This solid laser amplification device has: a laser medium part that has a solid medium, into which a laser light enters from an entrance part and from which the laser light (L) is emitted to the outside from an exit part, and an amplification layer, which is provided on the surface of the medium, receives the laser light in the medium, and amplifies and reflects said light toward the exit part; a microchannel cooling part that cools the amplification layer; and a thermally conductive part that is provided so as to make contact between the amplification layer and the cooling part and transfers the heat of the amplification layer to the cooling part.

The invention relates to a ceramic material (14) for generating light when irradiated with radiation, wherein the ceramic material comprises a stack of layers (15, 16) having different compositions and/or different dopings. The ceramic material may be used in a spectral computed tomography (CT) detector, in order to spectrally detect x-rays, or it may be used as a ceramic gain medium of a laser such that temperature gradients and corresponding thermo-mechanical stresses within the gain medium can be reduced.

A solid laser amplification device having a laser medium that has a solid medium, into which a laser light enters and from which the laser light is emitted, and an amplification layer, provided on the surface of the medium, receives the laser light in the medium, and amplifies and reflects the light toward the exit; and a microchannel cooling part that has a plurality of cooling pipelines, into which a cooling solvent is conducted and which are arranged parallel to the surface of the amplification layer, and a cooling surface, at the outer periphery of the cooling pipelines and attached on the surface of the amplification layer, the microchannel cooling part cooling the amplification layer. The closer the position of the cooling pipeline to a position facing a section of the amplification layer that receives the laser light, the greater the cooling force exhibited by the cooling part.

The present disclosure provides a method of optimising an optical system of a mode-locked laser oscillator or a regenerative, multi-pass or single pass amplifier. The method may include the steps of identifying crystallographic axes of an active laser gain medium crystal, cutting the crystal, and orienting the crystal in the optical system in a predetermined orientation relative to a propagation vector of a laser pulse depending on the required output of the optical system.

Systems and methods for spectrally broadening seed pulses with a single pass laser amplifier are disclosed. A bulk TM:II-VI polycrystalline material with combined gain and nonlinear characteristic provides passive (cold) spectral broadening of high power seed pulses. Continuous pumping provides more significant spectral broadening. In particular, pulsed pumping of TM:II-VI polycrystalline material (e.g. Cr2+:ZnS, Cr2+:ZnSe, and Cr2+:CdSe) is shown to provide significant spectral broadening to the super continuum generation SCG level. Pulse picking, pump sources, master oscillators and various optical components are described.

A laser device includes a light source device including a semiconductor laser; and a laser cavity irradiated with light from the light source device and including a saturable absorber. A beam waist diameter r of the light that irradiates the laser cavity and an initial transmittance T.sub.0 of the saturable absorber satisfy a relationship of 7.75T.sub.0.sup.47.77T.sub.0.sup.3+3.13T.sub.0.sup.2+0.16T.sub.0+0.74r2.62T.sub.0+0.675.

The present invention provides systems and methods for producing short laser pulses that are amplified and spectrally broadened in a bulk gain media. The bulk material, having laser gain and nonlinear properties, is concurrently exposed to an optical pump input and a seed input, the pump power being sufficient to amplify and spectrally broaden the seed pulse.

Systems and methods for imaging in the short wave infrared (SWIR), photodetectors with low dark current and associated circuits for reducing dark currents and methods for generating image information based on data of a photodetector array. A SWIR imaging system may include a pulsed illumination source operative to emit radiation pulses in the SWIR band towards a target resulting in reflected radiation from the target; (b) an imaging receiver including a plurality of Ge PDs operative to detect the reflected SWIR radiation and a controller, operative to control activation of the receiver for an integration time during which the accumulated dark current noise does not exceed the time independent readout noise.

A controllable laser amplifier apparatus includes a gain medium and a seed laser emitter configured to generate a seed laser beam, the seed laser emitter directed toward the gain medium. The apparatus has at least two pump laser emitters configured to generate respective pump laser beams, wherein the pump laser emitters are adjustable such that respective intensities of the pump laser beams are adjustable relative to one another and/or relative to the seed laser pump, wherein the pump laser emitters are arranged such that at least one of the pump laser beams is laterally offset relative to the seed laser beam, and wherein the pump laser beams are configured to effect a gain profile in the gain medium. An output laser beam from the gain medium is a function of at least the gain profile and the seed laser beam.

Laser devices include a light source that emits a laser beam, an optical system that concentrates the laser beam emitted from the light source, an optical window through which the laser beam exited from the optical system passes, a housing that accommodates the optical system, and an optical window holding member fixed to the housing. The optical window holding member holds the optical window. In the first laser device, the optical window has a face or a protruding face through which the laser beam passes. When the optical window has the face, the face is flush with an edge of the optical window holding member and a film is formed on the face. When the optical window has the protruding face, the protruding face protrudes with reference to the edge of the optical window holding member and a film is formed on the protruding face.