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.

激光可以成为科学和工业的笔刀。从研究最短的事件到最快的飞机的精确加工，它已经脱颖而出。然而，潜力仍然更大。存在系统以革新生物成像的性能，以实现对污染物的高度敏感的检测，但是它们通常会因其批量，效率低下和脆弱性而被锁定在实验室中。高功率激光器的高性能需要有效去除热量。与传统的几何形状相反，使用薄的激光材料磁盘可以使侵略性冷却，从而产生具有非凡效率的高力量。然而，这些激光量很大。他们还使用掺杂的晶体作为生成激光光的材料：将操作限制为有限的颜色。如果使用了半导体，则可以使用微观层结构生长激光材料 - 可以将颜色指定为从紫外线到可见的任何地方到中红外的任何位置。但是，在良好的激光束中产生高功率 - “光铅笔”很难。如果使用与薄盘激光器非常相似的几何形状，则可以整齐地绕过此问题。该项目旨在利用这些协同效应，以使掺杂的结晶和半导体固态激光器受益。最近，新材料已获得 - 最著名的高质量钻石 - 有可能保持系统凉爽，从而能够产生更高的力量。同时，这些热运输材料可以有助于更紧凑和健壮的激光器的设计。通过在生成激光灯的材料上涂镜涂层，可以建造单件激光。这些更好地适应了移动操作的振动和冲击。该项目的另一个主要目的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。笔刀是适应性的。笔刀很健壮。笔刀紧凑。先进的磁盘激光概念有可能成为激光设计师的笔刀。

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