Laser Amplifier Based on a 5 mm Yb:YAG Rod Operating at Room Temperature

A detailed study of the created radiation amplifier (quantron) with diode pumping and an active medium in the form of an Yb3+:YAG rod with a diameter of 5 mm and a length of 105 mm with an ytterbium concentration of 1.1%, operating at room temperature, was carried out. An analysis of the spectral characteristics of the device’s radiation was performed, and the gain per pass was studied in different operating modes: single pulse, 2 and 10 Hz. The dependence of the parameters of the induced thermal lens on the duration of the amplifier operation was studied. The characteristics of a pump consisting of five diode matrices emitting at a wavelength of λ = 940 nm, with a total radiation power of approximately 25 kW, were investigated. A gain of approximately 0.4 cm–1 was achieved for single pulses and at a pulse repetition frequency of 2 Hz as well as 0.28 cm–1 at a pulse repetition frequency of 10 Hz.