Record high power diode-pumped alexandrite laser demonstrated by Midaz for ESA

Dec. 14, 2011

London, England--Midaz announced that it has successfully completed a Technology Research Programme awarded by ESA/ESTEC for the design and construction of a highly efficient diode-pumped alexandrite laser with performance capabilities exceeding existing Nd:YAG lasers.

Conard Holton

London, England--Midaz announced that it has successfully completed a Technology Research Programme awarded by the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA/ESTEC) for the design and construction of a highly efficient diode-pumped alexandrite laser with performance capabilities exceeding existing Nd:YAG lasers. The Alexandrite laser has delivered high pulse energy (>23mJ @ 100Hz), providing prospects for satellite-based remote sensing.

Michael Damzen, CTO of Midaz, said, “What is remarkable about this laser technology demonstration is its exceptional high efficiency of greater than 31% slope efficiency (equivalent to >40% with respect to absorbed pump power) in a system still with considerable scope for further optimization toward 60% efficiency. The demonstrated efficiency is already an order of magnitude higher than lamp-pumped versions of the technology but the real significance is the opportunity diode-pumped Alexandrite offers to supersede Nd:YAG as the preferred laser source for space-based Lidar remote sensing.”

Hovemere (Tonbridge, England), a leader in the development of Lidar systems, has been subcontractor to Midaz providing advice for Lidar system aspects. Additional benefits such as wavelength tuning and portability offer great scope for other sensing applications in commercial and defense markets in the near IR (700-860 nm), UV (350-430 nm), and deep UV (233-287 nm; 175-215 nm). Industrial and scientific markets include microscopy for biomedical imaging solutions and laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy for analysing materials at the molecular level. Diode-pumped alexandrite can be used in scientific research as a high energy amplifier for Ti:sapphire lasers.

Currently, Midaz offers DPSS products including lasers with very high pulse repetition rates and high gain, single stage, amplifier modules. The company hopes that alexandrite lasers will increase its product line.

SOURCE: Midaz

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.