Optimization of physical conditions for a diode-pumped cesium vapor laser.

ABSTRACT

A diode-pumped alkali laser (DPAL) is thought to provide the significant promise for construction of high-powered lasers in the future. To examine the kinetic processes of the gas-state media (cesium vapor in this study), a mathematical model is developed while the processes including normal 3-enegry-level transition, energy pooling, and ionization are taken into account in this report. The procedures of heat transfer and laser kinetics are combined together in creating the model. We systemically investigate the influences of the temperature, cell length, and cell radius on the output features of a diode-pumped cesium vapor laser. By optimizing these key factors, the optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of a DPAL can be obviously improved. Additionally, the decrease of the output power due to energy pooling and ionization is also shrunk from 1.63% to 0.37% with the pump power of 200 W after optimization. It suggests that the effects of energy pooling and ionization should be decreased apparently under the optimal conditions. Basically, the conclusions we obtained in this study can be extended to other kinds of end-pumped laser configurations.