Diode Pumped Solid State Dpss Lasers

Diode Pumped Solid State (DPSS) Lasers

Solid-state Lasers

A solid-state laser use and gain medium that is a solid, rather than a liquid such as dye lasers or a gas such as gas lasers. Semiconductor-based lasers are also in the solid state, but are generally considered separately from solid-state lasers. Generally, the active medium of a solid-state laser consists of a glass or crystalline host material to which is added a dopant such as neodymium, chromium, erbium, or other ions. Many of the common dopants are rare earth elements, because the excited states of such ions are not strongly coupled with thermal vibrations of the crystalline lattice (phonons), and the lasing threshold can be reached at relatively low brightness of pump. There are many hundreds of solid-state media in which laser action has been achieved, but relatively few types are in widespread use. Of these, probably the most common type is neodymium doped YAG. Neodymium-doped glass (Nd:glass) and Ytterbium-doped glasses and ceramics are used in solid-state lasers at extremely high power (terawatt scale), high energy (megajoules) multiple beam systems for inertial confinement fusion. Titanium doped sapphire is also widely used for its broad tunability. This book gathers new research in the field.

Development and Characterization of Diode Pumped Solid State Lasers

Since it s resurgent in 1990s, the field of diode pumped solid state (DPSS) lasers grew exponentially over the last two decades. With the availability of new materials, components and devices the importance of DPSS lasers in our society is increasing by the day and they are finding applications in almost every field of science and technology. However, to create an optimum solution for specific applications, it is necessary to understand the functional possibilities and the methods to control the lasing regimes of modern DPSS lasers. This book, therefore, provides the physical basis and the state of the art of building diode-pumped solid-state lasers in the light of the new developments and describes with experimental details the issues related with various modes of operation of these lasers at the fundamental as well as intracavity frequency doubled configuration. The book should help the students and researchers in the field of lasers to understand the basics, scopes and limitations of DPSS lasers and should help shed some light on the new developments and trends in this exciting field.