Date: Monday 17 September 2007
Time: 2pm
Venue: Building 46 - Lecture Theatre B
Reported in this thesis is some progress towards high-average-power diode-pumped planar wave guide lasers. As a format of the laser active medium, planar waveguides take advantage of their extreme slab geometry, which is compatible with that of the high-power diode lasers, offer a great degree of versatility of the pump arrangement, have excellent thermal handling capability, and deliver high optical gains per unit pump power. Three kinds of planar waveguides are investigated herein: direct-bonded double-clad planar waveguides, ion-exchanged tapered waveguides, and thick films, fabricated by pulsed laser deposition, which were pumped with different schemes and produced laser output power of up to 58W.