Apparatus for efficient, more uniform high power excitation of a dye media optical amplifier

Claim 1

In an optically pumped pulsed laser system, a right angle corner reflector comprising a region having an active medium that is irradiated substantially equally from only two opposing directions along a straight line to pump the active medium most efficiently with a beam whose polarization is substantially matched to the polarization of the laser beam to be amplified, using a single incident pulsed pump beam of substantially collimated radiation wherein the polarization of the amplified laser beam is substantially linear and orthogonal to the plane formed by the direction of propagation of the pumped pulsed beam and the amplified beam, and wherein said corner reflector includes: (a) two reflective planes at right angles; and (b) an irradiated region including said active medium entirely within said corner reflector, said irradiated region being substantially cylindrical, positioned within said corner reflector so as to be directly irradiated from a first direction by incident radiation, and said irradiated region being also indirectly irradiated from a second direction opposite said first direction by incident radiation reflected from both of said planes.