A direct generation of a high power (≫ 7 W) Laguerre-Gaussian output from a diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 1.3 μm bounce laser

In this paper, we present the first demonstration, to the best of our knowledge, of a direct production of a high power (> 7 W) 1.3 μm LG mode from a diode-pumped Nd:YVO₄ bounce amplifier with an asymmetric cavity configuration. This system does not require any additional phase elements such as a hologram and a phase plate for producing LG modes. An amplifier used was a 1 at.% Nd doped a-cut YVO₄ slab with dimensions of 2 mm x 5 mm x 20 mm. A pump diode output was focused to be a line with dimensions of 0.2 mm x 18 mm onto the pump face. This laser can be extended to generate high intense pulses by Q-switching as well as mode-locking techniques, and it will open up a direct production of a high power optical vortex in visible as well as ultra-violet regime.