ABSTRACT
We demonstrate high-frequency Q-switching of a fiber rod laser with a Single-Crystal Photo-Elastic Modulator (SCPEM) made of a LiTaO3â crystal. This type of photo-elastic modulator can be driven simultaneously with two different eigenmodes to achieve a shorter rise time, which is essential for high-power operation. When operated in the laser cavity, a pulse repetition frequency of 183.6 kHz with an average power of 47 W, a pulse duration of 26 ns, and a peak power of 10.5 kW was achieved.
Subject(s)
Fiber Optic Technology/instrumentation , Lasers , Equipment Design , Equipment Failure AnalysisABSTRACT
Time-multiplexing is a method to increase the brilliance of diode lasers, i.e. a sequence of laser pulses emitted from different laser diodes at different times is guided onto a common optical path via a cascade of polarizing cube beam splitters and polarization switches. The latter are made of piezo-electric crystals oscillating in resonance and making use of the photo-elastic effect to obtain the desired modulation of polarization. We realized a demonstrator for time multiplexing of four laser diodes with such self-excited photo-elastic modulators. The latter is a new alternative to conventional photo-elastic modulators used in ellipsometers.
