Open AccessCompact burst-mode Nd:YAG laser for kHz–MHz bandwidth velocity and species measurements
Author(s) -
Michael E. Smyser,
Kazi Arafat Rahman,
Mikhail N. Slipchenko,
Sukesh Roy,
Terrence R. Meyer
Publication year - 2018
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.43.000735
Subject(s) - burst mode (computing) , optics , laser , amplifier , pulse duration , materials science , physics , optoelectronics , cmos , electrical engineering , engineering
A compact-footprint (0.18 m 2 ) flash-lamp-pumped, burst-mode Nd:YAG-based master-oscillator pulsed-amplifier laser is reported with a fundamental 1064 nm output of over 14 J per burst. A directly modulated diode laser seed source is used to generate 10 ms duration arbitrary sequences of 500 kHz doublet or MHz singlet pulses for flow-field velocity or species measurements, respectively. Flexible pulse widths are used to balance the energy distribution of pulse doublets and achieve second-harmonic conversion efficiencies up to 42%. Burst-mode laser performance characteristics, measurement accuracies in turbulent flows, and prospects for kHz-MHz flow-field diagnostics are discussed.