Abstract

A novel edge-pumped solid state thin slab laser design is presented that is power scalable to well over 200W for either multimode or single transverse mode operation. The width of the slab is selected so as to maximize the pump absorption whereas the thickness is small enough to generate a one-dimensional temperature profile. With a 0.8at% Nd:YAG slab of dimensions 1mm × 10mm × 90mm a maximum output power of 350W was achieved in multimode operation for input pump powers of 720W. By using a stable-unstable resonator with a variable reflectivity mirror, an output power of 220W was attained with an M² of less than 1.5 and 30% optical-to-optical conversion efficiency;

© 2002 Optical Society of America