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1.57 times diffraction-limit high-energy laser based on a Nd:YAG slab amplifier and an adaptive optics system
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2019
Year
Optical MaterialsEngineeringLaser ScienceLaser ApplicationsLaser PhysicsSuper-intense LasersHigh-power LasersOptical AmplifierBeam OpticOptical AmplificationOptical PropertiesYag Slab AmplifierOptical SystemsOptical PumpingPhotonicsApodized AperturesLaser Beam PropagationLaser DesignWavefront DistortionSlab AmplifierApplied PhysicsAdaptive Optics SystemHigh-energy LasersBeam QualityOptoelectronics
In this Letter, a 116-actuator deformable mirror (DM) was used to correct the wavefront distortion in a 10.7 J, 10 Hz neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) slab amplifier. By applying a pump-light homogenizer to transform the 3 × 1 near-field beam array into an integrated beam, the beam quality was greatly improved from 5.54 times diffraction limit (TDL) to 1.57 TDL after being corrected by the DM. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first investigation on beam quality control of an arrayed near-field beam in high-energy diode-pumped solid-state lasers.