PULSE REPETITIVE ND-YAG LASER WITH DISTRIBUTED-FEEDBACK BY SELF-INDUCED POPULATION GRATING

We present a self-starting Nd:YAG laser-oscillator with a cavity forme d by refractive index grating caused by population grating induced in the laser crystal by the generating beams themselves. Different config urations of the cavity (linear, loop and multi-loop) have been investi gated. The laser-oscillator with a nonlinear mirror displays self-adap tivity to strong thermally induced intracavity distortions. Generation of single transverse mode beams with diffraction quality in the milli second pulse-repetitive regime with 12 W average power has been achiev ed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.