Watt level laser source for a polychromatic laser guide stars: double resonant fluorescence from 3S-3P-3D transition of sodium atoms.

The polychromatic laser guide star (PLGS) is one of the solutions proposed to measure the differential atmospheric tip-tilt. A watts-level microsecond pulse all solid state laser source with two wavelengths at 589 and 819.7 nm are developed to perform a proof-of-concept on-sky test for what is believed to be the first time. By sum-frequency of 1319 and 1064 nm, a 44 W maximum average output power at 589.159 nm is generated with the pulse width of similar to 90 mu s at 500 Hz, the linewidth of 0.46 pm, and the beam quality of M-2 = 1.50. Meanwhile, a 2.4 W average output power is achieved operating at 819.710 nm with the pulse width of similar to 25 mu s at 500 Hz, the linewidth of 0.8 pm, and beam quality factor of M-2 = 1.20, which is end-pumped by a frequency-doubled 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser. Moreover, double resonant fluorescence in sodium cell with two step excitation of sodium atom from 3S(1/2) to 3D(5/2) via 3P(3/2) level is observed clearly by tuning the wavelength of 589 and 819.7 mu beams. In the proof-of-principle experiment, it is preliminarily verified that this laser system is expected to be applied to the sky experiment. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement