Other

Renzhong Hua

Kresimir Franjic

R J Dwayne Miller

Darren Kraemer

Michael Cowan

A laser system capable of efficient production of high energy sub-nanosecond pulses in the 2-15 &#x3bc;m spectral region is disclosed. Diode pumped solid state lasers are used as pump sources. The system design is simple, reliable and compact allowing for easy integration. The laser system includes a combination of compact solid-state &#x2dc;1 micron laser sources, producing high power picosecond pulses, with optical parametric amplification and a quasi-continuous wave laser for seeding the amplification process that enables the efficient conversion of the high power &#x2dc;1 micron laser radiation to tuneable mid-infrared sub-ns pulses. New parametric processes are presented for achieving high gains in bulk nonlinear crystals. Furthermore, a method of exceeding the fundamental conversion efficiency limit of direct three wave mixing is presented. The compact and robust nature of this novel laser system opens up the use of high power and high peak power mid-infrared laser pulses to a wide variety of important medical and dental applications.

Laser system for generation of high-power sub-nanosecond pulses with controllable wavelength in 2-15 &#x3bc;m region

The present invention discloses a laser amplifier with high gain and low thermally induced optical aberrations on the amplified laser beam. The amplifier designs allow simple multipass configurations to optimally extract the gain and reduce thermally induced index of refraction aberrations, making it possible to obtain an amplified laser beam of high quality combined with very high overall gains comparable to those achievable with expensive regenerative amplifiers. The amplifier includes a thin active laser solid to create the population inversion and associated heat generation within the thin laser active solid possible for the desired gain value. The system includes a cooling device in thermal contact with the thin active laser solid to provide good heat transport and high reflectivity coatings at the wavelengths of the pump and laser wavelengths. The pump light sources are laser diodes tuned to the maximum absorption of the laser active material. The amplifier also includes an optical system to transport the pump light to the laser active solid in such a way as to further confine the absorption of light along the two orthogonal directions in the plane of the laser active solid in order to get high population inversion and consequently high gains possible.

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Toronto, Canada

Renzhong Hua