Single-frequency pulsed laser source with hybrid MOPA configuration

Appl Opt. 2012 Jun 10;51(17):3826-31. doi: 10.1364/AO.51.003826.

Abstract

A unique approach with a hybrid master oscillator power amplifier configuration to obtain single-frequency, high-energy laser pulses at 1064 nm is presented. The setup consists of a single-frequency seed laser, a multistage fiber amplifier, and a four-pass crystal rod amplifier. Pulse energy of 10 mJ is obtained at the repetition rate of 100 Hz. The pulse width is about 110 ns with a transform-limited linewidth of 3.2 MHz. The M(2) factor of the output beam is about 1.5. To our knowledge, this is the first report of using a hybrid amplifier to obtain 10 mJ pulses with long pulse width and transform-limited linewidth.