertured laser cavity mode, a reduction of TEM_ooextraction efficiency and a reduction of an aspheric component of lensing of laser cavity 16. The Aspheric component of lensing in the central extraction region of gain medium 20 is removed by reducing the extraction in the edges of the pump volume. Tailoring the intensity profile of pump beam 26 can increase a damage threshold of gain medium 20 in the range of 150 to 200 percent. With a gaussian pump there is an intense central peak temperature and stress is created. With the top hat pump beam the intense central peak in temperature is flattened by a factor of 2-3, reducing stress by a similar amount.

[0046] Laser cavity 16 has a controlled thermal lens. Thermal lensing is not strong even with strong lensing gain medium because the pump intensity profile reduces the lensing. Because the thermal lensing is not strong the TEMoo mode is dynamically stable over a wide range of pump powers.

[0047] Pump beam 26 from light pipe 24 is similar to a conventional distributed light source than a laser source and can be re-imaged from the end of light pipe 24 to a disk image with ideal flat-top characteristics. Under high pump powers of 10 W or greater excellent TEMoo performance is achieved with TEMoo outputs from simple flat/flat resonators without apertures at the 50 W level.

[0048] In various embodiments, gain medium 20 can have a diameter in the range of 0.5 to 5 mm and be made of a variety of different materials including but not limited to Nd:YAG, Nd:YVO₄, and Nd:YLF. Gain medium 20 can have an Nd doping level in the range of 0.2 to 2.0% and a damage threshold of 2 to 10 kW/cm². Laser cavity 16 can be a flat/flat cavity, a confocal cavity and the like. Flat/flat cavities are particularly suitable since they offer large TEMoo mode diameters and the parabolic thermal gradient creates a spherical lensing which enhances stability of laser cavity 16.

[0049] As illustrated in FIG. 4, optical fiber 18 can be comprised of a plurality of optical fibers. In one embodiment, the plurality of optical fibers includes a central core of optical fibers 18′ with a first packing density and an outer ring of optical fibers 18″ with a second packing density. The first packing density is larger than the second packing density. In one embodiment, the second packing density is about 50% of the first packing density. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, TEMoo mode diameters of 3 mm—six times greater than those achieved with conventional end-pumping are achieved.

[0050] Referring now to FIG. 5, a cooling member 30 is positioned at a first pump face of gain medium 20. Cooling member 30 is optically transparent to pump beam 26. In one embodiment, cooling member 30 is an end cap coupled to the first pump face of gain medium 20 and is made of an undoped laser medium material. In another embodiment, cooling member 30 is a sapphire window positioned adjacent to the first pump face of gain medium 20. Cooling member 30 can cool gain medium 20 along a single gain medium axis. Alternatively, cooling member 30 can cool gain medium 20 along its a-axis and/or a c-axis.

[0051] As illustrated in FIG. 6, gain medium 20 can be surrounded by a thermally conductive media 32 which has a lower refractive index than a refractive index of gain medium 20. In one embodiment thermally conductive media is water cooled.

[0052] Referring now to FIG. 7, a relay lens 34 can be included and positioned to image pump beam 26 from light pipe 24 onto the pump face of gain medium 20. A turning mirror 36, which permits scaling, can be included and positioned adjacent to gain medium 20 and light pipe 24 or in laser cavity 16 adjacent to gain medium 20.

[0053] As illustrated in FIG. 8, a second diode pump source 38 can be used along with a second optical fiber 40 and a second light pipe 42. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, a fold mirror 45 is included in laser cavity 16. The two pump beams may have significantly different diameters and pump adjacent ends of gain medium 20. If the diameter of the second pump beam is less than half that of the first, then the superposition, i.e., integrated thermal lens induced by the combination of pump beams) produces the quasi-top-hat. The use of these two pump beams produces a dramatic increase in power in the center of gain medium 20 with a rapid drop in intensity between the central region and edge.

[0054] A similar TEMoo mode output is achieved with reduced loss by substituting a single-core, large diameter optical fiber at the limit of its numerical aperture for light pipe 24. Referring to FIG. 9, a first optical fiber 44 is coupled to the first pump source. A second optical fiber 46 is coupled to first optical fiber 44 and laser cavity 16. First optical fiber 44 is butt coupled to second optical fiber. In one embodiment using first and second optical fibers 44 and 46, a TEMoo transmission of 93% is obtained and the pump beam 26 produces the quasi-top-hat as shown above with an intensity profile consisting of a rounded center with sharp edges. The beam from diode pump source 22 is launched into first optical fiber 44 with a numerical aperture that is within 20% of the limiting numerical aperture of first optical fiber 44.

[0055] In another embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 10, gain medium 20 is used to cause the sharp transition between pumped and non-pumped regions and produces the quasi-top-hat effect. The pump beam from laser diode pump source 22 is absorbed slowly, for example over a 20 mm interaction length, and undergoes many bounces on gain medium 20 walls. Gain medium 20 itself acts as a light pipe, forms a flat-top pump volume and allows total internal refraction. This is achieved without imaging the diode light into the TEMoo mode volume of gain medium 20. The longer length of gain medium 20 and lower absorption lowers thermal stress by distributing heat over a larger surface area.

[0056] In the embodiment of FIG. 10, the diameter of gain medium 20 is at least 50% less than the absorption depth. Suitable lengths of gain medium 20 are equal to at least five diameters of gain medium 20. The doping level of gain medium 20 can be low for longer lengths. For smaller diameters the doping can by a traditional level, e.g., 1% Nd in YAG. A smaller diameter gain medium 20 is preferred in order to maximize the gain, pump intensity. Minimizing the pump diameter makes it easier to match the mode size required for TEMoo operation. The preferred gain medium 20 diameter for pumping at the 200 W level is approximately 1.8 mm using 0.5% Nd in YAG. This gives a high pump intensity of 8 kW/cm2 with a laser gain of 2.5 to 3.5 fold and operates with output coupling of about 50%.

[0057] Referring now to FIG. 11, gain medium 20 can be encased in a gold or indium foil 48. Foil 48 reflects the beam from laser diode pump source 22 through narrow slits 50 in the foil. The pump light makes many passes through gain medium 20, is reflected from the walls of gain medium 20 and is homogenized within gain medium 20. The walls of gain medium cause the sharp transition in the pump region of gain medium 20.

[0058] For power scaling a suitable pump source is an Opto-Power Corporation 15 W, fiber-coupled diode array which couples the outputs of 3×20 W diode arrays into a bundle of 56 100 μm fibers forming a circular close packed structure with 1900 μm diameter and 0.12 NA producing 50 W output. The OPC bundle is coupled into a 100 mm length of 600 μm diameter fiber using 2:1 lens compression. The light-pipe output is then expanded into a 2 mm quasi-top-hat spot and pumps the gain medium 20 with 50 W of pump power, and produces about 25 W of TEMoo laser output.

[0059] Nd:YVO4 is a suitable gain medium for this pump scheme because it produces polarized output and has very high gain. All four sides of the Nd:YVO4 gain medium, i.e., a-axis and c-axis, can be cooled using a clam-shell style mount 52 illustrated in FIG. 12. Clam-shell mount 52 compresses all four sides of the Nd:YVO4 gain medium simutaeously and can use a 0.01″ thick indium foil surrounding gain medium 20 as a thermal gasket and to relive mounting stresses. The conventional style of mount with unidirectional cooling performs well up to pump power of 15-20 W (each end of gain medium 20) but at 50 W pump levels the temperature rise is too great and the clam shell mount reduces this rise by a factor-of-two over the conventional mount.

[0060] Referring now to FIG. 13, an amplifier 54 has a gain medium 56 that is pumped by a first quasi-top-hat pump beam 58 and a second quasi-top-hat pump beam 60. Diode pump sources, not shown, are used. A laser seed beam 62 is reflected off of fold mirror 64. An amplified output 66 is produced. The sharp transition produced by quasi-top-hat pump beams 58 and 60 form soft apertures and cleans of the mode of laser seed beam 62 which has a lower beam quality. Quasi-top-hat pump beams 58 and 60 raise the damage threshold of amplifier 54. This is particularly significant in amplifier applications because if laser seed beam 62 is blocked then heat contraction stops and gain medium 20 stress and temperature increases which can cause damage.

[0061] The foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.