JPH0342708B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a solid-state laser device that uses a slab-shaped solid-state element as an oscillation material element that oscillates a solid-state laser used in laser processing and the like.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, yttrium aluminum garnet (or higher) has been used as a solid-state laser element for high output.
It is abbreviated as YAG. ), a so-called rod type is used, which is made of a material such as glass and has a circular cross section with reflective surfaces polished on both ends.

This type of solid-state laser element is housed in a condenser designed to condense excitation light onto the rod, and the laser oscillates while cooling the heat generated by the lamp and rod. However, in the rod type, the temperature distribution caused by the excitation light causes thermal and optical deformation inside the rod, resulting in poor light quality and cracks. Therefore, in the case of a rod type, the maximum laser output that can be obtained with one rod is generally
It is said to be around 400W.

Therefore, slab-type solid-state laser elements with a small thermal lens effect are now being used in high-output solid-state devices.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

According to a solid-state laser device using a rod-type solid-state laser element, the rod-type excitation lamp light is focused onto the solid-state laser using a cylindrical elliptical condenser, so all the excitation light is perpendicularly incident on the side of the rod. Reflection loss on the rod side is extremely low.

On the other hand, if the solid-state laser device is a slab type,
Since most of the excitation light enters the mirror-polished surface at an angle, there is a problem in that the amount of reflected light increases and reflection loss increases. For light in the direction perpendicular to the lamp axis, the problem can be alleviated to some extent by optimally designing the concentrator yield. However, the problem cannot be improved in the direction of the lamp axis. For this reason, slab-type solid-state lasers have the disadvantage of lower laser oscillation efficiency than rod-type solid-state laser devices.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a slab-type solid-state laser device with improved laser oscillation efficiency.

[Means to solve the problem]

According to the present invention, the present invention includes a slab-type solid-state laser element having a plurality of frosted glass-like V-shaped grooves, an excitation lamp disposed in the V-shaped grooves, and a reflection plate covering the V-shaped grooves. A slab-type solid-state laser device with characteristics can be obtained.

[Effect]

According to the solid-state laser device of the present invention, the excitation light emitted from the excitation lamp is scattered and incident on the solid-state laser element from the ground glass-like V-groove surface, and is uniformly distributed inside the solid-state laser element compared to when it is incident on a mirror surface. incident on . The scattered and reflected excitation light is reflected by the reflection plate covering the V-shaped groove and enters the frosted glass-like V-shaped groove surface again.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the solid-state laser device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, a slab-type solid-state laser applied to the laser according to the present invention will be described with reference to the longitudinal sectional front view of FIG. The slab-type solid-state laser device 1 has a V-groove 4 . If there is no V-groove, the laser light that passes in a zigzag manner in this portion undergoes total reflection at the output end face 6, and therefore does not contribute significantly to laser oscillation. Therefore, the V-groove does not reduce the laser oscillation efficiency.

A lamp 2 is arranged in the V-groove 4. Further V
The groove 4 is covered with a reflective plate 3. Since the surface of the V-groove is frosted glass-like, the slab-type solid-state laser element 1 is uniformly excited by the lamp 2.
The reflecting plate 3 reflects the excitation light emitted from the lamp 2 and makes it incident on the slab-type solid-state laser device 1 . Laser light 9 caused by induced emission passes through the repeating surface 5 in a zigzag pattern, is repeatedly amplified between the reflection mirror 8 and the output mirror 7, and performs laser oscillation. that time,
Since the laser beam passes in a zigzag manner, the thermal lens effect is eliminated, so a high quality laser beam can be obtained.

Further, the excitation lamp 2 and the slab-type solid-state laser element 1 are cooled by a cooling medium (not shown) to prevent thermal distortion from occurring. Since this slab-type solid-state laser device 1 has the V-groove 4, the inside of the device can be cooled more effectively, and the occurrence of cracks can therefore be suppressed. Another advantage is that there is no need for a concentrator and there is no restriction on the number of lamps.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a solid-state laser device in which the laser oscillation efficiency is improved and a kW class laser beam can be obtained with one laser element.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a slab-type solid-state laser device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a slab-type solid-state laser element, 2 is an excitation lamp, 3 is a reflection plate, 4 is a V-groove, 5 is a repeating reflection surface, 6 is an emission surface, 7 is an emission mirror, 8 is a reflection mirror, and 9 is a laser beam. .

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A slab type solid-state laser element having a plurality of frosted glass-like V-shaped grooves, an excitation lamp disposed in the V-shaped grooves, and a reflecting plate covering the V-shaped grooves. solid state laser equipment.