Abstract
A 200 stripe linear diode-laser array is geometrically transformed into a two-dimensional, symmetric virtual source with symmetric divergence to end pump a Nd: YAG laser. The geometrical transformation is performed by two planes of diffractive optical elements separated by a 2.6 cm gap. Discounting optical losses, a TEM00 mode slope efficiency of 56% is demonstrated. Methods of increasing the throughput efficiency of the diffractive elements (currently approximately 50% per element) are explored. A theoretical model for estimating the maximum useful pump array size in longitudinally pumped rod and fiber lasers shows that this pump geometry is close to optimum.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1088-1100 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 1992 |