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--[[User:Zjsimmons|Zjsimmons]] ([[User talk:Zjsimmons|talk]]) 12:55, 3 November 2014 (CST)
OK, so last week i spent a lot of time building another laser. This one is basically the same as our go-to design, except the back of the mirror mount, adapter ring, and base-plate are all replaced by a single piece of aluminum. The collimation tube remains, but otherwise everything is one piece. The rational is that poor thermal conduction between the pieces in the former design may have been leading (in part) to poorer feedback and performance. Hopefully we will be able to evaluate the temperature performance somewhat with Eli's temp monitor project. Anyway, i just got the adjustment screws for it today so am getting ready to finish assembly and put it into service.
Otherwise, somewhat encouraging news with the previous revised laser design. I see good feedback. I fiddled with the collimation tube (not the collimation) but the position of the tube, and started to see good feedback. Interestingly, even thought the laser is centered at 1064 or so, i was able to easily get it to laser at 1055 just by adjusting the grating angle. This is encouraging. It also appears that the monolithic design of that laser has better temp control properties. I was able to dial in the wavelength by changing the temp; i haven't had much luck with this with our default laser design.
Note: I'm planning to write up all the laser findings as a lab white-paper. This should also provide some good spring-boards to student projects.
--[[User:Zjsimmons|Zjsimmons]] ([[User talk:Zjsimmons|talk]]) 18:00, 23 October 2014 (CDT)
The next order of business is getting the laser to behave better. This should allow us to better see spectral hole burning and just make our lives easier as well as be confident we won't drop the seed to the fiber amplifier.
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