Optimisation of the parameters of a pump chamber for solid-state lasers with diode pumping by the optical boiler method

A pump chamber of the optical boiler type for solid-state lasers with transverse laser diode pumping is studied theoretically and experimentally. The pump chamber parameters are optimised using the geometrical optics approximation for the pump radiation. According to calculations, the integral absorption coefficient of the active element at a wavelength of 808 nm is 0.75–0.8 and the relative inhomogeneity of the pump radiation distribution over the active element volume is 17%–19%. The developed pump chamber was used in a Nd:YAG laser. The maximum cw output power at a wavelength of 1064 nm was ~480 W at the optical efficiency up to 19.6%, which agrees with theoretical estimates.