Laser with gain medium configured to provide and integrated optical pump cavity
US6690695B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 21, 2002 |
| Grant date | Feb 10, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 21, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01S3/094084
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An optically-pumped laser having a gain medium configured to provide a low loss, three-dimensional integrated optical pump cavity that substantially confines optical pump radiation within the lasing volume, which is particularly useful for efficiently pumping solid state gain media that has low pump dopant concentration. The integrated pump cavity includes a plurality of boundaries contiguous with the gain medium. An optical pump source such as a laser diode array supplies optical pump radiation that is input into the gain medium through one or more pump cavity windows with a propagation direction transverse to a laser axis defined through the gain medium. In some embodiments, an optical surface is situated opposite the window to approximately recollimate the input pump radiation. The optical pump cavity may be designed to concentrate the optical pump radiation and approximately uniformly pump the entire volume of the lasing medium. In one such embodiment, the pump cavity includes opposing converging surfaces that concentrate the optical pump radiation as it projects along the laser axis. Embodiments are disclosed in which a solid state gain medium has coatings that operate to supp…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.