Abstract
A simple method for simultaneously exciting the fundamental () transverse mode and first order Laguerre-Gaussian () donut mode in an end-pumped solid-state laser to yield a quasi-top-hat output beam is reported. This approach has been applied to an Er:YAG laser, in-band pumped by an Er,Yb fiber laser, yielding 9.6 W of continuous-wave output at 1645 nm in a top-hat-like beam with beam propagation factor for 24 W of incident pump power at 1532 nm. The corresponding slope efficiency with respect to incident pump power was 49%. The prospects of further scaling of output power and improved overall efficiency are considered.
©2012 Optical Society of America
Full Article | PDF ArticleMore Like This
J. W. Kim, J. I. Mackenzie, J. R. Hayes, and W. A. Clarkson
Opt. Express 19(15) 14526-14531 (2011)
D. Y. Shen, J. K. Sahu, and W. A. Clarkson
Opt. Lett. 31(6) 754-756 (2006)
Chunqing Gao, Lingni Zhu, Ran Wang, Mingwei Gao, Yan Zheng, and Lei Wang
Opt. Lett. 37(11) 1859-1861 (2012)