Modeling of scaling of a diode longitudinally pumped metastable rare gas with a master oscillator power amplifier.

There has been recent interest in diode pumped metastable rare gas lasers (DPRGLs) and their scaling to higher powers, due to the advantages of excellent beam quality and high quantum efficiency. In this paper, a cw diode pumped rare gas amplifier (DPRGA) with single-pass longitudinally pumped configuration is studied theoretically based on master oscillator and power amplifier (MOPA). A five-level kinetic model of DPRGAs is first established. Then, the influences of gain medium density, pump and seed laser intensities and gain length on DPRGA performance are simulated and analyzed. The results of numerical simulation agree well with those of Rawlins et al.'s experiment. With the best set of working parameters, the amplification factor reaches 22.18 dB, at pump intensity of 50 kW/cm2 and seed laser intensity of 100 W/cm2. Parameter optimization is helpful for design of a relatively high-power DPRGL system.

Two-stage excitation model of diode pumped rare gas atoms lasers.

Diode pumped rare gas atoms lasers (DPRGLs) are potential candidates of the high-energy lasers, due to the advantages of high laser power and high optical conversion efficiency. In this paper, a two-stage excitation model of DPRGLs is established including gas discharge excitation and semiconductor laser pump to study energy loss mechanism and obtain total efficiency. The results of numerical simulation agree well with those of Rawlins et al.'s experiment. Through parameter optimization, the total efficiency and optical conversion efficiency reach 51.5% and 62.7% respectively, at pump intensity of 50 kW/cm2 and reduced electric field of 8 Td. Parameter optimization of two-stage excitation lasers is theoretically studied, which is significant for the DPRGLs design with high total efficiency.