Thermal modeling of an external cavity diamond Raman laser

Thermal effects are some of the most significant factors limiting power scalability and beam quality of laser systems. In this work we examine both theoretically and experimentally, the degree by which thermal loading impacts the performance of an external cavity diamond Raman laser (DRL). Specifically, we formulate a model to study the temperature, thermal stress and thermal deformation that occurs within a diamond Raman medium in response to increasing levels of laser pumping. Experimentally, we demonstrate a DRL generating Stokes emission at 1240 nm with output power of up to 132 W and output beam quality of M2 = 1.1.