High average power Q-switched 1314-nm two-crystal Nd:YLF laser.

A 1314 nm two-crystal Nd:YLF laser was designed and operated in both CW and actively Q-switched modes. Maximum CW output of 26.5 W resulted from 125 W of combined incident pump power. Active Q-switching was obtained by inserting a Brewster-cut acousto optic modulator. This setup delivered an average power of 18.6 W, with a maximum of 5.6 mJ energy per pulse with a pulse duration of 36 ns at a pulse repetition frequency of 500 Hz.

High average power 1314 nm Nd:YLF laser, passively Q-switched with V:YAG.

A 1314 nm Nd:YLF laser was designed and operated both CW and passively Q-switched. Maximum CW output of 10.4 W resulted from 45.2 W of incident pump power. Passive Q-switching was obtained by inserting a V:YAG saturable absorber in the cavity. The oscillator delivered a maximum of 825 µJ energy per pulse, with a pulse duration of 135 ns at a pulse repetition frequency of 6.3 kHz, effectively delivering 5.2 W of average power.

A compact streak camera for 150 fs time resolved measurement of bright pulses in ultrafast electron diffraction.

We have developed a compact streak camera suitable for measuring the duration of highly charged subrelativistic femtosecond electron bunches with an energy bandwidth in the order of 0.1%, as frequently used in ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) experiments for the investigation of ultrafast structural dynamics. The device operates in accumulation mode with 50 fs shot-to-shot timing jitter, and at a 30 keV electron energy, the full width at half maximum temporal resolution is 150 fs. Measured durations of pulses from our UED gun agree well with the predictions from the detailed charged particle trajectory simulations.

Ultraminiature high-power gas discharge lasers excited through high dielectric constant ceramic materials.

The authors show that millimeter-size high-pressure UV nitrogen lasers can be excited through high dielectric constant materials and provide peak beam powers of 10(4)-10(5) W.

Simple and compact photopreionization-stabilized excimer lasers.

A novel photopreionization-stabilized discharge scheme was developed to excite rare gas halogen excimer lasers with beam energies of 100-250 mJ. The scheme requires no auxiliary timing or switching circuits and provides for the construction of compact and reliable devices.

Ultraminiature high-power gas discharge lasers.

The authors describe the development of millimeter-size photopreionization stabilized atmospheric pressure uv nitrogen lasers. Sealed-off versions of these lasers can provide peak powers of 30-150 kW and average power of 1-5 mW. The discharge and pulsing concepts are very general and are being adapted to a variety of other high-pressure TE-type laser systems.