[en] Using an end-pumped technology developed at LLNL we have demonstrated a YB:YAG laser capable of delivering up to 150 W of CW power and 100 W of Q-switched power

[en] By combining newly developed technologies to engineer composite laser components with state of the art diode laser pump delivery technologies, we are in a position to demonstrate high beam quality, continuous wave, laser radiation at scaleable high average powers. The crucial issues of our composite thin disk laser technology were demonstrated during a successful first light effort. The high continuous wave power levels that are now within reach make this system of high interest to future DoD initiatives in solid-state laser technology for the laser weapon arena

[en] The recent work at LLNL on alkali-atom lasers has been remarkably successful and productive. Three main phases (so far) can be identified. First, the concept and demonstration of red lasers using (Ti:sapphire pumping) took place; during this time, Rubidium and Cesium resonance-line lasers were tested, and theoretical models were developed and shown to describe experimental results very reliably. Work done during this first phase has been well documented, and the models from that period are still in use for their predictions and for designing power-scaled lasers. [1 - 3] Second, attempts were made to produce a blue alkali-vapor laser using sequentially-resonant two-step pumping (again, using Ti:sapphire lasers.) Although a blue laser did not result, the physical limitations of our approach are now better-defined. Third, diode-pumped operation of a red laser (Rubidium) was attempted, and we eventually succeeded in demonstrating the world's first diode-pumped gas laser. [4] Because we have a defensible concept for producing an efficient, compact, lightweight, power-scaled laser (tens of kW,) we are in a position to secure outside funding, and would like to find a sponsor. For descriptions of work done during the ''first phase,'' see References [1 - 3] ''Phase two'' work is briefly described in the section ''Blue laser,'' and ''phase three'' work is presented in the section entitled ''Diode-pumped red laser.''

No abstract available

[en] Although operational for over twenty years, diode pumped solid state lasers have, for most of their existence, been limited to individual diodes pumping a tiny volume of active medium in an end pumped configuration. More recent years have witnessed the appearance of diode bars, packing around 100 diodes in a 1 cm bar which have enabled end and side pumped small solid state lasers at the few Watt level of output. This paper describes the subsequent development of how proper cooling and stacking of bars enables the fabrication of multi kill average power diode pump arrays with irradiances of 1 kw/cm peak and 250 W/cm² average pump power. Since typical conversion efficiencies from the diode light to the pumped laser output light are of order 30% or more, kW average power diode pumped solid state lasers now are possible

[en] The National Ignition Facility (NIF) and Photon Science Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has substantial relevant experience in the construction of high energy lasers, and more recently in the development of advanced high average power solid state lasers. We are currently developing new concepts for advanced solid state laser drivers for the Laser Inertial Fusion Energy (LIFE) application, and other high average power laser applications that could become central technologies for use in space debris removal. The debris population most readily addressed by our laser technology is that of 0.1-10 cm sized debris in low earth orbit (LEO). In this application, a ground based laser system would engage an orbiting target and slow it down by ablating material from its surface which leads to reentry into the atmosphere, as proposed by NASA's ORION Project. The ORION concept of operations (CONOPS) is also described in general terms by Phipps. Key aspects of this approach include the need for high irradiance on target, 10⁸ to 10⁹ W/cm², which favors short (i.e., picoseconds to nanoseconds) laser pulse durations and high energy per pulse (∼ > 10 kJ). Due to the target's orbital velocity, the potential duration of engagement is only of order 100 seconds, so a high pulse repetition rate is also essential. The laser technology needed for this application did not exist when ORION was first proposed, but today, a unique combination of emerging technologies could create a path to enable deployment in the near future. Our concepts for the laser system architecture are an extension of what was developed for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), combined with high repetition rate laser technology developed for Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE), and heat capacity laser technology developed for military applications. The 'front-end' seed pulse generator would be fiber-optics based, and would generate a temporally, and spectrally tailored pulse designed for high transmission through the atmosphere, as well as efficient ablative coupling to the target. The main amplifier would use either diode-pumped or flashlamp-pumped solid state gain media, depending on budget constraints of the project. A continuously operating system would use the gas-cooled amplifier technology developed for Mercury, while a burst-mode option would use the heat capacity laser technology. The ground-based system that we propose is capable of rapid engagement of targets whose orbits cross over the site, with potential for kill on a single pass. Very little target mass is ablated per pulse so the potential to create additional hazardous orbiting debris is minimal. Our cost estimates range from $2500 to $5000 per J depending on choices for laser gain medium, amplifier pump source, and thermal management method. A flashlamp-pumped, Nd:glass heat-capacity laser operating in the burst mode would have costs at the lower end of this spectrum and would suffice to demonstrate the efficacy of this approach as a prototype system. A diode-pumped, gas-cooled laser would have higher costs but could be operated continuously, and might be desirable for more demanding mission needs. Maneuverability can be incorporated in the system design if the additional cost is deemed acceptable. The laser system would need to be coupled with a target pointing and tracking telescope with guide-star-like wavefront correction capability.

[en] We propose a new, robustly scalable technique for phase locking multiple gain cores in a fiber structure based on antiguiding or radiative coupling, rather than the more commonly pursued method of evanescent wave phase locking. Our focus is on a ribbon-like geometry in which a waveguide region contains multiple gain cores arranged in a periodic array. The distinguishing feature of such antiguiding structures is that refractive index of the gain cores is lower than or equal to that of the surrounding waveguide regions. This is just the opposite of evanescently phase locked structures in which the gain cores have higher refractive index than the surrounding regions. The critical design considerations in the structures proposed within are: first that they strongly favor oscillation in a single transverse mode, and second that this strongly favored mode exhibits good intensity uniformity across the entire array of gain cores. We require single mode operation so that a static phase corrector placed in the near field of the ribbon laser's output can optimize the phase across the aperture to achieve a high Strehl ratio in the far field. The requirement that the strongly favored mode exhibit good uniformity across the entire array of gain cores is necessary to ensure that the ribbon structure's gain saturates in a uniform manner, so as not to increase the propensity of the device to operate in multiple transverse modes. Taken together, these two design considerations lead to the surprising result that optimized structures have equal refractive indices in their gain cores and the no-gain surrounding waveguide regions

[en] We have demonstrated 466mW of 469nm light from a frequency doubled continuous wave fiber laser. The system consisted of a 938nm single frequency laser diode master oscillator, which was amplified in two stages to 5 Watts using cladding pumped Nd³⁺ fiber amplifiers and then frequency doubled in a single pass through periodically poled KTP. The 3cm long PPKTP crystal was made by Raicol Crystals Ltd. with a period of 5.9 (micro)m and had a phase match temperature of 47 degrees Centigrade. The beam was focused to a 1/e² diameter in the crystal of 29 (micro)m. Overall conversion efficiency was 11% and the results agreed well with standard models. Our 938nm fiber amplifier design minimizes amplified spontaneous emission at 1088nm by employing an optimized core to cladding size ratio. This design allows the 3-level transition to operate at high inversion, thus making it competitive with the 1088nm 4-level transition. We have also carefully chosen the fiber coil diameter to help suppress propagation of wavelengths longer than 938 nm. At 2 Watts, the 938nm laser had an M² of 1.1 and good polarization (correctable with a quarter and half wave plate to >10:1)

[en] This paper performs time delayed four-wave mixing using two-frequency light beams that are separately resonant with each of the Na D lines; the mixing is performed in dilute Na vapor. The time integrated four-wave mixed signal modulates with increasing excitation delay with a period of 1.9 psec corresponding to the 6A splitting of the D lines. The modulation persists well into the region where the 7 nsec excitation pulses no longer overlap and far beyond the 100 psec correlation time of either laser. In the Doppler free limit, the accuracy to which a splitting can be measured using this technique depends on how many beats can be observed. The spectroscopic advantage here arises because the beats are long lived; they last much longer than the coherence time of the lasers. This technique does not require stable frequency lasers

[en] We are developing an all fiber front end for the next generation high-energy petawatt (HEPW) laser at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The ultimate goal of the LLNL HEPW effort is to generate 5-kJ pulses capable of compression to 5ps at 1053nm, enabling advanced x-ray backlighters and possible demonstration of fast ignition. We discuss the front-end of the laser design from the fiber master oscillator, which generates the mode-locked 20nm bandwidth initial pulses through the 10mJ output of the large flattened mode (LFM) fiber amplifier. Development of an all fiber front end requires technological breakthroughs in the key areas of the master oscillator and fiber amplification. Chirped pulse amplification in optical fibers has been demonstrated to 1mJ. Further increase is limited by the onset of stimulated Raman scattering (SRS). We have recently demonstrated a new flattened mode fiber technology, which reduces peak power for a given energy and thus the onset of SRS. Controlled experiments with 1st generation fibers yielded 0.5mJ of energy while significantly increasing the point at which nonlinear optical effects degrade the amplified pulse. In this paper we will discuss our efforts to extend this work to greater than 20mJ using our large flattened mode fiber amplifier