Self-pumped phase-conjugate resonator with two-pass four-wave mixing in a diode-pumped Nd : YAG amplifier

We investigate both theoretically and experimentally a self-pumped phase-co njugate resonator with two-pass four-wave mixing in a diode-pumped Nd:YAG a mplifier. A transient model is presented to fit the energy and temporal res ults of the experiment. The influence of the input energy in the injected c onfiguration and the influence of the output coupler reflectivity and diode pump energy in the self-starting configuration are analyzed. In the inject ed case a maximum phase-conjugate reflectivity of 32 is obtained. In the se lf-starting case a TEM00 mode of 5.5 mJ in a 20-ns single-longitudinal-mode pulse is produced with a 10% reflectivity output coupler. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America [S0740-3224(98)00112-X] OCIS codes: 190.5040, 140.3480, 140.3410, 190.4380.