Abstract

To match the gain center wavelength of phosphate glass laser amplifier chains, Nd:YLF osciliators have been developed,¹ Although the quality of Nd-doped YLF crystals has improved steadily and is meanwhile sufficient for many applications, the tight transverse beam profile specifications of Rochester's Omega laser system made it necessary to pursue development of an oscillator at 1.054 jtim with a more homogeneous gain medium. Consequently, phosphate glass oscillators at various pulse durations have been developed.^2,3 Given, however, the need for extreme reliability and flexibility, particularly that of synchronizing several oscillators, active mode-locked Q-switched (AMQ) oscillators as described in Ref. 1 become necessary.

© 1983 Optical Society of America