Concept of neutral gain modules for power scaling of thin-disk lasers

Abstract

We present a concept for power scaling of high brightness solid state lasers, which introduces so called gain modules containing the laser active media. These modules can be inserted as relay imaging optical systems in any type of laser resonators. The gain modules are optically neutral, hence, power scaling can be provided inserting several modules. Here, we provide the basic functional units of gain modules as well as an exemplary experimental implementation in thin-disk lasers with dynamically stable resonators. On the basis of these studies, more than 1 kW output power with an averaged M^2 = 2.6 could be demonstrated using two disks. Experiments with four disks are in preparation.