Resonant diffraction losses in solid-state monomode lasers

The mechanism of resonant diffraction in solid-state lasers is theoreticall y investigated and experimentally isolated. It consists in a variation of t he diffraction losses of a laser with the laser frequency, which is induced by a frequency-dependent saturation lenslike effect that occurs in the act ive medium. it is shown that this mechanism can lead to peculiar variations in the laser slope efficiency. The diffracted-light spectroscopy technique permits these variations to be connected with the calculated saturation le nslike effects in a diode end-pumped Er,Yb:glass laser. (C) 2001 Optical So ciety of America.