Calculation of thermal-gradient-induced stress birefringence in slab lasers - II

    Authors

    Y. Chen; B. Chen; M. K. R. Patel; A. Kar;M. Bass

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    IEEE J. Quantum Electron.

    Keywords

    birefringence; slab lasers; thermal and stress effects; YAG lasers; ND-YAG; POWER; Engineering, Electrical & Electronic; Optics; Physics, Applied

    Abstract

    In an earlier article, we clarified conceptual and numerical difficulties in applying previously published methods for calculating thermal-gradient-induced stress birefringence to crystalline laser media. In this paper, we present calculations of the stress-induced birefringence and depolarization loss in Yb:YAG slab lasers for both straight-through and zigzag propagation. The alignment of the crystal's axes with respect to the slab dimensions is shown to significantly determine the depolarization loss. In a realistic slab laser, the depolarization loss and its dependence on axis orientation is shown to vary from place to place within the gain medium due to changes in the local thermal gradient.

    Journal Title

    Ieee Journal of Quantum Electronics

    Volume

    40

    Issue/Number

    7

    Publication Date

    1-1-2004

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    917

    Last Page

    928

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000222277900012

    ISSN

    0018-9197

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