194 unifying physics of accelerators, lasers and plasma
FIGURE 10.11
Passive Q-switching — saturable absorber (A) and SESAM (B).
A saturable absorber can be built based on doped YAG
crystals or GaAs, on media with immersed quantum dots, or
semiconductors (called semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors — SESAM). Another possible design of a passive Qswitch is based on a thin-film absorber where a quarter-wave
plate is combined with a thin-film polarizer (TFP), serving as
a hold-off polarizer in the Q-switched laser cell.
10.1.6 Regenerative amplifiers
The technology employed in Q-switching techniques is used
in regenerative laser amplifiers (often called “regens”), which
are designed to generate short, powerful laser pulses. In a “regen,” a laser amplifier is placed inside of a Q-switched optical
cavity (see Fig. 10.12) and it operates as follows.
FIGURE 10.12
Schematics of a regenerative amplifier.
FIGURE 10.11
Passive Q-switching — saturable absorber (A) and SESAM (B).
A saturable absorber can be built based on doped YAG
crystals or GaAs, on media with immersed quantum dots, or
semiconductors (called semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors — SESAM). Another possible design of a passive Qswitch is based on a thin-film absorber where a quarter-wave
plate is combined with a thin-film polarizer (TFP), serving as
a hold-off polarizer in the Q-switched laser cell.
10.1.6 Regenerative amplifiers
The technology employed in Q-switching techniques is used
in regenerative laser amplifiers (often called “regens”), which
are designed to generate short, powerful laser pulses. In a “regen,” a laser amplifier is placed inside of a Q-switched optical
cavity (see Fig. 10.12) and it operates as follows.
FIGURE 10.12
Schematics of a regenerative amplifier.