High energy diode-pumped sapphire face-cooled Nd:glass multi-slab amplifier

We investigated the performance of a multi-slab Nd:glass laser amplifier using a sapphire face-cooled design. The experimental amplification of 10-ns pulses, to an output energy of 560 mJ at a repetition rate of 1 Hz with an energy stability of 0.39% RMS was achieved, when pumped by 10 J of diode energy at 802 nm, corresponding to an optical to optical efficiency of 5.6%. The sapphire-cooled Nd:glass concept is a novel demonstration for a diode-pumped laser amplification to the sub-joule level and this concept holds promise of achieving higher energies and repetition rates in multi-slab amplifiers.