Abstract

We report on a technique for unidirectional operation of a ring laser with no intracavity elements other than the gain material. The Faraday effect in the gain medium combined with an out-of-plane Brewster-angled rod design produces an optical diode. Fabrication of the gain material as a prism permits a simple two-mirror ring-cavity arrangement. Single-frequency operation of a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser based on this design is demonstrated. Using a 1-W diode pump, we achieved a single-frequency output of 190 mW at 1.064 μm.

© 1993 Optical Society of America

3 W of single-frequency output at 532 nm by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode-bar-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser

K. I. Martin, W. A. Clarkson, and D. C. Hanna
Opt. Lett. 21(12) 875-877 (1996)

Single-frequency cw and Q -switched operation of a diode-pumped Nd:YAG 1.3-μm ring laser

A. B. Neilson, W. A. Clarkson, and D. C. Hanna
Opt. Lett. 18(17) 1426-1428 (1993)

Single-frequency Q-switched operation of a diode-laser-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser using an acousto-optic modulator

L. J. Bromley and D. C. Hanna
Opt. Lett. 16(6) 378-380 (1991)

Single-frequency diode-pumped Nd:YAG prism laser with use of a composite laser crystal

Christian Pedersen, Peter Lichtenberg Hansen, Preben Buchhave, and Torben Skettrup
Appl. Opt. 36(27) 6780-6787 (1997)

Stable, high-power, single-frequency generation at 532 nm from a diode-bar-pumped Nd:YAG ring laser with an intracavity LBO frequency doubler

Kevin I. Martin, W. Andrew Clarkson, and David C. Hanna
Appl. Opt. 36(18) 4149-4152 (1997)