Confocal-to-concentric diode pumped laser

Claim 2

A high power diode pumped laser, comprising: at least one resonator mirror and an output coupler; at least one laser crystal providing a strong aberrated thermal lens; at least one diode pump source supplying an end-pumped pump beam to the laser crystal, producing a thermals lens in the laser crystal, the combination of the laser crystal, thermal lens, resonator mirrors and output coupler generally a confocal-to-concentric resonator, generating an output beam, wherein a TEM 00 mode diameter of the laser crystal is different from a diameter of the pump beam; and a power source supplying power to the diode pump source.

Claim 3

The laser of claim 1, further comprising: a Q-switch positioned in the resonator.

Claim 4

The laser of claim 2, wherein the laser crystal is made of Nd:YAG.

Claim 5

The laser of claim 3, wherein the output beam is polarized.

Claim 6

The laser of claim 1, wherein the laser crystal is made of Nd:YAG.

Claim 7

The laser of claim 1, wherein the laser crystal is made of Nd:YVO 4 .

Claim 8

The laser of claim 6, wherein the Nd:YVO 4 laser crystal has a 0.5% doping.

Claim 9

The laser of claim 1, wherein a ratio of a TEM 00 mode diameter of the laser crystal to a pump beam diameter in the crystal is less than 1.0.

Claim 10

The laser of claim 8, wherein the diode pump beam has a diameter in the laser crystal larger than the TEM 00 mode diameter in the laser crystal to reduce loss due to thermal birefringence.

Claim 11

The laser of claim 1, wherein the laser has an optical slope efficiency in a TEM 00 mode of greater than about 40%.

Claim 12

The laser of claim 1, wherein the laser has an optical efficiency of greater than about 25%.

Claim 13

The laser of claim 1, wherein the output beam has a power greater than about 4 W.

Claim 14

A high power, diode pumped laser, comprising: at least one resonator mirror and an output coupler; at least one laser with strong thermal focussing properties; at least one diode pump source supplying an end-pumped pump beam to the laser crystal, producing a strong aberrated thermal lens in the laser crystal, the combination of the laser crystal, strong aberrated thermal lens, resonator mirrors and output coupler generally a confocal-to-concentric resonator that is greater than 0.5 Rayleigh range in length, generating an output beam with a power of 4 watts or greater, wherein a TEM 00 mode diameter of the laser crystal is different from a diameter of the pump beam; and a power source supplying power to the diode pump source.

Claim 15

A high power, diode pumped laser, comprising: at least one resonator mirror and an output coupler; at least one laser with strong thermal focussing properties; at least one diode pump source supplying an end-pumped pump beam to the laser crystal, producing a strong aberrated thermal lens in the laser crystal, the combination of the laser crystal, strong aberrated thermal lens, resonator mirrors and output coupler generally a confocal-to-concentric resonator that is greater than 0.5 Rayleigh range in length, generating an output beam with a power of 4 watts or greater, wherein a TEM 00 mode diameter of the laser crystal is different from a diameter of the pump beam; and a power source supplying power to the diode pump source.

Claim 16

The laser of claim 13, wherein the resonator is 1 to 2 Rayleigh range in length.

Claim 17

The laser of claim 13, wherein the resonator is 2 to 4 Rayleigh range in length.

Claim 18

The laser of claim 13, wherein the resonator is 4 to 10 Rayleigh range in length.

Claim 19

The laser of claim 13, further comprising: a Q-switch.

Claim 20

The laser of claim 17, wherein the laser crystal is made of Nd:YAG.

Claim 21

The laser of claim 18, wherein the resonator is about 4 Rayleigh ranges in length.

Claim 22

The laser of claim 13, wherein the laser crystal is made of Nd:YAG.

Claim 23

The laser of claim 20, wherein the output beam is polarized.

Claim 24

The laser of claim 13, wherein the laser crystal is made of Nd:YVO 4 .

Claim 25

The laser of claim 22, wherein the Nd:YVO 4 laser crystal has a 0.5% doping.

Claim 26

The laser of claim 13, wherein a ratio of a TEM 00 mode diameter of the laser crystal to a pump beam diameter in the crystal is about less than 1.0, to 0.83 or greater.

Claim 27

The laser of claim 24, wherein the diode pump beam has a diameter in the laser crystal larger than the TEM 00 mode diameter in the laser crystal to reduce losses due to thermal birefringence.

Claim 28

The laser of claim 13, wherein the laser has an optical slope efficiency in a TEM 00 mode of greater than about 40%.

Claim 29

The laser of claim 13, wherein the laser has an optical efficiency of greater than about 25%.

Claim 30

The laser of claim 13, wherein the output beam has a power greater than about 4 W.

Claim 31

A multi port, high efficiency, diode pumped laser, comprising: a resonator mirror and an output coupler defining a confocal-to-concentric resonator, the resonator including first and second pump windows defining a first fold arm of the resonator, the first fold arm defining a first fold arm with a first fold arm optical axis; a strong, thermal lens laser crystal positioned in the resonator along the first fold arm optical axis; a first diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the first pump window, supplying a first end-pumped pump beam to the laser crystal in the laser resonator producing an output beam with a power of 4 watts or greater, wherein a TEM 00 mode diameter of the laser crystal is different from a diameter of the first end-pumped pump beam; a second diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the second pump window, supplying a second end-pumped pump beam to the laser crystal in the laser resonator producing the output beam; and at least one power source supplying power to the first and second pump sources.

Claim 32

A multi port, high efficiency, diode pumped laser, comprising: a resonator mirror and an output coupler defining a confocal-to-concentric resonator, the resonator including first and second pump windows defining a first fold arm of the resonator, the first fold arm defining a first fold arm with a first fold arm optical axis; a strong, thermal lens laser crystal positioned in the resonator along the first fold arm optical axis; a first diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the first pump window, supplying a first end-pumped pump beam to the laser crystal in the laser resonator producing an output beam with a power of 4 watts or greater, wherein a TEM 00 mode diameter of the laser crystal is different from a diameter of the first end-pumped pump beam; a second diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the second pump window, supplying a second end-pumped pump beam to the laser crystal in the laser resonator producing the output beam; and at least one power source supplying power to the first and second pump sources.

Claim 33

The laser of claim 29, further comprising: a Q-switch positioned in the resonator.

Claim 34

The laser of claim 30, wherein the laser crystal is made of Nd:YAG.

Claim 35

The laser of claim 29, wherein the laser crystal is made of Nd:YAG.

Claim 36

The laser of claim 32, wherein the output beam is polarized.

Claim 37

The laser of claim 29, wherein the laser crystal is made of Nd:YVO 4 .

Claim 38

The laser of claim 34, wherein the Nd:YVO 4 laser crystal has a 0.5% doping.

Claim 39

The laser of claim 29, wherein a ratio of a TEM 00 mode diameter of the laser crystal to a pump beam diameter in the crystal is about less than 1.0, to 0.83 or greater.

Claim 40

The laser of claim 36, wherein the diode pump beam has a diameter in the laser crystal larger than the TEM 00 mode diameter in the laser crystal to reduce loss due to thermal birefringence.

Claim 41

The laser of claim 29, wherein the laser has an optical slope efficiency in a TEM 00 mode of greater than about 40%.

Claim 42

The laser of claim 29, wherein the laser has an optical efficiency of greater than about 25%.

Claim 43

The laser of claim 29, wherein the output beam has a power greater than about 4 W.

Claim 44

A multi port, high efficiency, diode pumped laser, comprising: a resonator mirror and an output coupler defining a confocal-to-concentric resonator, the resonator including first and second pump windows defining a first fold arm of the resonator, third and fourth pump windows defining a second fold arm of the resonator, the first fold arm defining a first fold arm optical axis, and the second fold arm defining a second fold arm optical axis; a first strong aberrated thermal lens laser crystal positioned in the resonator along the first fold arm optical axis; a second laser crystal positioned in the resonator along the second fold arm optical axis; a first diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the first pump window, supplying a first end-pumped pump beam to the first crystal to produce an output beam with a power of 4 watts or greater wherein a TEM 00 mode diameter of the laser crystal is different from a diameter of the first end-pumped pump beam; a second diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the second pump window, supplying a second end-pumped pump beam to the first crystal to produce the output beam; a third diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the third pump window, supplying a third end-pumped pump beam to the second crystal to produce the output beam; a fourth diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the fourth pump window, supplying a fourth end-pumped pump beam to the second crystal to produce the output beam; and at least one power source supplying power to the first, second, third and fourth diode pump sources.

Claim 45

A multi port, high efficiency, diode pumped laser, comprising: a resonator mirror and an output coupler defining a confocal-to-concentric resonator, the resonator including first and second pump windows defining a first fold arm of the resonator, third and fourth pump windows defining a second fold arm of the resonator, the first fold arm defining a first fold arm optical axis, and the second fold arm defining a second fold arm optical axis; a first strong aberrated thermal lens laser crystal positioned in the resonator along the first fold arm optical axis; a second laser crystal positioned in the resonator along the second fold arm optical axis; a first diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the first pump window, supplying a first end-pumped pump beam to the first crystal to produce an output beam with a power of 4 watts or greater wherein a TEM 00 mode diameter of the laser crystal is different from a diameter of the first end-pumped pump beam; a second diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the second pump window, supplying a second end-pumped pump beam to the first crystal to produce the output beam; a third diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the third pump window, supplying a third end-pumped pump beam to the second crystal to produce the output beam; a fourth diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the fourth pump window, supplying a fourth end-pumped pump beam to the second crystal to produce the output beam; and at least one power source supplying power to the first, second, third and fourth diode pump sources.

Claim 46

The laser of claim 41, further comprising: a Q-switch positioned in the resonator.

Claim 47

The laser of claim 42, wherein the laser crystal is made of Nd:YAG.

Claim 48

The laser of claim 43, wherein the output beam is polarized.

Claim 49

The laser of claim 41, wherein the laser crystal is made of Nd:YAG.

Claim 50

The laser of claim 41, wherein the laser crystal is made of Nd:YVO 4 .

Claim 51

The laser of claim 46, wherein the Nd:YVO 4 laser crystal has a 0.5% doping.

Claim 52

The laser of claim 41, wherein a ratio of a TEM 00 mode diameter of the laser crystal to a pump beam diameter in the crystal is about less than 1.0, to 0.83 or greater.

Claim 53

The laser of claim 48, wherein the diode pump beam has a diameter in the laser crystal larger than the TEM 00 mode diameter in the laser crystal to reduce loss due to thermal birefringence.

Claim 54

The laser of claim 41, wherein the laser has an optical slope efficiency in a TEM 00 mode of greater than about 40%.

Claim 55

The laser of claim 41, wherein the laser has an optical efficiency of greater than about 25%.

Claim 56

The laser of claim 41, wherein the output beam has a power greater than about 4 W.