Patent ID: 7274723
Filing Date: 2007-09-25
Classification: H01S

Abstract:
1. A method of amplifying a solid-state laser characterized in that a second bending mirror, a first polarizer, a second polarizer and a phase conjugate mirror are provided on the side of an amplifier which faces a laser oscillator, and a Faraday rotator, a first bending mirror, a third bending mirror and a fourth bending mirror are provided on the opposite side of the amplifier, wherein a laser beam of the oscillator is passed through the amplifier to be reflected by the first bending mirror, the reflected laser beam is passed through the amplifier and the first polarizer to be reflected by the second bending mirror, the reflected laser beam is passed through the amplifier and the Faraday rotator to be reflected by the third bending mirror, the reflected laser beam is passed through the rotator and the amplifier by the phase conjugate mirror, the reflected laser beam is passed through the amplifier and the rotator to be reflected by the fourth bending mirror, and the reflected laser beam is passed through the rotator to be reflected to be picked up from the second polarizer; and whereby the rotator and the phase conjugate mirror effectively compensate for thermal distortion of the laser beam caused by heat generation in the amplifier to obtain a laser beam of high quality that features good focusing performance.