Optical power enhancement of high repetition rate copper vapor laser MOPA chains

Copper Vapor Laser (CVL) is a high power pulsed laser system with high repletion rate. The laser source is in the visible spectrum (510 & 578 nm) of electromagnetic radiation. One of the important application is laser based fortification of stable isotopes for generation of radionuclide to be used in Medical Applications (Lu, Yb, Sm) for cancer therapy. CVL acts as a pump source for precisely tunable narrow band dye lasers. This paper describes methodology to increase the optical power of the individual CVL, thereby increasing the power output from the CVLs configured in Master Oscillator Power Amplifier (MOPA) configuration. The power enhancement is attained by increasing the energy storage capacitance in the DC resonant charging circuit at the primary of the pulse transformer. This paper depicts the optical power enhancement of individual system as well as output from CVL MOPA chain and its long duration optical power stability. The effect of this modifications on the charging time, charge transfer time, propagation delay and voltage amplification at the secondary of the pulse transformer is aptly described in this paper. (author)