Wavelength stabilized ns-MOPA diode laser system with 16 W peak power and a spectral line width below 10 pm.

A master oscillator power amplifier system for the generation of ns-pulses with high peak power, stabilized wavelength and narrow spectral line width will be presented. The master oscillator is a distributed feedback (DFB) ridge waveguide (RW) laser. The tapered amplifier consists of three RW sections and one flared gain-guided section. The DFB laser is operated in continuous wave mode and emits at 1064 nm with a spectral line width below 10 pm. One RW section of the amplifier acts as an optical gate for pulse selection. The tapered section amplifies the generated optical pulse. By adjusting the delay time between the current pulses injected into the picker and into the tapered section, respectively, the power of the amplified spontaneous emission was reduced below 1% of the average laser power. For an optical pulse length of 2 ns, a peak power of 16 W was obtained. A side mode suppression ratio better than 46 dB was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]