Open AccessDemonstration of a CW diode-pumped Ar metastable laser operating at 4 W
Author(s) -
Jiande Han,
Michael C. Heaven,
Paul J. Moran,
Greg A. Pitz,
Eric M. Guild,
Carl Sanderson,
Brett H. Hokr
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
optics letters/optics index
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.524
H-Index - 272
eISSN - 1071-2763
pISSN - 0146-9592
DOI - 10.1364/ol.42.004627
Subject(s) - lasing threshold , atomic physics , excited state , metastability , population inversion , torr , laser , materials science , helium , diode , excitation , argon , krypton , optics , optoelectronics , physics , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
Optically pumped rare gas lasers are being investigated as potential high-energy, high beam quality systems. The lasing medium consists of rare gas atoms (Rg=Ne, Ar, Kr, or Xe) that have been electric discharge excited to the metastable np 5 (n+1)s P3 2 state. Following optical excitation, helium (He) at pressures of 200-1000 Torr is used as the energy transfer agent to create a population inversion. The primary technical difficulty for this scheme is the discharge production of sufficient Rg* metastables in the presence of >200 Torr of He. In this Letter, we describe a pulsed discharge that yields >10 13 cm -3 Ar* in the presence of He at total pressures up to 750 Torr. Using this discharge, a diode-pumped Ar* laser providing 4.1 W has been demonstrated.