High Energy Solid State Laser Components and Subsystems

The goal of this proposed Phase I effort is to design, construct, and demonstrate a novel laser gain element that can be scaled to operation at power levels in the 10s to 100s of kilowatts in a light-weight, compact, and rugged design while maintaining very high efficiency, high brightness, and good beam quality. This goal will be accomplished through the construction of a composite thin disk gain element pumped using a novel geometry to insure uniform pump distribution across the active lasing region and will operate with very low quantum defect and hence minimal thermal load. This architecture is expected to be scalable to very high powers while minimizing thermal effects that limit the ultimate performance of such devices.