Patent ID: 8908737
Filing Date: 2014-12-09
Classification: H01S

Abstract:
1. Optical apparatus, comprising: a Ti:sapphire gain-medium in the form of a thin-disk having first and second opposite surfaces, the gain-medium having an excited-state lifetime of about 3.2microseconds, and the thin-disk gain-medium being supported with the first surface thereof in thermal communication with a heat-sink; a first mirror located between the first surface of the gain-medium and the heat-sink; the first mirror being one minor of a plurality thereof forming an optical resonator including the thin-disk Ti:sapphire gain-medium; a pump-laser arranged to deliver repeated pulses of radiation having a wavelength absorbed by the Ti:sapphire gain-medium, the pulses having a duration less than 1.0 microsecond; and a multi-pass optical arrangement for causing each of the pump laser pulses to make a plurality of incidences on the second surface of the gain-medium with a fraction of the energy in the pulse being absorbed by the gain-medium on each incidence.