Development of high-power, 6 kHz, single-mode Ti:sapphire laser at 904 nm for generating 193 nm light

A high power, 6 kHz, single-mode Ti:sapphire laser operating at 904 nm has been developed to produce a 193 nm light source. The output power was above 10 W with a bandwidth of 160 MHz. The Hansch–Couillaud locking scheme was successfully applied to stabilize the frequency of the pulse laser. The thermal lens in the Ti:sapphire crystal having a focal length down to 10 mm along with strong astigmatism was compensated by distributing thermal load to three amplifiers with an even number of passes, resulting in a nearly diffraction limited beam. This Ti:sapphire laser contributed to the generation of 193 nm light with an output power above 200 mW.