Abstract

Ti:sapphire oscillators longitudinally pumped by doubled Nd:YAG laser radiation are a useful source of tunable near-IR radiation. Unfortunately the design and modeling of these oscillators involve considerations which are different from standard flashlamp pumped storage laser systems. We present the resonator design considerations to avoid resonator optics damage at low fluences and the material/optical kinetics required to achieve a detailed fit between experimental and numerical results. Modeling parameters include Ti:sapphire kinetics, gain switch optical kinetics, bandwidth, and a comparison of 1-D, 2-D, and 3-D physical optics modeling of the optical mode.

© 1986 Optical Society of America