| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 732263 | Optics & Laser Technology | 2013 | 8 Pages |
•We report 520 W average power with highest slope efficiency of 5.4% in a long pulse (0.5–20 ms) operation of ceramic Nd:YAG laser.•Laser pump chamber and resonator have been designed to achieve higher efficiency and good beam quality.•The output characteristics of ceramic Nd:YAG rod and single crystal Nd:YAG rod have been compared.•The potential applications areas of this laser are the welding of titanium, aluminum and stainless steel for the automotive, nuclear, shipping and heavy machinery industries.
We report the performance study of a 2% atomic doped ceramic Nd:YAG rod for long pulse laser operation in the millisecond regime with pulse duration in the range of 0.5–20 ms. A maximum average output power of 520 W with 180 J maximum pulse energy has been achieved with a slope efficiency of 5.4% using a dual rod configuration, which is the highest for typical lamp pumped ceramic Nd:YAG lasers. The laser output characteristics of the ceramic Nd:YAG rod were revealed to be nearly equivalent or superior to those of high-quality single crystal Nd:YAG rod. The laser pump chamber and resonator were designed and optimized to achieve a high efficiency and good beam quality with a beam parameter product of 16 mm mrad (M2∼47). The laser output beam was efficiently coupled through a 400 μm core diameter optical fiber with 90% overall transmission efficiency. This ceramic Nd:YAG laser will be useful for various material processing applications in industry.
