TY - JOUR
T1 - 3D CFD modeling of flowing-gas Rb DPALs
T2 - Effects of buffer gas composition and of ionization of high lying Rb states
AU - Waichman, Karol
AU - Barmashenko, Boris D.
AU - Rosenwaks, Salman
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding. Office of Naval Research Global (N62909-18-1-2165); Israel Science Foundation (856/19); Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA90550-18-1-0204).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Optical Society of America.
PY - 2021/11/1
Y1 - 2021/11/1
N2 - A comprehensive three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3D CFD) modeling of flowing-gas Rb diode pumped alkali laser (DPAL) is carried out. The cases of He=CH4 and pure He buffer gases are investigated, and the output power and optical efficiency are calculated for various pump powers, mole fractions of methane, buffer gas pressures, and flow velocities. The model considers the processes of excitation of high levels of Rb, ionization, ion-electron recombination, and heating of electrons, which affect the diffusion coefficient of Rb ions. Two types of Rb DPAL were studied: A low-power laboratory-scale device with pump power of several tens of watts and a high-power multi-kilowatt laser. Efficient operation of the Rb laser using pureHe as buffer gas can be achieved only in a large-scale laser with a pump beam cross-sectional area of several cm2. The calculated results for such a device were compared with those reported by Gavrielides et al. [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 35, 2202 (2018)], where a simplified three-level model based on the one-dimensional gas dynamics approach was applied.
AB - A comprehensive three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (3D CFD) modeling of flowing-gas Rb diode pumped alkali laser (DPAL) is carried out. The cases of He=CH4 and pure He buffer gases are investigated, and the output power and optical efficiency are calculated for various pump powers, mole fractions of methane, buffer gas pressures, and flow velocities. The model considers the processes of excitation of high levels of Rb, ionization, ion-electron recombination, and heating of electrons, which affect the diffusion coefficient of Rb ions. Two types of Rb DPAL were studied: A low-power laboratory-scale device with pump power of several tens of watts and a high-power multi-kilowatt laser. Efficient operation of the Rb laser using pureHe as buffer gas can be achieved only in a large-scale laser with a pump beam cross-sectional area of several cm2. The calculated results for such a device were compared with those reported by Gavrielides et al. [J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 35, 2202 (2018)], where a simplified three-level model based on the one-dimensional gas dynamics approach was applied.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85118469913&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1364/JOSAB.441871
DO - 10.1364/JOSAB.441871
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85118469913
SN - 0740-3224
VL - 38
SP - 3523
EP - 3531
JO - Journal of the Optical Society of America B: Optical Physics
JF - Journal of the Optical Society of America B: Optical Physics
IS - 11
ER -