Journal of Nuclear Science, Engineering and Technology (JONSAT)
In cooperation with the Iranian Nuclear Society

Experimental study of the improved optical system for the LED-pumped solid-state lasers

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

S.M. Zahedi 1
A.H. Farahbod 1
M. Mahmoudi 2

1 Plasma and Nuclear Fusion Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute, AEOI, P.O.Box:14399-51113, Tehran-Iran

2 Department of Physics, University of Zanjan, P.O.BOX: 45371-38791, Zanjan - Iran

https://doi.org/10.24200/nst.2022.1446
Abstract
In this article, an optical system for pumping the active medium of solid-state lasers with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is introduced to upgrade the master oscillator of the laser fusion facility. The optical system is based on the guiding of optical rays from light-emitting diode sources to laser rods by means of total reflecting surfaces. Three different configurations with four, five, and six segments have been designed and their geometry is optimized with 3D random ray-tracing method to obtain the best performance. The pump systems have been fabricated and successfully applied to pump a 3 mm diameter laser rod with 10 watts white spectrum LEDs. Using five segments configuration and 4 Joules electrical energy delivered to 35 LEDs, the laser oscillator produced laser spikes with multi-mode Ince-Gaussian transverse beam structure and more than 700 micro-joules laser energy at a 1 Hz repetition rate. Moreover, the Q-switched pulses with an average energy of about 35 micro-joules and 230 ns pulse-width have been generated with the optimized optical pump system. More improvement to the LED-pump system is possible, which can be led to an efficient multi-mJ laser beam.

Highlights

1.             B. Villars, E.S. Hill, C.G. Durfee, Design and development of a high-power LED-pumped Ce:Nd:YAG laser, Opt. Lett., 40(13), 3049-3052 (2015).

 

2.             M. Tarkashvand, A.H. Farahbod, S.A. Hashemizadeh, First demonstration of green and amber LED-pumped Nd:YAG laser, Laser Physics, 28, 055801 (2018).

 

3. A. Barbet, et al, Revisiting of LED pumped bulk laser: first demonstration of Nd:YVO4 LED pumped laser, Opt. let., 6731-6734 (2014).

 

4.             C.Y. Cho, et al, LED-side-pumped Nd:YAG laser with>20% optical efficiency and the demonstration of an efficient passively Q-switched LED-pumped solid-state laser, Opt. Letters., 42(12), 2394 (2017).

 

5.             C. Jung, et al, Lasing Characteristics of a LED-Pumped Nd:KGW Laser, New Physics: Sae Mulli, 68(4), 477-485 (2018).

 

6.             M. Tarkashvand, A.H. Farahbod, S.A. Hashemizade, Iranian Journal of Physics Research, Passively Q-switched LED-Pumped Ce:Nd:YAG Laser, 18(3), 478 (2018) (in Persian).

 

7. A. Barbet, et al, Light-emitting diode pumped luminescent concentrators: a new opportunity for low-cost solid-state lasers, Optica, 3(5), 465 (2016).

 

8.             P. Pichon, et al, High-radiance light sources with LED-pumped luminescent concentrators applied to pump Nd:YAG passively Q-switched laser, Optics and Laser Technology, 96, 7-12 (2017).

 

9.             S.M. Zahedi, et al, Optimization of the pumping system of the LED-pumped Ce:Nd:YAG laser, The 1 th conference on optoelectronics, Applied optics and Microelectronics, Namin. Ardabil, 13-15 August, (2019) (in Persian).

 

10. S.M. Zahedi, et al, Beam guiding system for pumping of solid-state lasers with light emitting diodes, The 1 th conference on optoelectronics, Applied Optics and Microelectronics, Namin. Ardabil, 13-15 August, (2019) (in Persian).

 

11.          Cree® XLamp® XHP50.2 LEDs, Product family data sheet, CREE company (2018).

 

12.          W. Koechner, Solid-state laser engineering, 6th Edition, Springer (2006).

 

13.          M. Janecek, Reflectivity spectra for commonly used reflectors, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 59(3), 490 (2012).

 

14.          M. Tarkashvand, A.H. Farahbod, S.A. Hashemizadeh, Study of the spatiotemporal behavior of LED-pumped Ce:Nd:YAG laser, International Journal of Optics and Photonics, 14(1), 75 (2020).

 

15.          F. Hokmabadi, A.H. Farahbod, A. Nazari-Golshan, Dependence of mode profile on the pumping configuration of a LED-pumped Ce:Nd:YAG laser, Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 95(2), 40 (2021).

 

16. T. Zhao, Light-emitting-diode-pumped active Q-switched Nd:YLF laser, Opt. Lett., 44(8), 1956 (2019).

 

17.          C.Y. Cho, Energy scale-up and mode-quality enhancement of the LED-pumped Nd:YAG Q-switched laser achieving a millijoule green pulse, Opt. Letters, 44 (13), 3202 (2019).

Keywords

Optical pumping system
Laser fusion
LED-pumped laser
active medium
Ince-Gaussian transverse mode
1.             B. Villars, E.S. Hill, C.G. Durfee, Design and development of a high-power LED-pumped Ce:Nd:YAG laser, Opt. Lett., 40(13), 3049-3052 (2015).
 
2.             M. Tarkashvand, A.H. Farahbod, S.A. Hashemizadeh, First demonstration of green and amber LED-pumped Nd:YAG laser, Laser Physics, 28, 055801 (2018).
 
3. A. Barbet, et al, Revisiting of LED pumped bulk laser: first demonstration of Nd:YVO4 LED pumped laser, Opt. let., 6731-6734 (2014).
 
4.             C.Y. Cho, et al, LED-side-pumped Nd:YAG laser with>20% optical efficiency and the demonstration of an efficient passively Q-switched LED-pumped solid-state laser, Opt. Letters., 42(12), 2394 (2017).
 
5.             C. Jung, et al, Lasing Characteristics of a LED-Pumped Nd:KGW Laser, New Physics: Sae Mulli, 68(4), 477-485 (2018).
 
6.             M. Tarkashvand, A.H. Farahbod, S.A. Hashemizade, Iranian Journal of Physics Research, Passively Q-switched LED-Pumped Ce:Nd:YAG Laser, 18(3), 478 (2018) (in Persian).
 
7. A. Barbet, et al, Light-emitting diode pumped luminescent concentrators: a new opportunity for low-cost solid-state lasers, Optica, 3(5), 465 (2016).
 
8.             P. Pichon, et al, High-radiance light sources with LED-pumped luminescent concentrators applied to pump Nd:YAG passively Q-switched laser, Optics and Laser Technology, 96, 7-12 (2017).
 
9.             S.M. Zahedi, et al, Optimization of the pumping system of the LED-pumped Ce:Nd:YAG laser, The 1 th conference on optoelectronics, Applied optics and Microelectronics, Namin. Ardabil, 13-15 August, (2019) (in Persian).
 
10. S.M. Zahedi, et al, Beam guiding system for pumping of solid-state lasers with light emitting diodes, The 1 th conference on optoelectronics, Applied Optics and Microelectronics, Namin. Ardabil, 13-15 August, (2019) (in Persian).
 
11.          Cree® XLamp® XHP50.2 LEDs, Product family data sheet, CREE company (2018).
 
12.          W. Koechner, Solid-state laser engineering, 6th Edition, Springer (2006).
 
13.          M. Janecek, Reflectivity spectra for commonly used reflectors, IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 59(3), 490 (2012).
 
14.          M. Tarkashvand, A.H. Farahbod, S.A. Hashemizadeh, Study of the spatiotemporal behavior of LED-pumped Ce:Nd:YAG laser, International Journal of Optics and Photonics, 14(1), 75 (2020).
 
15.          F. Hokmabadi, A.H. Farahbod, A. Nazari-Golshan, Dependence of mode profile on the pumping configuration of a LED-pumped Ce:Nd:YAG laser, Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 95(2), 40 (2021).
 
16. T. Zhao, Light-emitting-diode-pumped active Q-switched Nd:YLF laser, Opt. Lett., 44(8), 1956 (2019).
 
17.          C.Y. Cho, Energy scale-up and mode-quality enhancement of the LED-pumped Nd:YAG Q-switched laser achieving a millijoule green pulse, Opt. Letters, 44 (13), 3202 (2019).

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