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Gain guiding has been demonstrated to significantly impact the cavity modes of high- gain, short-pulse Ti:Al2O3 lasers.1 Here, we demonstrate that aperture guiding, which can be analyzed similarly to gain guiding, can be a significant benefit in low-gain,cw lasers. In end-pumped, quasi-three-level lasers, a soft spatial aperture is formed in the gain medium because the unpumped regions absorb light at tire laser wavelength. We have found that this aperture must be taken into account in calculating mode sizes and resonator stability. These effects are illustrated in a Yb:YAG microchip laser and a Yb:YAG laser in a near-hemispherical cavity, and can be generalized to other quasi-three-level lasers.
© 1993 Optical Society of America
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