Abstract
The use of gain media in a planar slab configuration, as a vehicle for combining large gain volume with efficient 7-D Cooling to achieve scaling of laser outputs to high powers, has become increasingly popular in recent years. It is now technologically feasible to pump large-area planar gain media, whether configured as gaseous media excited by high frequency discharge, 1 or as optically pumped solid-state slabs.2 However, a crucial issue remains concerning the generation of beams of high optical quality from such laser geometries. It is now clear that it is the successful resolution of this problem which will determine the extent to which slab lasers will achieve future widespread practical use. One approach to the solution of this problem involves the use of 7-D unstable resonators to extract from such high Fresnel number slabs.3-5
© 1992 Optical Society of America
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