DMD-based excitation of transverse laser modes by spatial pump beam shaping

Florian Schepers, Tim Bexter, Tim Hellwig, Carsten Fallnich

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Abstract

The excitation of transverse laser modes, can be achieved by a cavity-internal amplitude or phase modulation of the laser light. For this purpose typically additional cavity-internal components are applied, which can result in increased losses and a limited resonator internal power [1]. Therefore, gain shaping based methods [2], where the selective mode excitation is achieved via a cavity-external modulation of the pump beam are of great interest, as they require no modification of the laser cavity itself. However, the so far presented gain shaping methods are strongly limited with respect to the number of modes that can be excited, as they apply pump beams of a fixed spatial shape. Here, we present a spatial gain shaping method that applies a digital micromirror device (DMD) as a shaping tool for the pump beam, enabling a high degree of freedom for the gain distributions that can be generated. We demonstrate the advantage of our approach by exciting nearly 1000 different single Hermite-Gaussian (HG) modes in an end-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser, increasing the number of excitable HG modes by at least a factor of five in comparison to other excitation methods [2, 3].

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication2019 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe and European Quantum Electronics Conference, CLEO/Europe-EQEC 2019
PublisherIEEE
ISBN (Electronic)9781728104690
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 17 Oct 2019
EventConference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference, CLEO/Europe-EQEC 2019 - Munich Trade Fair Centre, Munich, Germany
Duration: 23 Jun 201927 Jun 2019
http://www.cleoeurope.org

Conference

ConferenceConference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference, CLEO/Europe-EQEC 2019
Abbreviated titleCLEO/Europe-EQEC 2019
Country/TerritoryGermany
CityMunich
Period23/06/1927/06/19
Internet address

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