INVESTIGATION INTO FIRST AND 2ND LAW EFFICIENCIES OF SOLID-STATE LASER HEAD - A CASE-STUDY

The efficiency of a solid state pulsed laser is very low which is gene rally ascribed to the poor optical and electrical efficiencies of the components used in the laser head. The temperature of the laser rod ri ses during the optical pumping process which causes thermally induced distortions in the laser output beam and hence a low quality laser bea m is obtained. In the present study, the temperature rise in the laser rod during the pulsed optical pumping process is investigated, and th e first and second law efficiencies relevant to the laser head are cal culated. The radial temperature profiles are predicted for different o ptical pumping repetition rates. The energy dissipation chart during t he lasing process in the laser head is developed. The first and second law efficiencies of the laser head and the laser rod are computed for different repetition rates of the optical pumping process.