Faraday isolator for a 100 J/10 Hz pulsed laser

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The article presents a demonstration of optical isolation (one-way propagation of the laser beam) for the beam of the Bivoj laser system operated at the HiLASE center. For the given parameters of 100 J pulses with a repetition rate of 10 Hz, this is a world-unique device on which the optical isolation of a pulsed laser beam with an average power of 1 kW was demonstrated for the first time. The isolator uses the non-reciprocal Faraday effect and achieved attenuation for the back-reflected beam at the level of 30 dB for a period of 1 hour (approx. 36,000 pulses) of test run.

Faraday isolator for Bivoj laser. Front view from the side of the incoming laser beam (left) and view of the exit side of the device. BD – beam dump, HWP – half-wave plate, P1, P2 – polarizers. The optical part responsible for the Faraday effect is located inside the magnet bore and is not visible in the photo.
Description
Faraday isolator for Bivoj laser. Front view from the side of the incoming laser beam (left) and view of the exit side of the device. BD – beam dump, HWP – half-wave plate, P1, P2 – polarizers. The optical part responsible for the Faraday effect is located inside the magnet bore and is not visible in the photo.

Contact person: Ondřej Slezák