Optimizing the cavity parameters and choosing the active medium of a solid-state laser that operates in the continuous and pulsed regimes with pumping by a single powerful diode

Abstract

This paper discusses how the cavity configuration affects the spatial and temporal structure of the radiation of an efficient compact laser with longitudinal diode pumping, operating in the continuous regime and in the Q-switched regime with an acoustooptic shutter. It is shown that, when the pumping is substantially inhomogeneous, detuning the cavity length from critical configurations makes it possible to generate radiation with a spatial structure close to Gaussian. The comparative analysis of the spatial structure of the radiation of Nd:YAG and Nd:YLF lasers carried out here showed that Nd:YLF crystals have substantial advantages.