4.4 kW Nd:YAG slab amplifier with a high repetition frequency and high beam quality
Chenggong Zhang, Xueyan Dong, Xingwei Yan, Zilei Liu, Quanhao Chen, Xinlei Li, Feng-Tu Yang, Haozhu Wang
Abstract
Using the self-developed fused indium wetting technology and planar waveguide, the uniform heat dissipation of the slab crystal and uniform pumping of the pump light were achieved, respectively. Based on the master oscillator power amplification (MOPA) scheme, the power was then amplified when the seed light source passed through the Nd:YAG slab crystal three times. Additionally, the image transfer system that we added to the amplified optical path achieved high beam quality. Finally, we obtained a rectangular pulsed laser with an output average power of 4461 W, a repetition frequency of 20 kHz, a pulse width of 62 ns, an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 26.8%, and a beam quality of β x =7.0 and β y =7.7.