Pump radiation arrangement and method for pumping a laser-active medium

摘要

The disclosure relates to a pump radiation arrangement comprising: a pump radiation source for producing pump radiation, a means for stabilizing the wavelength of the pump radiation source and a laser-active medium through which the pump radiation passes in a bidirectional manner. The pump radiation arrangement also has a retro-reflector for reflecting pump radiation which is not absorbed by the laser-active medium back to the pump radiation source and a wavelength-selective element for preventing a wavelength destabilization of the pump radiation source by filtering out undesirable spectral portions of pump radiation which is not absorbed by the laser-active medium. The invention also relates to an associated method for pumping a laser-active medium.

主权项

1. A pump radiation arrangement comprising:
a laser pump radiation source operable to produce laser pump radiation; a wavelength-dependent reflector operable to stabilize the wavelength of the pump radiation source, wherein the wavelength-dependent reflector comprises a grating structure; a laser-active medium through which the pump radiation passes in a bidirectional manner during use of the pump radiation arrangement; a retro-reflector arranged to reflect pump radiation that passes through the laser-active medium without being absorbed back to the pump radiation source; and a wavelength filter configured to filter a predetermined spectral portion of the pump radiation that passes through the laser-active medium without being absorbed, wherein the predetermined spectral portion of the pump radiation comprises spectral components that overlap an absorption spectrum of the laser-active medium and that are outside of a target wavelength band for exciting the laser-active medium.