Abstract
High-average-power solid-state lasers are generally limited in beam quality and efficiency due to thermally induced phase distortion and depolarisation in the laser gain medium. Holographic laser resonators, where a four-wave mixing interaction takes place within the gain medium, have been demonstrated to correct for phase distortions as well as controlling the temporal and spectral characteristics of the output radiation.1,2 In these resonators, a gain grating is formed (via spatial hole burning), when coherent beams interfere in the inverted medium. The gain grating acts as a holographic element that encodes any intracavity distortions. Diffraction off this grating propagates in the opposite direction resulting in a dynamic compensation of the aberrations. In this work we describe for the first time, adaptive laser operation with Nd:YLF which has the advantage of a strong natural birefringence eliminating any problems of stress-induced depolarisation as occur in Nd:YAG.
© 2002 Optical Society of America
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