Diode edge-pumped Yb:YAG disk laser

Edge-pumping is very advantageous for pumping disk lasers because it provides a long absorption path for the pump compared with end-pumped one. In the current work, we report an edge-pumped Yb:YAG disk laser pumped from four sides with diode laser stacks. For delivering the pump light into the gain medium, asymmetric hollow ducts have been employed. For any type of disk laser system, the key criterion is a uniform deposition of absorbed pump power and in turn a uniform temperature distribution throughout the disk. We try to meet this restriction by designing an appropriate asymmetric hollow duct. In order to obtain laser output power, a self-consistent numerical model has been developed for simulating lasing properties of our configuration. A Monte Carlo ray tracing based code and two-dimensional finite element analysis have been utilized to calculate the absorption power and temperature distribution inside the crystal, respectively. The model is used to investigate the influence of the effective parameters on the operational efficiency of the disk laser.