Precise simulation of solid-state amplifiers

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Christoph Pflaum
• Subject Area: Electronic Semiconductors, Components and Circuits, Integrated Systems, Sensor Technology, Theoretical Electrical Engineering
• Term: from 2016 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 283234036

Pulsed and ultrashort pulsed lasers are used in various technical applications.In particular research on powerful ultrashort pulsed lasers is needed, since such lasers are important for future developments in automotive industry. Since the development of laser resonators is limited, research has to focus on new laser amplifiers in order to archive more efficient and powerful laser sources.Simulation is an important tool for further development on laser sources. Reasons are the complex physical phenomena in laser amplifiers. Using simulation, engineers can analyze these phenomena and optimize laser amplification systems. Such simulations have to include accurate 3-dimensional simulation of birefringence, depolarization effects, thermal effects, and nonlinear effects described by rate equations.Although lots of research has been done on the development of new laser sources, the development of new simulation tools for lasers was neglected. Thus, the aim of this research project is to develop new models and algorithms for the simulation of laser amplifiers. Here, we focus on solid-state crystals like Yb:YAG as active medium. Furthermore, we consider amplifiers of short and ultrashort pulsed laser beams with high or low repetition rate. The simulation models take into account thermal effects, depolarization effects, and spectral behavior of the laser amplifier. Single pass, double pass, and multi pass laser amplifiers are simulated. The main research question is which kind of simulation techniques have to be combined to obtain most accurate simulation results. To this end, new simulation techniques have to be found. The aim is, on the one hand, to obtain accurate simulation results and, on the other, to find algorithms with low computing effort. This requires the comparison of different simulation algorithms.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants