ND-YAG SLAB LASER END-PUMPED BY LASER-DIODE STACKS AND ITS BEAM SHAPING

An efficient high power cw Nd:YAG slab laser, partially end-pumped by diode laser stacks, and a novel beam shaping technique are reported in this paper. The optical efficiency amounted to 44% and the slope effi ciency to 55%. Introducing an intracavity Brewster plate to polarize t he laser beam, an optical efficiency of 35% and a slope efficiency of 41% was obtained. The output beam was rectangular and the beam quality asymmetric in two orthogonal directions. To equalize the beam quality , a step mirror beam shaping technique was introduced. The beam shapin g technique and the results obtained with it are discussed in this pap er. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.