Abstract
The >500-ns pulse duration required for laser-illuminator applications such as high-resolution speckle imaging and coherent optical radar is significantly longer than the 5-30 ns generally available from the Q-switched operation of solid-state lasers. Long-pulse oscillators have been demonstrated by suppressing the relaxation-oscillation behavior (spiking) typical of solid-state lasers by actively varying the intracavity loss during the laser pulse by using closed-loop feedback on the output power,1 by using a preprogrammed temporal shape2 or by passively varying the loss by means of intracavity saturable absorber.3
© 1995 Optical Society of America
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