HARMONIC GENERATION OF SEMICONDUCTOR LASER BARS

PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT IS AIMED TO DEVELOP AN ADVANCED SOLID-STATE LASER AND TO INVESTIGATE THE NONLINEAR OPTICAL SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS OF THE MICROCHANNEL-COOLED SEMICONDUCTOR LASER BAR TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED AT LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORIES. THE PLANNED RESULT OF THE RESEARCH IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FEEDBACK CONTROLLED INJECTION SEEDING SYSTEM THAT PRODUCES SINGLE-FREQUENCY, DIFFRACTION-LIMITED PERFORMANCE FROM THE RESONANT DIODE BAR. THIS SYSTEM WILL MAKE POSSIBLE THE DIRECT NONLINEAR OPTICAL PROCESSING OF THE 60 W DIODE-LASER OUTPUT, USING SEMICONDUCTOR LASER FREQUENCY STABILIZATION TECHNIQUES ALREADY DEVELOPED. THE PLANNED PHASE I RESEARCH CONSIDERS OVERALL EFFICIENCY AND LOW COST MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY AS PRIMARY DESIGN GOALS. THIS NOVEL APPROACH COULD SET NEW STANDARDS FOR EFFICIENCY AND FREQUENCY STABILITY IN SHORT WAVELENGTH LASERS. THIS PROJECT IS ALSO PURSUING RESONANT SECOND AND FOURTH HARMONIC GENERATION OF THE 808 NM INJECTION-SEEDED OUTPUT TO PRODUCE APPROXIMATELY 30 W IN THEVIOLET (404 NM) OR MORE THAN 15 W OF HIGHLY COHERENT VACUUM ULTRAVIOLET (202 NM) RADIATION.