Investigation of the laser properties of phosphate glasses under pulse-periodic pumping conditions

An investigation was made of the influence of a thermal lens, which appeared in a glass active element, on the operation of a laser under pulse-periodic conditions. The output energy and the power of the thermal lens varied in a similar way with temperature. Low thermal lens powers were achieved in glasses with low values of the thermooptic constants P and Q. The temperature dependence of the thermal lens power became weaker on reduction in the derivative of P with respect to temperature. It was found that at low repetition frequencies of pump pulses a glass laser could have energy characteristics close to those of a laser employing an yttrium aluminum garnet crystal.