Saturation, gain, and noise properties of a multipassdiode-laser-pumped Nd:YAG CW amplifier

摘要

We report on three different variants of a new scalablendiode-laser-pumped CW Nd:YAG optical amplifier with a small-signal gainnof 19 (13 dB) and output powers of up to 1.5 W at an input power of 600nmW and a pump power of 5.2 W. Due to its compactness, efficiency, andnruggedness, it is well suited for space applications such as free-spacenintersatellite communications systems. Furthermore, we present annumerical model for the gain of such a multipass amplifier consideringnthe saturation and different losses. This model is in excellentnagreement with the measured data. We also show that the signal-to-noisenratio of this system is better than 50 dBc√(Hz) and that thenamplifier produces no phase noise and is therefore ideal fornlong-distance coherent communication