A compact-high efficiency-flashlamp pumped Ti:Al2O3 laser

Abstract

Pumping a Ti:Al2O3 laser with another laser, such as a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser, limits both the energy of each pulse and the overall efficiency of the system. Pumping Ti:Al2O3 by flashlamps is difficult, however, because of the Ti3+ short radiative lifetime (3.2 μs). Also, we develope an all solid-state power supply that can deliver a 5 kA peak current to the flashlamp on the same time scale. The supply provides a 150 to 300 mA direct simmer current and 10 A pseudo-simmer current (risetime of 100 μs) to allow for spatial centering of the arc in the flashlamp bore. At the top of the pseudo-simmer pulse, the main electrical pulse is provided by an original circuit based on magnetic compression. A maximum energy of 110 J can be delivered to the two flashlamps (55 J per lamp) within 4.5 μs with 75% electrical efficiency.