Avoiding thermal lenses in Nd:YAG with cryogenic cooling

摘要

Nd:YAG has favorable material properties to minimize the thermally induced lenses in lasers at cryogenic temperatures. In the present work we measured a significant reduction of the thermal lens in a Nd:YAG rod cooled with liquid nitrogen. The power range for stable fundamental-mode laser oscillation was demonstrated to be significantly enlarged at low temperatures. The experimental results were compared to analytical models and finite-elements simulations.