Abstract

In certain applications, the cost and size of a diode-pumped, solid-state laser are important considerations. Although close-coupled cube¹ and microchip² lasers are significantly smaller and less expensive than conventional designs, they have a limited range of applications. Specifically, the fact that thermal effects within the gain medium provide the only mechanisms foi· stabilizing a flat-flat resonator makes it difficult to incorporate multiple elements inside cube or microchip lasers.

© 1993 Optical Society of America