Comparative investigation of lasing and amplification performance in cryogenic Yb:YLF systems

Abstract We present detailed experimental results with cryogenic Yb:YLF gain media in rod-geometry. have comparatively investigated continuous-wave (cw) lasing and regenerative amplification performance under different conditions. In the cw experiments effect of crystal doping, laser cavity geometry pump wavelength on were explored. Regenerative behavior was analyzed role depolarization losses investigated. A recently developed temperature estimation method also employed for first time estimating average It is shown that thermal lens induced by transverse gradients main limiting factor strategies future improvements are discussed. To best our knowledge, achieved this study (375 W cw, 90 amplification) highest powers ever obtained from system via employing broadband E//a axis.