| Since the inception of the solid-state laser, the system “architecture” for power scaling has typically evolved with an emphasis on mitigation of the detrimental thermal effects produced by waste heat deposited in the active medium; examples include bulk rods with end-caps, slabs, thin-disks, and optical fibres. The respective progression between these different active media geometries follows an increasing ratio of the cooling surface-area to the excitation volume. Similarly the planar waveguide (PW) architecture capitalizes on an extreme aspect ratio placing it in the “middle” between the thin-disk and fibre in the previous scale. This talk will discuss the research undertaken at the Optoelectronics Research Centre and how this fits within the context of global research in the area.
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| Dr. J. I. Mackenzie was a graduate of Macquarie University, Australia; afterwards he started in industry developing diode-pumped solid-state laser range finders for airborne and naval applications. He joined the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton in 1999, obtaining his doctoral degree in 2003, on compact solid-state laser devices based on a newly developed concept - the double-clad planar waveguide (PW). In 2004 he was a recipient of a Royal Academy of Engineering/Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (RAEng/EPSRC) Post-doctoral Fellowship, working on slab laser systems. As leader of the Planar Waveguide and Slab Lasers (PWSL) research group in the ORC, his research interest’s focus on novel laser systems, predominantly with a planar geometry. A senior member of the OSA and member of the SPIE, he is on several Solid State Lasers (SSL) program committees at international conferences (ASSL, CELO Europe, Photonics West – LASE, ACOFT), and is program co-chair for the SSL & Applications conference at Photonics Europe.
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