High-average-power industrial laser for precision machining

High brightness, high average power, diode pumped Nd:YAG solid state lasers (DPSSL) are being developed by TRW as part of the Precision Laser Machining Technology Reinvestment Program. The use of diode pump arrays in place of flashlamps, and zig-zag slab geometry, allow lasers to be scaled to power beyond the current generation of lamp-pumped rod lasers while providing excellent beam quality. The efficiency is 3 - 4 times better using diode arrays in place of flashlamps resulting in less waste heat in the laser medium and reduced optical aberrations. The corresponding beam quality provides more than an order of magnitude increase in the average intensity available at the workpiece, thus enabling new machining capabilities.