Energy Limitations for Neodymium Glass Lasers with Beam Apertures of 45 and 60 mm

Abstract

We study the possibility of increasing the pulse energy and repetition rate of the 220-J neodymium glass laser for pumping high-power Ti:Sapphire chirped pulse amplifiers. Stable operation of neodymium glass rod amplifiers with an aperture of 45 mm for elastic stresses constituting 40% of the active-medium damage threshold has been demonstrated experimentally. This regime corresponds to the pulse repetition rate 1/30 Hz, which is a record one for pulsed laser amplifiers with stored energy exceeding 100 J. We have developed quantrons for neodymium glass rod active elements with an aperture of 60 mm, which permits a twofold increase in the output radiation energy with the same thermal load on the active elements as for rods 45 mm in diameter.