SBS pulse compression using bulk fused silica by diode-pumped solid-state lasers at 1 kHz repetition rate

Abstract

This study is focused on constructing a highly stable diode-pumped solid-state laser system by conducting experiments on high-repetition-rate SBS pulse compression using bulk fused silica. A multi-rod serial-connection structure is adopted for SBS expriments by comparing K8 glass and fused silica medium at a 10 Hz repetition rate. The optimized structure is obtained according to variation of the pump power density. Based on the optimized structure, fused silica-based SBS pulse compression is carried out in the range of 100-1000 Hz and the parameter performance of laser system after compression is also evaluated by comparing a HT270 liquid medium. Experimental results indicate that the energy efficiency of fused silica-based SBS is improved by approximately 40% compared with that of K8 glass. Further, the energy relative standard deviation of fused silica-based SBS is reduced by approximately 88% compared with HT270 medium, indicating that bulk fused silica is advantageous for high-repetition-rate SBS pulse compression because of its un-fluidity, high thermal conductivity and power-load ability. In addition, a 1 kHz highly-stable sub-nanosecond compressed pulse is achieved using bulk fused silica medium at a pump energy of 50 mJ. Furthermore, the SBS energy efficiency can be further improved by increasing the input energy.