96 W, 4.8 mJ Yb:YAG rod-type picosecond laser amplifier using a thermally induced birefringence compensation method for extraction efficiency enhancement
We demonstrate a cost-effective and compact chirped pulse amplification (CPA) picosecond laser system with high average power and pulse energy. Based on four Yb:YAG rods, the amplifier produces 5.1 mJ pulses at 102 W average power. The initial output beam quality M 2 factor was measured to be 1.33, which was further improved to 1.09 by spherical aberration compensation. The amplified pulses were compressed to a duration of 1 ps with an efficiency exceeding 93%. An improved dual-rod cascaded compensation method for thermally induced birefringence was implemented in the high-energy Yb:YAG amplifier, reducing the depolarization loss to 0.29% at 102 W output power while enhancing the extraction efficiency.
Authors
- Junyang Dong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8148-5032)
- Yilun Zhou
- Xiaoyan Qiu
- Jinbo Wu
- Zhihong Hu
- Sha Wang
- Hengfeng Yan
- Chong Liu
- Bin Liu
Institutions
- Sichuan University (CN)
- Advanced Laser Technology (United Kingdom) (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Applied Optics
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1364/ao.591812
- Primary Topic
- Solid State Laser Technologies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Primary Research and Development Plan of Zhejiang Province