Scaling of thin-disk lasers — influence of amplified spontaneous emission

Abstract

For the thin-disk laser the increased amplification of spontaneous emission for larger disks limits the scalability. An analytical model of the influence of the amplified spontaneous emission on the effective lifetime of the excited ions is developed and with this model optimized parameters for the minimization of the lifetime reduction are found. It is shown that output powers up to the megawatt level are achievable with a single disk, but with disk dimensions far beyond the actual technical limits. The model is also used to evaluate the limits of achievable energy.