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Overview of Flashlamps and Arc Lamps - Barry Smith
Pulse xenon and krypton flashlamps and D.C. krypton arc lamps are universally used as pump sources for solid state lasers. This paper details the electrical, mechanical, and optical design parameters that must be understood to allow optimization of these light sources for specific solid state laser applications of interest. The spectal output characteristics, cooling requirements, and electrical behavior of arc discharge tubes are discussed. Guidelines for the proper choice of lamp seal type, envelope material and size, electrode style, power density, gas, and fill pressure are offered. Finally, structural and operational parameters that strongly influence lamp lifetime are identified, categorized and explained.
Power Conditioning for Flashlamps and Arc Lamps - Bart Mass
The lamps used for pumping lasers respresent electrical loads that are difficult to drive due to the wide range of impedance presented by such a lamp to the driving source. This paper reviews the power conditioning systems used to interface between such a lamp and the ptimary power source, with an eye toward current practice and trends for the future. A wide range of operating requirements is examined and various power conditioning systems are characterized with regard to the difficulties associated with these requirements.
The Engineering Art of Solid State Laser Pump Cavity Design - Klaus D. Hachfeld
In this paper, laser cavity designs are grouped according to the mean power dissipated in them. Specific models for specular and diffuse cavities are presented and reflector materials compared. The determination of flow tube dimensions and prediction of laser rod temperature is given. Rod and lamp mounting techniques are discussed.
Characterization of High Power Flashlamps and Application To Nd: Glass Laser Pumping - H.T. Powell | A.C. Erlandson | K.S. Jancaitis
This paper reports detailed spectral and temporal measurements of the output radiation from Xe flashlamps, together with their use in predicting the pumping efficiency of Nd-doped laser glass. Absolute spectral-intensity measurements have been made for 0.5, 1.5, and 4.2-cm-bore flashlamps, for input powers ranging from to 90 kW/cs2 and pulse lengths of 600us. Under quasi-stationary conditions these flashlamps emit essentially identical spectra when excited at equal input power per unit-area of the bore. This behavior is characteristic of an optically-thick radiator, although it is not completely clear why flashlamps should behave this way. A simple model is also described which accounts for the transient response of flashlamps by characterizing the output spectra and radiation efficiencies in terms of the radiant output power rather than the electrical input power.
Optimized Flashlamp Pumping of Disc Amplifiers - J.E. Murray | H.T. Powell | B.W. Woods
In this paper, cylindrical geometry disc amplifiers are compared to a single-segment amplifier (SSA), which displays greater than a two-fold improvement in efficiency over older designs under all operating conditions. Experiments to optimize the effciency of the SSA show that pre-ionization of the flashlamps produces significant benefits and that the packaging fraction of lamps is more important than the flashlamp reflector shape. They also show that the optimized flashlamp pulse length and reflector geometry depend on the desired stored energy in the laser medium. A 7% storage efficiency has been demonstrated at a stored fluence per disk of 0.5 J/cm2 (stored energy density of 0.06 J/cm3) and 4% at 2.0 J/cm2 (0.25 J/cm3). Comparison of SSA measurements with storage-efficiency calculations confirm the accuracy of the flashlamp model in predicting the single-pass pumping of disk amplifiers.
State of the Art High Energy and High Average Power Flashlamp - Horace Furumoto
In this paper, a review of current state-of-the-art high energy and high average pwoer flashlamp-excited dye lasers is presented. Coaxial flashlamp dye laser designs are described, as well as linear lamp dye lasers. Linear lamp dye lasers are intrinsically more efficient than coaxial lamp lasers, and pulsed electrical to laser output efficiency over 1.6 % has been observed without the use of high dye concentrations. Designs and performance parameters of a high brightness capillary cell dye laser in terms of a beam quality figure of merit number B are described.
Flashlamp Pumping of Slab Lasers - David C. Brown | Kotik K. Lee
This paper reviews the application of flashlamps to the optical pumping of slab laser devices. In particular, pumping configurations, operating regimes, and the impact of well-known flashlamp performance limitations are reviewed. The operation of slab laser devices in the stress-limited and pump-limited regimes is delineated. Also presented is a theory of flashlamp failure based upon Wiebull fracture statistics and derive expressions for the thermally induced and hoop stress components in the wall of flashlamps.
Flashlamp Technology Used in Military Laser Systems - Osher Kahan | Steve Matthews | Eduard Gregor
Military laser rangefinders and designators are typically Q-switched Nd: YAG devices, delivering outputs in the range of 50 to 150 millijoules, and pulsing at 1 to 25Hz. A great deal of emphasis is placed upon pumping efficiency. This paper presents a compilation of experimental data from laser pumping flashlamps, including the familiar topics of lamp gas, fill pressure, size, envelope material and lamp output spectra. Some hypotheses are made to explain the high efficiency typical of operation in the preignited mode and at high pressures. Experimental and analytical determination of the lamp temperature in a conductive cooling mode of operation are presented, and a scheme for reduction of laser pulse jitter in dye-Q - switched operation is evaluated.
Design Considerations of Industrial CW-Pumped Nd: YAG Lasers - Robert L.A. Schricker
Continuously-pumped (CW) Nd: YAG lasers are industrial workhorses, their introduction dating back to the early 1970’s. A diversity of industrial laser applications and operating environments have developed and matured. This paper describes how this has dictated the design criteria of lasers, which are expected by the user to operate flawlessly - in many instances 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The paper discusses meeting customers’ expectations for laser performance, reliability, ease of maintenance, and price in a competitive market, and how this strongly influences the design considerations in such laser.
Influence of Design and Operational Constraints on Flashlamps for Industrial Pulsed Lasers - Johnson K. Behel
A critical review of technology related to flashlamp pumping of solid-state lasers used in industry is presented. This is done within a systematic theoretical and experimental framework approraite to a broad range of industrial applications, from drilling to heat treating. A general overview of system considerations is described, which leads to general lamp performance requirements. The paper explores cost analysis considerations and operations research data. Historical developments in flashlamp pumped lasers are discussed and general comments on technology trends that affect industrial pulsed lasers are presented.
Flashlamp Pumped Nd: YAG Lasers for Scientific Applications - Jean-Marc Heritier | J. Henden | R. Aubert
This paper reviews the wide field of high power pulsed Nd: YAG lasers and their main scientific applications. The high repetition rate (3 kHz) Q-switched laser is described in detail.
Advances in Pump Source Technology - Felix Schuda
Optical pump sources for lasers include devices other than flashlamps and arc lamps. These sources can be divided into four categories. First, when new laser materials are invented, proof of laser operation is most often achieved by pumping the new material with another laser. Though there are many possible combinations of laser pumped lasers, this paper discusses only one, the lasers diode array. The second class of optical pump sources is designated “unconventional” optical sources, which includes many different approaches to the pulsed generation of light. The third class is conventional noble gas flashlamps. The fourth category is additive lamps- lamps with radiation enhancing dopants.
Lanthanide Series and Transition Metal Solid-State Lasers: Meeting New Objectives with Solid-State Lasers - Norman P. Barnes
After the initial introduction of the first solid-state laser, there was a flurry of research directed toward the discovery of new lasers. Activity during this period of time produced the Cr:Al laser and the Nd:YAG laser. Quite some time after this, the new Cr: BeAl laser was introduced. Rather than concentrate either on this laser or on Nd-based lasers, this paper concerns itself with yet other solid-state lasers. Exploration into alternative active media dopants has concentrated on two groups of elements, the lanthanide series elements and the transition metal elements. There are substantial differences between lasers using such materials, depending on the group of elements of which the active atom is a member. Differences and similarities are highlighted and the methods used in solid-state laser engineering to meet new objectives are explored.