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We present the investigation of diode-side-pumping of Alexandrite slab lasers in a range of designs using linear cavity and grazing-incidence bounce cavity configurations. An Alexandrite slab laser cavity with double-pass side pumping produces 23.4 mJ free-running energy at 100 Hz rate with slope efficiency ~40% with respect to absorbed pump energy. In a slab laser with single-bounce geometry output power of 12.2 W is produced, and in a double-bounce configuration 6.5 W multimode and 4.5 W output in TEM00 mode is produced. These first results of slab laser and amplifier designs in this paper highlight some of the potential strategies for power and energy scaling of Alexandrite using diode-side-pumped Alexandrite slab architectures with future availability of higher power red diode pumping.

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We present the first study of Q-switched Alexandrite lasers under continuous-wave diode-pumping with operation up to 10 kHz repetition rates in TEM00, with spatial quality M2 1.15. With a pulsed-diode dual-end-pumped design, pulse energy is scaled to a record level of 3 mJ. We also demonstrate, for the first time, cavity-dumped Q-switching of diode-pumped Alexandrite lasers under continuous-wave and pulsed diode-pumping, up to 10 kHz. Pulse energy of 510 µJ is demonstrated with 3 ns pulse duration and 170 kW peak power, in TEM00 with M2 < 1.2. Second harmonic generation of the cavity-dumped Q-switched pulses was used to generate UV wavelength 379 nm with conversion efficiency of 47%.

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A novel technique for obtaining enhanced control of pulsing parameters in a laser is described and implemented for the first time in a 1.1%Nd:YVO4 bounce geometry laser. The method uses a secondary laser cavity to control the gain in a Q-switched primary laser cavity and has enabled clean single-pulse Q-switched operation to be obtained across a repetition rate range of 1-800 kHz, where previously laser breakthrough had occurred below 150 kHz. Control of the pulse energy from the Q-switched laser is also demonstrated at a fixed repetition rate of 100 kHz by this technique.

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The role of complement activation on the cerebral vasculature after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is unclear. The goal of the study was to assess whether heparin-coated CPB reduces complement activation, and influences cerebral blood flow velocities (CBFV). Twenty-four patients undergoing coronary surgery were randomly allocated to non-coated (NC-group) or heparin-coated (HC-group) CPB. Complement activation was assessed by measuring sC5b-9. Transcranial Doppler (TCD) was performed on middle cerebral arteries before and after CPB. Systolic (SV), diastolic (DV) and mean (MV) CBFV were measured. Significant increase of sC5b-9 (p=0.003) was observed in the NC-group and CBFV increased after CPB (SV by 27%, p=0.05; DV by 40%, p=0.06; MV by 33%, p=0.04) whereas no changes were detected in the HC-group. TCD values were higher in the NC-group than in the HC-group (SV, p=0.04; DV, p=0.03; MV, p=0.03) although cardiac index, systemic vascular resistance, haematocrit and pCO(2) were similar. Postoperative SV, DV and MV were significantly correlated with sC5b-9 (r=0.583, p=0.009; r=0.581, p=0.009; r=0.598, p=0.007, respectively). Increased CBFV after CPB are correlated to the level of complement activation and may be controlled by heparin-coated circuits.

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High efficiency and high power laser operation of highly-doped 2at.% crystalline Nd:YAG at 1.3microm is demonstrated in a diode-side pumped bounce amplifier configuration. A linearly polarized output power of 16.7W is obtained representing the highest power at 1.3microm achieved to date, to our knowledge, in a highly doped crystalline Nd:YAG laser. The system could deliver over 9W average output power in Q-switched operation with repetition rates from 20 - 160kHz. With quasi-continuous wave diode pumping 5.5mJ pulses at 100Hz repetition rate were achieved as well as 50ns pulses in Q-switched operation.

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Brain energy metabolism and signal transduction are intimely intricated. At the cellular level this is reflected by the interdependent metabolism of glutamate and glucose and the energetic compartmentalization between astrocytic glycolysis and neuronal metabolism. Astrocytes appear to have a particular importance in brain metabolism by regulating microcirculation and the repartition of energetic substrates in function of synaptic activity. The high level of O(2) consumption compared to the mass of tissue confers a particular vulnerability of brain to oxidative stress. The synthesis of glutathione, the main anti-oxidant of brain, appears to be dependent of the regulation of synaptic glutamate concentration by astrocytes. Deficiencies of astrocytes functions appear to play a key role in the physiopathology of brain injury.

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High efficiency and high power operation of highly-doped 2 at.% crystalline Nd:YAG is demonstrated in a diode-side pumped bounce amplifier configuration. A linearly-polarized output power of 46.1W is obtained with 101W diode pumping representing the highest power achieved to date, to our knowledge, in a highly doped crystalline Nd:YAG laser. In a system operating at 19.1W output power, the slope efficiency was as high as 60%. With quasi-continuous wave diode pumping 11mJ pulses at 100Hz repetition rate were achieved and passive Q-switching with Cr(4+):YAG produced pulses with 12ns duration.

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We describe, for the first time to our knowledge, the use of a saturable laser gain medium to implement an adaptive gain interferometer for performing optical metrology with speckle-distorted beams. We show that interferometric formation and replay of a saturable gain hologram permit coherent extraction of fast vibrational information about an object in real time and removal of slowly varying spatial distortion. An experimental characterization of the frequency response of the adaptive gain interferometer is made by use of a diode-pumped solid-state laser amplifier, and a new theoretical formulation of the gain interferometer is also developed for the first reported time.

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Neuro-imaging is essential for the initial evaluation and subsequent control in the acute stage of severe head injury. In these indications tomodensitometry (TDM) has a pivotal role. Despite the well recognized contribution of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to the investigation of most of acute neurological pathologies, MRI is not still a routine procedure for the initial investigation of patients with acute head injury. The superiority of morphological and functional MRI on TDM in this indication is discussed.

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