The DiPOLE laser architecture provides a scalable concept design for efficient, high-energy, high-repetition rate, diode-pumped laser systems. This established and proven concept is based on a cryogenically-cooled, multi-slab amplifier head, shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 - Schematic of the DiPOLE amplifier architecture.
The DiPOLE laser is a prototype laser system designed for operation at 10 Hz pulse repetition rate. At 140 K, the system generated 10.8 J of energy in a 10 ns pulse at 1029.5 nm when pumped by 48 J of diode energy at 940 nm, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 22.5% [1]. This was the highest pulse energy ever obtained from a cryogenically cooled, Yb-based laser to date and the highest efficiency achieved by a multi-Joule, diode-pumped, solid-state laser system.
More recently, the DiPOLE concept has been applied using two amplifier heads in series, resulting in 100 J of output laser radiation within a 10 ns pulse at a 10 Hz repetition rate, in the
DiPOLE100 and
D100-X systems.
