Abstract

An intracavily phase control of a laser beam is an important issue for applications requiring a control of the spatial shape of the mode,¹⁻² or for laser systems where the thermally induced aberrations of a highly pumped amplifying medium have to be compensated.³ We present a beam shaping setup including an intracavity optically addressed liquid-crystal light valve (LCLV). The advantages of this device is first to be programmable, and second to have a high spatial resolution adapted for the generation of sharp phase profiles required for beam shaping.

© 2002 Optical Society of America