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A novel approach for compensation of birefringence in cylindrical Nd: YAG rods

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Abstract

A new concept for compensation of birefringence in solid-state rod lasers is presented. The basic idea of our approach is the simultaneous use of an in-cavity polarization rotator and an imaging optical system between the two passes through the laser rod. The theoretical analysis based on matrix optics shows that perfect compensation for the birefringence and bifocusing in laser rods is possible for a large pumping range. Experimental results with two Nd:YAG rods are also presented. The measured depolarization loss per transit for a test beam at 0.63 μm is less than 5% for pumping power up to 6kW per rod. This would allow efficient generation of high-power TEM00 mode and linearly polarized multimode output power from Nd:YAG oscillators in rod geometry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. a division of Laser- und Medizin-Technologie Berlin GmbH, Festkörper-Laser-Institut Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, D-10623, Berlin, Germany

    Q. Lü, N. Kugler, H. Weber, S. Dong, N. Müller & U. Wittrock

Authors
  1. Q. Lü
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  2. N. Kugler
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  3. H. Weber
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  4. S. Dong
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  5. N. Müller
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  6. U. Wittrock
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Lü, Q., Kugler, N., Weber, H. et al. A novel approach for compensation of birefringence in cylindrical Nd: YAG rods. Opt Quant Electron 28, 57–69 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00578551

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00578551

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