Edge cladding gain media according to IL-11317

Soules, T

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

关键词: Reflection;    Refraction;    Wavelengths;    Refractive Index;    Amplifiers;   

DOI  :  10.2172/15015862
RP-ID  :  UCRL-TR-209699
RP-ID  :  W-7405-ENG-48
RP-ID  :  15015862

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

In this patent application we wish to claim the following approach to ameliorating spontaneous amplified emission (ASE) that occurs in a laser amplifier slab. There are two important elements of our approach. We wish to claim the application of both together but not either one alone. (1) The first element of the invention is to roughen the edge surfaces of the amplifier slab. A rough surface with random planar features larger than the wavelength of light will reflect and refract incident light rays at angles different than the median plane of the surface. The rough surface can then be characterized by two parameters. First there is a distribution of heights about the zero mean plane of the surface. If normal this distribution is characterized by a standard deviation. The second parameter is the correlation distance that describes how close together on average are the peaks and valleys. The ratio of these two numbers determines the spread of light reflected off the surface of the edge of the slab. (2) The second element in our invention is to bond the roughened edges of the gain medium to an ASE absorbing media using a suitable bonding agent. In order for the ASE to leave the gain medium crystal there must be minimal reflection and maximum transmission at the interface. This requires having a near match of the index of refraction of the bonding medium and the amplifier slab material at the wavelength of the ASE. Further if the index of refraction of the bonding agent is less than that of the amplifier there will be some total internal reflection even if the surface is roughened. The index of refraction of GGG is {approx} 1.92 and that of YAG is {approx} 1.84. There are no suitable bonding agents with indices of refraction this high.