Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Solid State Lasers XXXIII |
| Subtitle of host publication | Technology and Devices |
| Editors | W. Andrew Clarkson, Ramesh K. Shori |
| Publisher | SPIE |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| ISBN (electronic) | 9781510669871 |
| Publication status | Published - 12 Mar 2024 |
| Event | Solid State Lasers XXXIII: Technology and Devices 2024 - San Francisco, United States Duration: 28 Jan 2024 → 29 Jan 2024 |
Publication series
| Name | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
|---|---|
| Volume | 12864 |
| ISSN (Print) | 0277-786X |
| ISSN (electronic) | 1996-756X |
Abstract
Laser sources for future gravitational wave detectors (GWDs) must meet demanding requirements including single-frequency output powers of above 700 W at 1064 nm, low noise and linear polarization with high beam quality and low higher-order mode content. Nd:YVO4 is an excellent material to the amplify the output of a low power seed, as 195 W output power at 1064 nm with low noise and linear polarization have already been demonstrated in multi-stage Nd:YVO4 amplification. However, further power scaling was limited because of higher-order modes originating from aberrated thermal lensing. In this work, the aberrations of the thermal lens in Nd:YVO4 were analyzed in a single-stage amplifier configuration. The crystal was seeded and pumped at 1064 nm and 878.6 nm, respectively, while probing the thermal lens with a beam at 976 nm. The wavefront of this probe beam was analyzed with a Shack-Hartmann sensor. The amplifier was characterized up to 43 W output power with 46 % extraction efficiency. We report a wavefront analysis with major contributions from defocus, astigmatism, and spherical aberration. The experimental results were complemented by an in-house developed numerical thermo-optical simulation model that, for the first time, included the major temperature-dependencies, i.e., of the emission cross-sections, thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, and heat capacity. We achieved excellent agreement of both output power and aberrations between simulations and experiment. Moreover, we introduced measures to compensate the aberrations in Nd:YVO4 leading the path to full compatibility with the demanded GWD requirements.
Keywords
- gravitational wave detector lasers, Nd:YVO4 amplifier, thermal aberrations
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Materials Science(all)
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Physics and Astronomy(all)
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Computer Science(all)
- Computer Science Applications
- Mathematics(all)
- Applied Mathematics
- Engineering(all)
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Cite this
- Standard
- Harvard
- Apa
- Vancouver
- BibTeX
- RIS
Solid State Lasers XXXIII: Technology and Devices. ed. / W. Andrew Clarkson; Ramesh K. Shori. SPIE, 2024. 128640M (Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering; Vol. 12864).
Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Research › peer review
}
TY - GEN
T1 - Thermal aberration analysis in Nd:YVO4
AU - Schneewind, Merle
AU - Booker, Phillip
AU - Spiekermann, Stefan
AU - Weßels, Peter
AU - Neumann, Jörg
AU - Kracht, Dietmar
N1 - Funding Information: Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany\u2019s Excellence Strategy \u2013 EXC-2123 QuantumFrontiers \u2013 390837967.
PY - 2024/3/12
Y1 - 2024/3/12
N2 - Laser sources for future gravitational wave detectors (GWDs) must meet demanding requirements including single-frequency output powers of above 700 W at 1064 nm, low noise and linear polarization with high beam quality and low higher-order mode content. Nd:YVO4 is an excellent material to the amplify the output of a low power seed, as 195 W output power at 1064 nm with low noise and linear polarization have already been demonstrated in multi-stage Nd:YVO4 amplification. However, further power scaling was limited because of higher-order modes originating from aberrated thermal lensing. In this work, the aberrations of the thermal lens in Nd:YVO4 were analyzed in a single-stage amplifier configuration. The crystal was seeded and pumped at 1064 nm and 878.6 nm, respectively, while probing the thermal lens with a beam at 976 nm. The wavefront of this probe beam was analyzed with a Shack-Hartmann sensor. The amplifier was characterized up to 43 W output power with 46 % extraction efficiency. We report a wavefront analysis with major contributions from defocus, astigmatism, and spherical aberration. The experimental results were complemented by an in-house developed numerical thermo-optical simulation model that, for the first time, included the major temperature-dependencies, i.e., of the emission cross-sections, thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, and heat capacity. We achieved excellent agreement of both output power and aberrations between simulations and experiment. Moreover, we introduced measures to compensate the aberrations in Nd:YVO4 leading the path to full compatibility with the demanded GWD requirements.
AB - Laser sources for future gravitational wave detectors (GWDs) must meet demanding requirements including single-frequency output powers of above 700 W at 1064 nm, low noise and linear polarization with high beam quality and low higher-order mode content. Nd:YVO4 is an excellent material to the amplify the output of a low power seed, as 195 W output power at 1064 nm with low noise and linear polarization have already been demonstrated in multi-stage Nd:YVO4 amplification. However, further power scaling was limited because of higher-order modes originating from aberrated thermal lensing. In this work, the aberrations of the thermal lens in Nd:YVO4 were analyzed in a single-stage amplifier configuration. The crystal was seeded and pumped at 1064 nm and 878.6 nm, respectively, while probing the thermal lens with a beam at 976 nm. The wavefront of this probe beam was analyzed with a Shack-Hartmann sensor. The amplifier was characterized up to 43 W output power with 46 % extraction efficiency. We report a wavefront analysis with major contributions from defocus, astigmatism, and spherical aberration. The experimental results were complemented by an in-house developed numerical thermo-optical simulation model that, for the first time, included the major temperature-dependencies, i.e., of the emission cross-sections, thermal conductivity, thermal expansion, and heat capacity. We achieved excellent agreement of both output power and aberrations between simulations and experiment. Moreover, we introduced measures to compensate the aberrations in Nd:YVO4 leading the path to full compatibility with the demanded GWD requirements.
KW - gravitational wave detector lasers
KW - Nd:YVO4 amplifier
KW - thermal aberrations
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85190452690&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1117/12.3002325
DO - 10.1117/12.3002325
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85190452690
T3 - Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
BT - Solid State Lasers XXXIII
A2 - Clarkson, W. Andrew
A2 - Shori, Ramesh K.
PB - SPIE
T2 - Solid State Lasers XXXIII: Technology and Devices 2024
Y2 - 28 January 2024 through 29 January 2024
ER -