Power scaling of a flashlamp-pumped Cr:LiSAF thin-slab zig-zag laser

摘要

We report on the power scaling of a flashlamp-pumped Cr:LiSrAlF/sub 6/ thin-slab zig-zag laser operating at repetition rates up to 5 Hz. Average output power of 44 W with pulse energies of 8.8 J was achieved operating with a stable cavity. Excellent medium control was also obtained during this operation. Also demonstrated at 5 Hz was operation at energies /spl sim/ 0.5 J in Q-switched mode with unstable optics and bandwidth control, beam quality > 1.5 XDL, bandwidth /spl sim/ 1 GHz, and root-mean-square beam jitter of less than half of a diffraction limited far-field spot radius.