Cutting Edge Optronics (CEO Laser) recently manufactured the largest, commercially available, diode pumped Nd:YLF laser amplifier in the world. This PowerPULSE series laser amplifier pumps a one inch Nd:YLF laser rod with more than 150 QCW laser diode bars, and produces more than 5 Joules of gain switched energy and over 6 Joules of stored energy.
DPSS amplifiers offer several advantages over flashlamp-pumped amplifiers, including: increased electrical-to-optical efficiency, reduced thermal lens strength, improved energy stability and reduced depolarization losses. In addition, some DPSS amplifiers can be operated at much higher repetition rates (10s of Hz to 1kHz). The lifetime of the laser diode bars in these amplifiers is > 10 billion pulses which equates to years or decades in many applications, making the amplifier nearly maintenance-free.