Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

High Peak Power Cavity Dumped Two Micron Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers

Hoehler, Jacob Daniel
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1591737351537186

Abstract Details

2020, Master of Science (M.S.), University of Dayton, Electro-Optics.
There exists a plethora of applications which require high-powered, pulsed laser systems within the military and scientific communities. One increasingly prevalent use is in Light Detection and Radiation (LiDAR), which currently operates mainly in the one-micron range utilizing Q-switched solid state and fiber lasers. However, a demand has risen to bring these systems into the two-micron range for its openings in the atmosphere as well as eye-safety in the target environment. Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VECSELs) can help fill this gap by offering the high powered semiconductor gain in tandem with the good beam quality and flexibility offered by the external cavity. The light can then be stored in a low-loss cavity to later be extracted by dumping the cavity in multi-nanosecond long temporal pulses. In this report, the design and construction of a two-micron, cavity-dumped VECSEL will be discussed. The process from the characterization of the gain through the design and loss minimization of the cavity, through to cavity-dumping and the results will be detailed. Utilizing a 1.5 meter long cavity with an intracavity Pockels cell and thin film polarizer, peak powers of 510W in a 10ns pulse was attained. These powers were attained by gain switching the setup and minimizing the loss within the cavity to 4% per round trip. The center wavelength of the system was 2037nm. Furthermore, the spatial mode quality showed the laser to be operating single mode, with an M2 below 1.02.
Andrew Sarangan, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Qiwen Zhan, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Robert Bedford, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Ricky Gibson, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
111 p.
Engineering; Optics
VECSEL; Cavity Dumping; Semiconductor; Laser; Light

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Hoehler, J. D. (2020). High Peak Power Cavity Dumped Two Micron Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers [Master's thesis, University of Dayton]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1591737351537186

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Hoehler, Jacob. High Peak Power Cavity Dumped Two Micron Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers. 2020. University of Dayton, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1591737351537186.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Hoehler, Jacob. "High Peak Power Cavity Dumped Two Micron Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers." Master's thesis, University of Dayton, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1591737351537186

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

dayton1591737351537186
541
© 2020, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Dayton and OhioLINK.