Modeling and optimization of tapered-diode pumped Cr:LiCAF regenerative amplifiers

We present a numerical study, which investigates the potential of diode pumped Cr:LiCAF regenerative amplifiers in detail. Special attention has been given to relevant material properties of the gain media, like the Auger energy transfer upconversion (ETU) process, to utilize the full potential of the material and to develop guidelines in choosing optimal material properties like chromium doping concentration and length. Moreover, importance of pulsed pumping, rather than continuous-wave (cw) pumping, in obtaining higher small signal gain values is discussed in detail. Effects of pump power, cavity losses, excited-state absorption, seed pulse energy, optical damage and ETU on obtainable pulse energies will also be presented. The modeling results have shown that, Cr:LiCAF regenerative amplifiers pumped by two 675 nm state-of-the-art 1-W tapered diodes have the potential to produce 50-fs long pulses around 800 nm with 70 mu J pulse energy and 1.4 GW peak power at repetition rates up to 5 kHz. Moreover, a 20-W diode pumped Cr:LiCAF amplifier has the potential to produce pulse energies of 1.1 mJ and peak powers of 20 GW. Expected optical-to-optical conversion efficiencies of the systems are about 30%. These results demonstrate that, with ongoing progress in laser diode technology, low-cost and efficient Cr:Colquiriite amplifiers has the potential to replace the expensive Ti:Sapphire technology in the future. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.