High-stability, high-pulse-energy MOPA laser system based on composite Nd:YAG crystal with multiple doping concentrations

In this paper, a high-stability, high-pulse-energy laser at a repetition rate of 2 kHz was presented from an electrooptically Q-switched Nd:YAG master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system. A multi-segment composite Nd: YAG crystal was utilized as the gain medium of the electro-optically Q-switched laser, yielding a pulse energy of 8.6 mJ and a pulse width of 7.8 ns at 2 kHz. By using two laser diode (LD) end-pumped Nd:YAG amplifiers, the single pulse energy was amplified to 28.6 mJ, corresponding to a peak power of 3.7 MW. By frequency doubling with a LiB3O5 (LBO), 13.2 mJ and 6.4 ns laser pulses were achieved at 532 nm. With the temperature varying from -40 degrees C to 55 degrees C, the coefficient of variation (CV) of the pulse energy was 2.6%. Besides, the laser system also presented high stability under the typical vibration condition of the airborne platform. This MOPA laser system is a promising laser source for airborne remote sensing.

Automated summary

This paper presents a high-stability, high-pulse-energy laser source based on an electrooptically Q-switched Nd:YAG master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system with a repetition rate of 2 kHz. The use of a multi-segment composite Nd:YAG crystal as the gain medium enables the system to achieve a pulse energy of 8.6 mJ and pulse width of 7.8 ns. By employing two laser diode end-pumped Nd:YAG amplifiers, the pulse energy is amplified to 28.6 mJ, corresponding to a peak power of 3.7 MW. Further frequency doubling with LiB3O5 (LBO) generates laser pulses with an energy of 13.2 mJ and pulse width of 6.4 ns at 532 nm. The laser system exhibits high stability with a coefficient of variation (CV) of the pulse energy of 2.6% over a temperature range of -40 degrees C to 55 degrees C, and is suitable for airborne remote sensing.