200 W continuous-wave TEM/sub 00/ mode 1064-nm beam generation by a laser-diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser amplifier

Summary form only given. The advent of high-power laser diode-pumped solid-state lasers has significantly enhanced efficiency, brightness, and reliability of diode-pumped solid-state lasers. High average power, continuous-wave TEM/sub 00/ mode beam sources are of interest in many industrial and scientific fields. Frequency converted ultraviolet or visible Q-pulse TEM/sub 00/ mode beam sources are in particular, attractive in information technology field for drilling or trimming of printed circuit boards. Although, various attractive continuous-wave TEM/sub 00/ mode beam sources have been reported, average output power of these systems is limited at the level of 100 W. In this work, we have enhanced the output power of continuous-wave TEM/sub 00/ mode up to 200 W by use of a Nd:YAG laser amplifier system. This is what we believe the highest number obtained with diode-pumped solid-state laser systems.