VERSATILE, EFFICIENT, DIODE-PUMPED MINIATURE SLAB LASER

A novel miniature slab laser design is described that is compact and e asily manufactured and provides short Q-switched pulses with high effi ciency at low pump inputs. Through the use of a coplanar-pumped folded slab geometry it combines some of the advantages of end pumping, such as good pump/mode matching, with some of those of side pumping, such as scalability and simplicity. It is suitable for pumping with either cw or quasi-cw diodes and has been operated efficiently in Q-switched, cw, and high-repetition-rate Q-switched modes. The slab is uncoated, reducing complexity and cost as well as parasitic oscillations. The cw slope efficiency is 57%.