Abstract: A solid state laser module for amplification of laser radiation. The module includes a laser gain medium having a pair of generally parallel surfaces that form a disc-like shape, that receive and transmit laser radiation. At least one perimetral optical medium is disposed adjacent a peripheral edge of the laser gain medium and in optical communication therewith. A source of optical pump radiation directs optical pump radiation into the perimetral optical medium generally normal to the parallel surfaces and the perimetral optical medium transports the optical pump radiation into the laser gain medium to pump the laser gain medium to a laser transition level. Alternative embodiments include arrangements for directing cooling fluids between adjacently disposed laser gain media.

Abstract: A second harmonic generation laser system comprising: a non-linear frequency converting medium; and an external cavity pump laser that produces optical energy at a single mode and at a single frequency and that is disposed to provide the optical energy to the non-linear frequency converting medium.

Abstract: A device for emission of light is made including an emitting structure including an active part and a micro-cavity, delimited by mirrors and containing the active part, and a laser diode designed for pumping the emitting structure. The emitting structure is fixed to the laser diode. The device is particularly applicable to the detection of gas.

Abstract: A semiconductor laser includes a multilayer semiconductor laser heterostructure including at least one active layer of a II-VI semiconductor material and is optically pumped by one or more indium gallium nitride (InGaN) diode-lasers. Group II elements in the II-VI semiconductor material are zinc, cadmium, magnesium, beryllium, strontium, and barium. Group VI elements in the II-VI semiconductor material are Sulfur, Selenium, and Tellurium. In one example of the laser an edge emitting heterostructure includes two active layers of zinc cadmium selenide, two waveguide layers of zinc magnesium sulfoselenide, and two cladding layers, also of zinc magnesium sulfoselenide. Proportions of elements in the cladding layer material and the waveguide layer material are selected such that the waveguide layer material has a higher bandgap than the material of the waveguide layers.

Abstract: Co-doping the gain medium of a diode-pumped infrared laser to make the laser resistant to long-term degradation from high-intensity internal infrared radiation is disclosed. Co-doping the gain medium with ions such as Cr3+ and Ce3+ that make the gain medium resistant to external ionizing radiation solves problems of long-term degradation of the gain medium.

Abstract: A laser system for producing a laser beam, the laser system having top and bottom heat-sinking bars forming the structure of the laser system and plurality of disks comprising a laser material mounted on both the bottom heat-sinking bar and the top heat-sinking bar. Also mounted on both heat-sinking bars is a plurality of pump diode bars. Each pump diode bar is preferably mounted opposite a corresponding laser disk on the opposite heat-sinking bar. The pump diode bars and the disks are symmetrically mounted on the top and bottom heat-sinking bars, so that each heat-sinking bar has an alternating pattern of pump diode bars and laser disks. The laser system is configured such that the lasing beams impinge on the disks with an incidence angle far off normal.

Abstract: A longitudinally pumped laser including one or more active lasing media arranged in an optical laser cavity and at least one pumping device emitting at least one pumping beam toward the at least one active lasing medium. The pumped beam or beams is coupled with the active medium. At least one of the active lasing media includes one or more non-homogeneously doped zones, and the dimension of the doped zones and/or the distribution of the dopants is chosen on the basis of the desired transverse mode of the laser cavity. Such a laser can be used as an amplifier.

Abstract: An optical pump device including a pump source optically connected to an optical divider including one input channel and n output channels. The input channel is configured to receive a pump wave derived from the source and the n output channels are configured to output n pump waves, where n is an integer greater than 1. The pump device can be used in an optical amplification device. The device has applications in all domains in which several optical pumps are necessary, and more particularly in the domain of optical telecommunications, and for example for optical amplifiers.

Abstract: By tapering the diameter of a flanged barrel laser rod over its length, the maximum trapped path length of a barrel mode can be dramatically reduced, thereby reducing the ability of the trapped spontaneous emission to negatively impact laser performance through amplified spontaneous emission (ASE). Laser rods with polished barrels and flanged end caps have found increasing application in diode array end-pumped laser systems. The polished barrel of the rod serves to confine diode array pump light within the rod. In systems utilizing an end-pumping geometry and such polished barrel laser rods, the pump light that is introduced into one or both ends of the laser rod, is ducted down the length of the rod via the total internal reflections (TIRs) that occur when the light strikes the rod's barrel. A disadvantage of using polished barrel laser rods is that such rods are very susceptible to barrel mode paths that can trap spontaneous emission over long path lengths.

Abstract: A diode pumped solid state laser using a laser diode bar or a stack of bars with cylindrical lenses is used to end pump a rectangular cross section solid state laser slab. The combination of lenses and polished slab surfaces provides overlap of the pump light with the laser mode combined with sufficient length of material to absorb all of the pump light to produce a compact, efficient laser source.

Abstract: A tunable solid-state laser system whose bandwidth and wavelength are controlled by the injection of light from a semiconductor diode laser. This laser system is capable of providing output light pulses over substantially all wavelength ranges in the electromagnetic spectrum. When suitably configured, it creates wavelength tunable (or fixed wavelength) pulses having spectral bandwidths that are Fourier transform limited and wavelength stabilized. The coupling means between the semiconductor diode laser and the ring laser cavity incorporates a means for optically isolating the diode laser source from optical feedback from the ring laser, ensuring diode laser source stability.

Abstract: A solid-state laser device consists of a gain medium in the shape of a polyhedron. A beam enters the gain medium at one surface of the polyhedron and is reflected internally at one or more surfaces with each reflection occurring in approximate the same plane as the plane of incidence of the incident beam. The beam enters and exits the gain medium at different locations. Pump radiation enters the polyhedron through one or more faces. The laser device may be used as the gain medium for a laser oscillator or a laser amplifier. In one variation, the polyhedron contains an internal core section in which there is no gain material. In another variation, the gain medium further includes one or more surfaces oriented to achieve a 90 degree internal reflection of the beam.

Abstract: A device for producing laser radiation having a wavelength of about 2 ?m, the device comprising: a solid-state sample capable of producing lasing transitions corresponding to a wavelength of about 2 ?m; and a source of pumping radiation having a wavelength of about 1 ?m, the source being arranged so that at least some of the radiation produced thereby is absorbed by the solid-state sample, causing the solid-state sample to emit radiation having a wavelength of about 2 ?m.

Abstract: A semiconductor laser device according to the present invention comprises a laminated structure of a semiconductor material including an active layer formed of a quantum well structure, a low-reflection film formed on one end face of the structure, and a high-reflection film formed on the other end face of the structure. The cavity length (L) of the device is 1,200 &mgr;m or more. This laser device, which enjoys high kink currents and a satisfactorily linear current-optical output characteristic, is a useful pumping light source for optical fiber amplifier.

Abstract: The present invention contemplates an integrated oscillator-amplifier system for deep UV generation. The system employs a long cavity oscillator to lengthen the pulse build-up time and to control the pulse spectral bandwidth. Meanwhile the system employs a short cavity amplifier to shorten the energy extraction time to produce a single short pulse with good energy extraction efficiency. The system further integrates the oscillator and the amplifier by inserting the amplifier cavity inside the oscillator cavity via a mirror of low reflectivity. As a result, the integrated system has a long build-up time to generate a seed pulse in the long cavity oscillator and has a short energy extraction time to generate a short amplified single pulse in the short cavity. Consequently, the integrated system can accommodate a relatively long pump pulse to produce a single short amplified pulse suitable for deep UV laser generation.

Abstract: In a solid-state laser in which a gain crystal is polished to have the Brewster angle or a solid-state laser comprising a dichroic concave mirror to which light enters at an incidence angle which is not zero, astigmatism generally occurs in pumping light. By tilting a focusing lens for pumping light with respect to the optical axis of the pumping light, the astigmatism is compensated. The tilting angle is determined in such a manner that synthetic focusing points in the sagittal and tangential planes, of a series optical system of a focusing lens, a dichroic concave lens, and a gain crystal are calculated and the focusing points almost coincide with focusing points in a cavity mode.

Abstract: An apparatus for removing heat from a lasing medium of a solid-state laser assembly is provided that comprises a working fluid and at least one condensation surface defined by a housing in which at least a portion of the lasing medium is housed. The apparatus further comprises a coolant circuit and a wick disposed to distribute the working fluid in a liquid state over at least a portion of an outer surface of the lasing medium and to capture working fluid condensing upon the at least one condensation surface. During use, the wick distributes the working fluid in a liquid state over the at least a portion of the outer surface of the lasing medium. During contact with the at least a portion of the outer surface of the lasing medium, the working fluid evaporates and removes heat from the lasing medium. The working fluid in a vapor state contacts the at least one condensation surface, transfers heat to the at least one condensation surface, and condenses on the at least one condensation surface.

Abstract: This invention provides a means for generating multiple wavelengths in an integrated manner using a resonant cavity containing dispersion shifted non-linear medium and coupled to a pulsed laser source. The dispersion shifted non-linear medium is seeded by at least some of the desired wavelengths. The laser source emits radiation at a particular wavelength and is pulsed in a manner synchronously related to the round trip time of the resonant cavity. By means of wave mixing, such as four wave mixing, the dispersion shifted non-linear medium produces a set of discrete wavelengths. The reflective elements of the resonant cavity are designed to contain the radiation of the laser sources within the resonant cavity and to transmit an equal amount of each of the generated set of wavelengths.

Abstract: A method of controlling a unipolar semiconductor laser in the 4-12 &mgr;m mid-infrared range. This is an optical control method, unlike a purely electrical, power control method which injects a relatively large flux of electrons. The optical control method may advantageously include two optical beams of the same wavelength and a device for making those beams interfere in the active layer of the laser, the optical control beams having a much shorter wavelength than the wavelength of the unipolar laser and having a frequency capable of being modulated more rapidly than that of the laser.

Abstract: A method for tuning nonlinear optical frequency converters including devices such as optical parametric amplifiers and optical parametric oscillators through degeneracy. The nonlinear conversion process is driven by a pump beam at an original pump wavelength and the tuning is accomplished by setting a passband around a first wavelength generated by the optical frequency converter and thereby generating a passband image around a second wavelength. Once the passband and passband image are within a critical range the original pump wavelength is adjusted to an adjusted pump wavelength and tuning continues by moving the passband which the adjusted pump wavelength is either held constant or further adjusted. In particular, the passband can now be moved through the resonant wavelength which corresponds to a point of degeneracy at the original pump wavelength.

Abstract: The present invention uses a novel crystal host to minimize parasitic upconversion and lifetime quenching processes by increasing the distance between active dopant ions in the matrix. As a result, erbium that could previously only be useful at low levels may now be incorporated at much higher concentrations without adverse effects. In addition, this host has long excited-state-lifetimes, making it more effective as an energy storage device for pulsed laser applications.

Abstract: A laser wherein pump radiation from laser diodes is delivered to a pump chamber and into the lasing medium by quasi-three-dimensional compound parabolic concentrator light channels. The light channels have reflective side walls with a curved surface and reflective end walls with a curved surface. A flow tube between the lasing medium and the light channel has a roughened surface.

Abstract: A first injection laser signal and a first part of a reference laser beam are injected into a first laser element. At least one additional injection laser signal and at least one additional part of a reference laser beam are injected into at least one additional laser element. The first part of a reference laser beam and the at least one additional part of a reference laser beam are amplified and phase conjugated producing a first amplified output laser beam emanating from the first laser element and an additional amplified output laser beam emanating from the at least one additional laser element. The first amplified output laser beam and the additional amplified output laser beam are combined into a powerful laser beam.

Abstract: An optical switch operating with an optical pumping source. The switch includes a microcavity structure that is resonant with both the pumping source and the input optical signal. The microcavity structure includes a cavity in between two reflectors. The input optical signal is switched from one to zero, by varying the pump source intensity. The microcavity provides amplification of the pumping energy allowing for a nonlocal optical power source. In addition it also provides a way for fast optical modulation of the input optical signal using continuous wave pumping source.

Abstract: A solid state pump cavity comprising a laser rod encased by diffusion bonding inside an outer cladding. The outer cladding provides the ability to efficiently conduct heat away from the laser rod. The outer cladding is also configured to absorb spontaneous laser radiation that would otherwise be re-amplified by the laser rod. Diffusion bonding of the outer cladding to the laser rod forms a seamless optical boundary between the outer cladding and the laser rod. An alternative embodiment of the pump cavity comprises multiple segments of laser rod and outer cladding assemblies coupled together with undoped sections that are diffusion bonded to the ends of the laser rod and outer cladding assemblies.

Abstract: A chiral fiber laser implemented in a fiber Bragg grating mimicking the advantageous optical properties of a cholesteric liquid crystal structure is provided. The dopant, the pitch, the core cross section and dimensions thereof, of the inventive chiral fiber laser as well as the core and cladding materials used in construction thereof, may be advantageously selected and configured to enable the inventive chiral fiber laser to produce lasing at a desirable wavelength. In another embodiment of the inventive chiral fiber laser, a tunable defect is introduced to provide tunable lasing corresponding to the wavelength at the defect mode. Multiple embodiments using coupled fiber optical pumping as well as direct optical pumping for excitation of the inventive chiral fiber laser are provided.

Abstract: A laser emitting apparatus includes an incoherent light-emitting device having a light-emitting layer wherein an electric field is applied across the light-emitting layer to produce light which is transmitted out of the incoherent light-emitting device and a vertical laser cavity structure disposed to receive light transmitted from the incoherent light-emitting device and produce laser light.

Abstract: An optical amplifier is provided comprising an optical fiber ring, and a pump light emitting device providing a primary pump wavelength. The pump light emitting device is optically coupled to the optical fiber ring and utilizes the primary pump wavelength to generate a secondary pump wavelength. Optical signal amplification and secondary pump wavelength lasing occur within the same section of the optical fiber ring.

Abstract: An apparatus for receiving optical pump radiation having a wavelength &lgr;p and transmitting pump light to an active region. The apparatus includes a first and second reflector, each reflector being reflective at the wavelength &lgr;p, disposed on opposite sides of the active region, where the separation between the reflectors creates a cavity that is resonant at the pump wavelength &lgr;p. The separation distance is preferably about m&lgr;p/2n cos &thgr;, where n is the average index of refraction of the material having an active region, &thgr; is the angle that the pump beam transverses relative the normal of said reflectors, and m is any positive integer. The apparatus provides low cost, high power, optically pumped edge emitting and surface emitting lasers which can be operated at elevated temperatures or power levels. The apparatus further provides mid-IR, high power optically pumped semiconductor lasers with high pump absorbance, long pump wavelength, and a thin active layer.

Abstract: Apparatus and method for achieving improved performance in a solid-state laser. The solid-state laser apparatus preferably uses a laser gain medium in the shape of a disk wherein optical pump radiation is injected into the peripheral edge of the disk. In the preferred embodiment the laser gain medium is provided with optical coatings for operation in the active mirror configuration. Furthermore, the laser gain medium is pressure-clamped to a rigid, cooled substrate, which allows it to maintain a prescribed shape even when experiencing significant thermal load. A cooling medium can be provided to a heat exchanger internal to the substrate and/or flowed through the passages on the substrate surface, thereby directly cooling the laser gain medium. Sources of optical pump radiation are placed around the perimeter of the gain medium. Tapered ducts may be disposed between the sources and the gain medium for the purpose of concentrating optical pump radiation.

Abstract: A solid-state laser rod pumping module has a stack-type semiconductor laser including a plurality of bar-shaped components that are stacked in a direction parallel to the axis of a solid-state laser rod. Each bar-shaped component includes a plurality of laser-light-emitting portions that are aligned and integrated in a direction orthogonal to the axis of the solid-state laser rod. The large divergence angle of the stack-type semiconductor can be compensated by including a light focusing component for focusing laser light emitted out of the stack-type semiconductor laser. The focused light is guided by a laser light guiding component disposed in a diffusive reflection tube. A light guiding component guides the focused light onto a solid-state laser rod located within the diffusive reflective tube, while maintaining the length of one side of the cross section of the guided light.

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.

Abstract: A solid state laser, includes laser rod tubes (10, 117) crimped onto each end of a laser rod (15, 121) with PTFE seal rings (25, 118) compressed between the laser rod and the laser rod tube. The compressed seal rings provide an improved leak tight seal in a laser pumping chamber. Each laser rod tube (10) provides a mounting and holding area (20) for supporting the laser rod ends therein while protecting and sealing the end faces of the laser rod. A swaging tool (40) and method for swaging the laser rod tube (10) onto the laser rod (15) to provide a compression fit are provided. The compression seal and swaging method are usable in a variety of leak tight sealing applications.

Abstract: A semiconductor laser excitation solid laser of the invention has a solid laser medium, a semiconductor laser for exciting the solid laser medium, a spectrometer for detecting a wavelength region of a radiation spectrum of the semiconductor laser for exciting the solid laser medium, computation means such as a comparator for normalizing an area of the detected spectrum detected by the spectrometer and computing an overlap area between the normalized detected spectrum and a normalized absorption spectrum involved in laser excitation of the solid laser medium, and temperature control means for controlling the temperature of the semiconductor laser based on the output from the computation means.

Abstract: A concentrator including a volume of at least partially transmissive material and a plurality of facets disposed at at least one surface thereof. Each of the facets is disposed at a position dependent angle relative to the surface effective to cause an internal reflection of energy applied to the layer whereby the density of the applied energy varies as a function of position. In the illustrative implementation, the volume is an active medium, i.e., a slab. The slab has substantially parallel, planar upper and lower surfaces and first and second edges therebetween. A plurality of cladding layers are disposed on the upper and lower surfaces of the slab. The facets are provided in the cladding layers on the upper and lower surfaces of the slab and angled as a function of distance relative to the first or the second edge. The facets provide a Fresnel reflecting surface or a binary optic surface.

Abstract: In annealing a non-single crystal silicon film through the use of a linear laser beam emitted by a YAG laser of a light source, it is the object of the present invention to prevent heterogeneity in energy caused by an optical interference produced in the linear laser beam from having an effect on the silicon film. The laser beam is divided by a mirror 604 shaped like steps into laser beams which have an optical path difference larger than the coherence length of the laser beam between them. The divided laser beams are converged on an irradiate surface 611 by the action of a cylindrical lens array 605 and a cylindrical lens 606 to homogenize the energy of the laser beam in the length direction and to determine the length of the linear laser beam.

Abstract: A laser resonator and an associated method are provided which produce a laser beam having a relatively uniform intensity profile following a single pass through a single laser cavity. The laser resonator includes a laser cavity through which a chemical medium flows from an upstream end to a downstream end. The laser resonator also includes a first optical element, typically termed a secondary mirror, for directing an expanding laser beam across the cavity. The laser resonator also includes a second optical element disposed opposite the first optical element relative to the laser cavity. Typically, the second optical element is a set of primary mirrors and, more particularly, a pair of primary mirrors for both collimating and spatially inverting the laser beam relative to the predetermined flow direction of the chemical medium through the laser cavity. Once the expanded laser beam has been collimated and spatially inverted, the laser beam is redirected across the laser cavity.

Abstract: A diode-laser side-pumped solid-state laser device (SSLD) has a cylindrical laser rod, a cooling tube, and a cylindrical mirror member having an inner mirror surface and a plurality of openings therein for introducing pumping laser. The laser rod receives the pumping laser, absorbs a portion of the pumping laser, and passes and focus the remaining portion of the pumping laser at a focal point disposed on the mirror surface. Substantially all the remaining portion of the pumping laser is reflected to be received and absorbed by the laser rod.

Abstract: Many longitudinally pumped miniature lasers (single-frequency Nd:YAG microchip lasers and Q-switched microchip lasers) are sufficiently short that only a small fraction of the incident pump light is absorbed as it passes through the gain medium. The efficiency of such a laser is improved when the output face of the laser is coated to reflect the pump light, thereby allowing double-pass absorption of the light within the gain medium. The total absorption may still be small, however. Additionally, the divergence of typical pump sources (diode lasers or optical fibers) is large enough that there is often poor overlap between the reflected pump light and the oscillating mode, and the efficiency of the device is not significantly enhanced. If the output face of the miniature laser is coated to be highly transmitting to the pump radiation, the transmitted pump light can be collected with a lens and focused in to an amplifying medium (Nd:YVO4).

Abstract: A tunable light source equipped with an optical parametric amplifier (OPA) placed in a cavity for performing an optical parametric oscillation (OPO) driven by a pump beam at a pump frequency selected within a certain range such that the OPO is driven near degeneracy. An adjustment mechanism adjusts the pump frequency within a wavelength tuning range to select a gain spectrum of the OPO and a spectral control mechanism sets a resonant frequency of the cavity within that gain spectrum. Thus, only one of the idler and signal beams within the passband set by the narrowband tuner is supported inside the cavity. Other nonlinear frequency conversion operations can also be performed within the cavity in conjunction with the OPO. The light source can be operated in cw, near-cw and pulsed operation modes as a broadly tunable narrowband source covering a wavelength window of 250 nm.

Abstract: Reflective powder, such as barium sulfate, within a reflector chamber of a solid-state optical pumping laser is effectively isolated from coolant-water, preventing contact therewith. Degeneration of reflectors and diminution of lasing magnitude is avoided. Water seals are shielded from substantially all light from the flashlamps by a light barrier. Ultraviolet light from the flashlamps is blocked from contacting the water seals. Degradation of the seals is eliminated; and water leakage-contact with the reflective powder is prevented.

Abstract: In the apparatus of the invention, a first excitation laser or other excitation light source is used in tandem with an ignitor laser to provide a compact, durable, engine deployable fuel ignition laser system. Reliable fuel ignition is provided over a wide range of fuel conditions by using a single remote excitation light source for one or more small lasers located proximate to one or more fuel combustion zones. In two embodiments the beam from the excitation light source is split with a portion of it going to the ignitor laser and a second portion of it being combined with either the first portion after a delay before injection into the ignitor laser or combined with the output of the ignitor laser. In another embodiment alternating short and long pulses of light from the excitation light source are directed into the ignitor laser.

Abstract: In a solid-state laser in which a gain crystal is polished to have the Brewster angle or a solid-state laser comprising a dichroic concave mirror to which light enters at an incidence angle which is not zero, astigmatism generally occurs in pumping light. By tilting a focusing lens for pumping light with respect to the optical axis of the pumping light, the astigmatism is compensated. The tilting angle is determined in such a manner that synthetic focusing points in the sagittal and tangential planes, of a series optical system of a focusing lens, a dichroic concave lens, and a gain crystal are calculated and the focusing points almost coincide with focusing points in a cavity mode.

Abstract: A solid-state laser apparatus of the laser diode excitation type includes a condenser mirror to input incident light to a solid laser rod. The condenser mirror has an elliptical shape. In this apparatus, one focus of the mirror is located in a laser beam incident side and the other focus is located in a central axis of a laser rod. In addition, beam axes of beams from laser diodes are fixed to a long axis of the oval condenser mirror.

Abstract: A method and apparatus is provided for pumping an active medium in an optical amplifier. The active medium substantially maximizes amplification when pumped at a pump wavelength. If the active medium is erbium, for example, a pump wavelength of 980 nm may be employed. The apparatus includes a plurality of fiber Bragg grating lasers operating in a regime of coherence collapse. Each of the lasers generate optical energy at a different wavelength, which are distributed about the pump wavelength. The apparatus also includes optical components for combining the different wavelengths to form a pump beam and a coupler for coupling the pump beam to the active medium.

Abstract: A slab laser includes a laser-resonator and a plurality of generally-triangular prismatic slabs of a solid-state gain-medium located in the resonator. The prismatic slabs are cooperatively arranged such that laser-light circulating in the laser-resonator follows a convoluted path through the prismatic slabs. Each of the prismatic slabs changes the direction of the convoluted path at least once by about one-hundred-eighty degrees.

Abstract: An optical fiber amplifier has an amplification stage that uses an optical fiber pumped with pump energy of a first wavelength that oscillates through the gain medium. In one embodiment, the pumping is essentially a cavity resonator that is coupled to either end of the optical fiber such that oscillating pump energy is directed into one end of the fiber and out the other, as it reflects back and forth between the ends of the cavity. Highly reflective gratings are used to maintain the oscillation of the pump energy, and a pump energy source, such as pumped doped optical fiber, is coupled to at least one of the gratings. In another embodiment, the pump source comprises multiple reflectors that are employed at each end of the fiber, and independent pump sources each having a slightly different wavelength within the absorption spectrum of the amplifier are coupled together, such that two pump wavelengths are simultaneously oscillated through the gain medium.

Abstract: A passively mode-locked short pulse laser arrangement (1) comprising a laser resonator to which a pump beam (3) is supplied, a laser crystal (4), in particular a titanium-sapphire-(Ti:S-) laser crystal, and laser mirrors (M1 to M7), the laser crystal (4), which is subjected to a thermal load on account of the beam focussing, being mounted on a cooling body (10) provided for the removal of heat, which cooling body includes a bore (13) for the passage of the laser beam (3; 8), and on which a, particularly platelet-shaped, crystal mount (11) of a material with good heat conducting properties, preferably of copper, is provided for an improved removal of heat, the laser crystal (4) being held in an opening (14) of this crystal mount (11) by lateral abutment on oppositely arranged walls (15, 16) of the opening (14) of the crystal mount (11), the opening (14) in the crystal mount (11) being in alignment with the bore (13) in the cooling body (10).

Abstract: An active mirror amplifier (AMA) laser module incorporating an optically transparent, rigid substrate having a plurality of cooling passages has one surface thereof disposed against a laser gain medium disk. The substrate also has a plurality of microchannels disposed near or at an outer surface thereof which is in contact with an outer surface of the disk. A cooling medium is circulated through the flow passages and the cooling microchannels to help keep the disk cool during use of the laser. This allows the laser module to operate at significantly increased power without overheating. In one preferred embodiment the disk is attached to the substrate using a pressure differential between a front surface of the disk and the pressure of the coolant. This eliminates attachment-induced thermal stresses of prior art designs and allows the laser to operate at increased power without fracturing the substrate.

Abstract: The invention relates to a microlaser cavity (10) having: a solid active medium (2) emitting at least in a wavelength range between 1.5 and 1.6 &mgr;m, and a saturable absorber (4) of formula CaF2:Co2+ or MgF2:Co2+ or SrF2:Co2+ or BaF2:Co2+ or La0.9Mg0.5-xCoxAl11.433O19 or YalO3:Co2+ (or YAl5-2xCoxSixO3 YAl(1-2x)CoxSixO3) or Y3Al5-x-yGaxScyO12:Co2+ (or -3Al5-x-y2zGaxScyCozSizO12 Y3Al5-x-y-2zGaxScyCozSizO12) or Y3-xLuxAl5O12:Co2+ (or Y3-xLuxAl5-2yCoySiyO3) or Sr1-xMgxLayAl12-yO12:Co2+ (or Sr1-xMgx-yCoyLazAl12-zO12, with 0<y<x) Sr1-xLaxMgxAl12-xO19:Co2+ (or Sr1-xLaxMgx-yCoyAl12-xO19 , with 0<y<x).