EFFICIENT CONTINUOUS-WAVE TEM00 OPERATION OF A TRANSVERSELY DIODE-PUMPED NDYAG LASER

A new, highly efficient, scalable technique for cw high-power diode-ar ray side pumping of gain media has been developed. The use of simple a ll-reflective optics permits diode emission collection efficiencies of >95%. We have achieved a cw TEM00 mode output (M2 < 1.1) of 13.1 W at 1.06 mum from a Nd:YAG rod pumped with 60 W of laser-diode output (80 8 nm), representing 22% conversion efficiency (29% conversion of absor bed pump power). Numerical simulations and experimental results indica te that good thermal management results in thermally induced aberratio ns of <lambda/8 across the rod.