Direct diode-pumped Ti:sapphire laser amplifiers use fiber-coupled laser diodes as pump beam sources. The pump beam may be polarized or non-polarized. Light at wavelengths below 527 nm may be used in cryogenic configurations. Multiple diode outputs may be polarization or spectrally combined.

A laser including a solid state laser gain medium having a D-shaped cross section and an unstable resonator laser cavity including the solid state laser gain medium configured with a geometric magnification in a range of 1 to 5 under the intended operating conditions, including the effects of thermal lensing in the gain medium. An optical switching device in the unstable resonator laser cavity generates a pulse duration in the range of 0.05 to 100 nanoseconds. A diode-pump source is configured to inject pump light through the curved or barrel surface of the D-shaped gain medium.

A gas laser, including: a semiconductor laser, an optical beam-shaping system, a pair of electrodes, a discharge tube, a rear mirror, and an output mirror. The pair of electrodes includes two electrodes. The electrodes are symmetrically disposed at an outer layer of the discharge tube in parallel. The electrodes are connected to a radio-frequency power supply via a matching network, and the electrodes operate to modify working gas in the discharge tube through radio-frequency discharge. The rear mirror and the output mirror are disposed at two end surfaces of the discharge tube, respectively. The rear mirror, taken together with the output mirror and the discharge tube, form a resonant cavity. The output mirror is configured to output a laser beam.

An apparatus for generating and amplifying laser beams at approximately 1 micrometer wavelength is disclosed. The apparatus includes an ytterbium-doped gain-crystal pumped by an ytterbium fiber-laser. The fiber-laser enables a pump wavelength to be selected that minimizes heating of the gain-crystal. The apparatus can be configured for generating and amplifying ultra-fast pulses, utilizing the gain-bandwidth of ytterbium-doped gain-crystals.

An optical arrangement includes a disk-shaped laser-active medium configured to create an optical gain upon being pumped within a pump volume, and a laser beam incoupler for input coupling a laser beam as a seed laser beam into the laser-active medium. The laser beam interacts with the laser-active medium. The optical arrangement further includes an auxiliary resonator for creating an auxiliary resonator radiation field. The auxiliary resonator radiation field interacts with the laser-active medium. The auxiliary resonator is configured to suppress at least one mode of the auxiliary resonator radiation field that overlaps with at least one mode of the laser beam in the pump volume.

This disclosure relates to pumping light systems and methods for using a disc laser. A focusing device with a reflecting surface focuses a pumping light beam onto a laser-active medium. A deflecting system deflects the pumping light beam between reflecting regions formed on the reflecting surface that are arranged in different angle regions around a central axis of the reflecting surface in at least a first annular region and a second annular region. The deflecting systems are configured to perform at least one deflection of the pumping light beam between two reflecting regions of the first annular region and at least one deflection between two reflecting regions of the second annular region.

In one embodiment, a lidar system includes a self-Raman laser that includes a Raman-active gain medium and a Q-switch. The self-Raman laser is configured to: produce Q-switched pulses of light at a lasing wavelength of the self-Raman laser; Raman-shift, in the Raman-active gain medium, at least a portion of the Q-switched pulses to produce Raman-shifted pulses of light, where the Raman-shifted pulses have a Raman-shifted wavelength that is longer than the lasing wavelength; and emit at least a portion of the Raman-shifted pulses. The lidar system further includes a scanner configured to scan the emitted pulses of light across a field of regard and a receiver configured to detect at least a portion of the scanned pulses of light scattered by a target located a distance from the lidar system. The lidar system also includes a processor configured to determine the distance from the lidar system to the target.

A mid- to far-infrared solid state Raman laser system comprising a resonator cavity comprising: an input reflector adapted to be highly transmissive for light with a first wavelength in the range of about 3 to about 7.5 micrometers for admitting the first beam to the resonator cavity; and an output reflector adapted to be partially transmissive for light with a second wavelength greater than about 5.5 micrometers for resonating the second wavelength in the resonator and for outputting an output beam, the input reflector further being adapted to be highly reflective at the second wavelength for resonating the second wavelength in the resonator; and a solid state diamond Raman material located in the resonator cavity for Raman shifting the pump beam and generating the second wavelength.

The invention provides a light generating system (1000) comprising (a) first light generating device (110), (b) a first laser (2100), and (c) a second laser (2200), wherein:the first light generating device (110) is configured to generate first device light (111) having a first device centroid wavelength (.sub.cd,1), wherein the first light generating device (110) comprises one or more of a solid state material laser and a super luminescent diode; the first laser (2100) comprises a first lanthanide based luminescent material (2110) configured to convert at least part of the first device light (111) having the first device centroid wavelength (.sub.cd,1) into first luminescent material light (2111), wherein the first laser (2100) is configured downstream of the first light generating device (110) and is configured to provide first laser light (2101) comprising at least part of the first luminescent material light (2111), wherein the first laser light (2101) has a first centroid laser wavelength (.sub.cl,1) in the visible; the second laser (2200) comprises a second lanthanide based luminescent material (2210) configured to convert at least part of the first device light (111) having the first device centroid wavelength (.sub.cd,1) into second luminescent material light (2211), wherein the second laser (2200) is configured downstream of the first light generating device (110) and is configured to provide second laser light (2201) comprising at least part of the second luminescent material light (2211), wherein the second laser light (2201) has a second centroid laser wavelength (.sub.cl,2) in the visible, wherein |.sub.cl,2.sub.cl,1|25 nm; the first centroid laser wavelength (.sub.cl,1) and the second centroid laser wavelength (.sub.cl,2) are selected from different wavelength ranges from C the group of (i) 495-570 nm, (ii) 570-590 nm, (iii) 590-620 nm, and (iv) 620-780 nm, andin a first operational mode of the light generating system (1000) the light generating system (1000) is configured to provide system light (1001) comprising the first laser light (2101) and the second laser light (2201), and wherein in the first operational mode the system light (1001) is white light.

A laser system includes a multipass amplifier for amplifying laser light and providing an amplified output beam, and a control unit. The multipass amplifier includes a laser-active medium. The control unit is configured to keep a thermal load on the laser-active medium substantially constant over a range of a laser output power of the output beam. The thermal load is determined by at least two different power sources.