Advanced Disk Lasers: A New Horizon in Solid-State and Semiconductor Laser Design

先进盘式激光器：固态和半导体激光器设计的新视野

• 批准号: EP/E004903/1
• 负责人: David Burns
• 金额: $ 41.62万
• 依托单位: University of Strathclyde
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2007 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FE004903%2F1
• 关键词: Advanced; Disk; Lasers; New; Horizon

The laser can become a scientific and industrial penknife. From studying the shortest of events, to precision machining for the fastest of aircraft, it already excels. Yet the potential is greater still. Systems exist with the performance to revolutionise biological imaging, to enable highly sensitive detection of pollutants, but they are often locked in the lab by their bulk, inefficiency and fragility. High performance from a high-power laser requires the efficient removal of heat. In contrast to conventional geometries, using a thin disk of laser material enables aggressive cooling and hence the generation of high powers with extraordinary efficiency. Yet these lasers are bulky. They also use a doped crystal as the material in which to generate the laser light: restricting operation to a limited range of colours. If semiconductors are used, the laser material can be grown with a microscopic layer structure - allowing the colour to be specified anywhere from the ultraviolet through the visible to the mid-infrared. However, generating high power in a good laser beam - a 'pencil of light' - is difficult. If a geometry very similar to a thin-disk laser is used, this problem can be neatly circumvented. This project aims to exploit these synergies to the benefit of both doped-crystalline and semiconductor solid-state lasers. New materials have recently become available - most notably cheaper high-quality diamond - that have the potential to keep systems cool and thus enable the generation of higher powers. Simultaneously, these heat transporting materials can contribute to the design of lasers that are more compact and robust. By applying mirror coatings to the material that generates the laser light, a one-piece laser can be built. These are much better adapted to the vibration and shock of mobile operation. Another major objective of this project is to understand thermal management in these systems to enable high-power, yet more robust, lasers. The penknife is adaptable; the penknife is robust; the penknife is compact. The Advanced Disk Laser concept has the potential to be the laser designer's penknife.

激光可以成为科学的和工业的铅笔刀。从研究最短的事件，到为最快的飞机进行精密加工，它已经出类拔萃。然而，潜力更大。现有的系统具有彻底改变生物成像的性能，能够对污染物进行高度敏感的检测，但它们往往被锁在实验室里，因为它们体积庞大、效率低下和脆弱。高功率激光器的高性能要求有效地去除热量。与传统的几何形状相比，使用激光材料的薄板可以进行积极的冷却，从而以非凡的效率产生高功率。然而这些激光器体积庞大。他们还使用掺杂晶体作为产生激光的材料：将操作限制在有限的颜色范围内。如果使用半导体，激光材料可以用微观层结构生长——允许从紫外线到可见光到中红外的任何地方指定颜色。然而，用一束好的激光束——一束“光”——产生高功率是很困难的。如果使用与薄板激光器非常相似的几何结构，就可以巧妙地规避这个问题。该项目旨在利用这些协同效应，使掺杂晶体激光器和半导体固体激光器受益。最近出现了一些新材料——最引人注目的是更便宜的高质量钻石——它们有可能使系统保持凉爽，从而产生更高的功率。同时，这些传热材料可以帮助设计出更紧凑、更坚固的激光器。将反射镜涂层涂在产生激光的材料上，就可以制造出一体式激光器。这些都是更好地适应振动和冲击的移动操作。该项目的另一个主要目标是了解这些系统中的热管理，以实现高功率，更强大的激光器。铅笔刀适应性强；铅笔刀很结实；这把铅笔刀很小巧。先进的圆盘激光概念有可能成为激光设计师的小刀。

项目成果

Power scaling of Nd:YVO4 and Nd:GdVO4 disk lasers using synthetic diamond as a heat spreader.

• DOI: 10.1364/ol.34.000782
• 发表时间: 2009-03
• 期刊: Optics letters
• 影响因子: 3.6
• 作者: P. Millar;A. Kemp;D. Burns

Limits on efficiency and power scaling in semiconductor disk lasers with diamond heatspreaders

带有金刚石散热器的半导体盘激光器的效率和功率缩放限制

• DOI: 10.1364/josab.26.002228
• 发表时间: 2009
• 期刊: Journal of the Optical Society of America B
• 作者: Maclean A