Total Internal Reflection Face Pumped Laser: Concept And Design Consideration

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Abstract
The Total Internal Reflection - Face Pumped Laser (TIR-FPL), developed with the support of the Air Force Avionics Laboratory and Naval Missile Center, has demonstrated the capability of producing high brightness beams in a repetitively pulsed manner. Reported herein are the recent performance results of several laboratory models which utilize both Nd:Glass and Nd:YAG. With a Nd:Glass slab operating in a simple Q-switched oscillator cavity, performance has been demonstrated with a near diffraction limited beam of 0.5 joules/pulse, 10 pulses/second. With the same laser operating as an amplifier for a Q-switched Nd:YAG TIR-FPL oscillator, performance has been demonstrated with an output beam of 1.5 joules/pulse at 10 pulses/second. An Nd:Glass laser with a large slab has been operated with a Q-switched output beam of 9.5 joules/pulse at 3.0 pulses/second and 25 joules/pulse at 2.5 pulses/second. Also contained herein is a description of a preliminary hardware design for a high brightness FPL-TIR designator system operating with an output beam of 5.0 joules/pulse, 10 pulses/second. Optical design considerations unique to the FPL are emphasized.

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