Optically end-pumped slab amplifier with distributed pumping modules

摘要

The present invention relates to an optically end-pumped amplifier with a plate-shaped optical gain medium and a plurality of pump laser units for optically pumping the gain medium through at least one of its narrow side surfaces. The pump laser units are designed such that the pump laser radiation has an elongated beam cross section with a short axis and a long axis running parallel to the main surfaces of the gain medium when it passes through the gain medium. They are arranged in such a way that the beam bundles of several pump laser units with their main axes in one plane perpendicular to the short axis strike one of the pumped side surfaces at an angle to one another, the beam cross sections of the beam bundles being superimposed. With the proposed amplifier, the pump laser units can be constructed more compactly, more simply and therefore more cost-effectively than known arrangements with the same amplifier power.