[OPTICAL REVIEW Vol. 3, No. 1 (1996) 14-16]
High-Sensitivity Two-Dimensional Observation of Thermal Birefringence Compensation in Laser-Diode Pumped Nd:Glass Laser Rods
Hiromitsu KIRIYAMA,1 Narayanan SRINIVASAN,1 Masato OHMI,1,3 Masanobu YAMANAKA,1 Yasukazu IZAWA,1 Tatsuhiko YAMANAKA,1 Sadao NAKAI1 and Chiyoe YAMANAKA2
1Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, 2Institute for Laser Technology, 2-6, Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka, 565 Japan
(Received October 17, 1995; Accepted October 27, 1995)
We measured the two-dimensional birefringence compensation in laser-diode (LD) pumped Nd:glass (HAP4) laser rods with a high-sensitivity polarimeter. The compensation was performed by inserting a 90E quartz rotator between two identical LD pumped Nd:glass rods with conductive cooling. A considerable reduction of birefringence loss from 9.8% to less than 0.9% after compensation was observed.
Key words : LD pumping, thermal birefringence, Nd:glass (HAP4), Jones matrix, 90E rotator