Alkali lasers development at Laser and Optics Research Center of the U.S. Air Force Academy

Abstract

The Laser and Optics Research Center of the US Air Force Academy started a research program on optically pumped alkali lasers in 2004. We demonstrated the first diode pumped alkali (cesium) vapor laser, the first optically pumped potassium laser, the most efficient (slope efficiency higher than 80%) cesium laser, and diode pumped Rb and Cs lasers with highest output powers (17 W and 48 W respectively). We have developed an efficient Cs amplifier with a small signal amplification factor of 145 and tunable single mode Cs laser for scientific applications. In this paper we present a review of our main results and recent achievements in high power alkali laser development, discuss some problems existing in this field and ways to solve them.