TY - JOUR A1 - Perchermeier, Julian A1 - Wittrock, Ulrich T1 - Precise measurements of the thermo-optical aberrations of an Yb:YAG thin-disk laser JF - Opt. Lett. N2 - We report on interferometric measurements of the thermo-optical aberrations of the laser medium of an Yb:YAG thin-disk laser in pumped and cw lasing conditions at several pump-power levels with a mean repeatability of 5 nm. These measurements build the basis for future intracavity compensation of the aberrations with our deformable mirror in order to improve the fundamental-mode efficiency. Y1 - 2013 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-6854 VL - 38 SP - 2422 EP - 2424 PB - OSA ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Rausch, Peter A1 - Verpoort, Sven A1 - Wittrock, Ulrich T1 - Novel unimorph adaptive mirrors for astronomy applications T2 - Proc. SPIE 8447, Adaptive Optics Systems III, 844764 N2 - We have developed a new type of unimorph deformable mirror for the correction of low-order Zernike modes. The mirror features a clear aperture of 50 mm combined with large peak-to-valley amplitudes of up to 35 μm. Newly developed fabrication processes allow the use of prefabricated, coated, super-polished glass substrates. The mirror's unique features suggest the use in several astronomical applications like the compensation of atmospheric aberrations seen by laser beacons, low light astronomy, and the use in woofer-tweeter systems. Additionally, the design enables an efficient correction of the inevitable wave-front error imposed by the floppy structure of primary mirrors in future large space telescopes. We have modeled the mirror by using analytical as well as finite element models. We will present design, key features and manufacturing steps of the deformable mirror. Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-6203 PB - SPIE ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Rausch, Peter A1 - Verpoort, Sven A1 - Wittrock, Ulrich T1 - Characterization of a miniaturized unimorph deformable mirror for high power cw-solid state lasers T2 - Proc. SPIE 8253, MEMS Adaptive Optics VI, 825309 N2 - We have developed a new type of unimorph deformable mirror for real-time intra-cavity phase control of high power cw-lasers. The approach is innovative in its combination of super-polished and pre-coated highly reflective substrates, the miniaturization of the unimorph principle, and the integration of a monolithic tip/tilt functionality. Despite the small optical aperture of only 9 mm diameter, the mirror is able to produce a stroke of several microns for low order Zernike modes, paired with a residual static root-mean-square aberration of less than 0.04 µm. In this paper, the characteristics of the mirror such as the influence functions, the dynamic behavior, and the power handling capability are reported. The mirror was subjected to a maximum of 490 W of laser-light at a wavelength of 1030 nm. Due to the high reflectivity of over 99.998 percent the mirror is able to withstand intensities up to 1.5 MW/cm2. Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-6226 PB - SPIE ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Rausch, Peter A1 - Verpoort, Sven A1 - Wittrock, Ulrich T1 - Performance verification and environmental testing of a unimorph deformable mirror for space applications. T2 - Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Space Optics - ICSO, Tenerife, Spain N2 - Concepts for future large space telescopes require an active optics system to mitigate aberrations caused by thermal deformation and gravitational release. Such a system would allow on-site correction of wave-front errors and ease the requirements for thermal and gravitational stability of the optical train. In the course of the ESA project "Development of Adaptive Deformable Mirrors for Space Instruments" we have developed a unimorph deformable mirror designed to correct for low-order aberrations and dedicated to be used in space environment. We briefly report on design and manufacturing of the deformable mirror and present results from performance verifications and environmental testing. KW - space optics KW - adaptive optics KW - deformable mirror KW - unimorph Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-7716 UR - http://www.icsoproceedings.org PB - FH Münster ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kazasidis, Orestis A1 - Wittrock, Ulrich T1 - Interferometric measurement of the temperature coefficient of the refractive index dn/dT and the coefficient of thermal expansion of Pr:YLF laser crystals JF - Opt. Expr. N2 - We report interferometric measurements of the temperature coefficient of the refractive index (dn=dT) and the coefficient of thermal expansion (a) of a praseodymium-doped yttrium lithium fluoride (Pr:YLF) crystal and of a fused silica reference sample. Our phase-resolved interferometric method yields a large number of data points and thus allows a precise measurement and a good error estimation. Furthermore, both dn=dT and a are obtained simultaneously from a single measurement which reduces errors that can occur in separate measurements. Over the temperature range from 20 °C to 80 °C, the value of dn=dT of Pr:YLF decreases from -5.2 x 10-6 /K to -6.2 x 10-6 /K for the ordinary refractive index and from -7.6 x 10-6 /K to -8.6 x 10-6 /K for the extraordinary refractive index. The coefficient of thermal expansion for the a-axis of Pr:YLF increases from 16.4 x 10-6 /K to 17.8 x 10-6 /K over the same temperature range. KW - refractive index change KW - thermal expansion coefficient KW - laser crystal KW - praseodymium KW - yttrium lithium fluoride Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-7720 VL - 22 SP - 30683 EP - 30696 PB - Optical Society of America ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Buske, Ivo A1 - Wittrock, Ulrich T1 - Diffraction analysis of aberrated laser resonators JF - Appl. Phys. B N2 - A numerical analysis of laser resonators with aberrations is presented. {T}he analysis shows that aberrations lead to large diffraction losses of laser resonators which are laid out to produce diffraction-limited beam quality. {S}tatic or dynamic compensation of the aberrations is possible and would yield much higher output power. Y1 - 2006 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-8252 VL - 83 SP - 229 EP - 233 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vorholt, Christian A1 - Wittrock, Ulrich T1 - Intra-cavity pumped Yb:YAG thin-disk laser with 1.74% quantum defect JF - Opt. Lett. N2 - We present, to the best of our knowledge, the first intracavity pumped Yb:YAG thin-disk laser. It operates at 1050.7 nm with a quantum defect of just 1.74% due to pumping at 1032.4 nm. Low absorption of the pump light at the pump wavelength of 1032.4 nm is compensated for by placing the disk inside the resonator of another Yb:YAG thin-disk laser which is diode-pumped at 940 nm. The intra-cavity pumped laser has an output power of 10.3 W and a slope efficiency of 8.3% Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-8284 VL - 40 SP - 4819 EP - 4822 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Vorholt, Christian A1 - Wittrock, Ulrich T1 - Wavelength control by angle-tuning of the laser radiation in an intra-cavity pumped Yb:YAG thin-disk laser T2 - Advanced Solid State Lasers (ASSL), paper AM5A.39 N2 - In an intra-cavity pumped thin-disk laser the pump radiation forms a standing wave pattern inside the intra-cavity pumped disk.We demonstrate experimentally that the grating period of the standing wave pattern of the pump radiation can control the laser wavelength. Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-8298 UR - https://www.osapublishing.org/abstract.cfm?uri=ASSL-2015-AM5A.39 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rausch, Peter A1 - Verpoort, Sven A1 - Wittrock, Ulrich T1 - Unimorph deformable mirror for space telescopes: design and manufacturing JF - Opt. Expr. N2 - Large space telescopes made of deployable and lightweight structures suffer from aberrations caused by thermal deformations, gravitational release, and alignment errors which occur during the deployment procedure. An active optics system would allow on-site correction of wave-front errors, and ease the requirements on thermal and mechanical stability of the optical train. In the course of a project funded by the European Space Agency we have developed and manufactured a unimorph deformable mirror based on piezoelectric actuation. The mirror is able to work in space environment and is designed to correct for large aberrations of low order with high surface fidelity. This paper discusses design, manufacturing and performance results of the deformable mirror. KW - Active or adaptive optics KW - Telescopes KW - Space optics KW - Space instrumentation Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-8227 VL - 23 SP - 19469 EP - 19477 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wittrock, Ulrich A1 - Vorholt, Christian T1 - Spatial hole burning in Yb:YAG thin-disk lasers JF - Appl. Phys. B N2 - The spatially varying intensity in a standing wave resonator leads to spatial hole burning in the gain medium of a laser. The spatial hole burning changes the gain of different longitudinal modes and can thus determine the optical spectrum of the laser. We simulate this longitudinal mode competition in standing wave resonators of thin-disk lasers. The resulting optical spectra of the laser are compared to measured optical spectra. We examine two types of resonators: I-resonators and V-resonators with different angles of incidence. In V-resonators, the non-normal incidence of the laser beam on the disk lifts the degeneracy of the polarization. Experiments show that the slight gain advantage for the p-polarization does not lead to polarized emission. For both types of resonators, the measured spectra are in good agreement with the simulated ones. The simulations allow to study the influence of spectral intra-cavity losses on the optical spectrum of a thin-disk laser. Y1 - 2015 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:hbz:836-opus-8234 VL - 120 SP - 711 EP - 721 ER -