Development of a highly stable Yb:YAG thin disk pulsed green laser for high power Ti:sapphire based amplifier at 100 kHz repetition rate

Abstract

We have developed a pulsed Yb:YAG thin disk green laser for pumping a 100 kHz and 10 W femtosecond laser. We optimized numerically and experimentally the open duration of the acousto-optic (AO) Q-switcher and the internal SHG method, generating stable output energy at a 100 kHz repetition rate. We demonstrated a 515 nm output power of over 80 W with a pulse-to-pulse stability of less than 1% RMS with an LD power to green power conversion efficiency of 24%. With the developed green laser, we obtained 16 W of a Ti:sapphire laser in a cavity dumped mode. © 2007 Springer-Verlag.