A highly astigmatic solid-state laser with improved mode matching and thermal management

Summary form only given. Diode-laser bars are now regularly employed as efficient high-power pump sources for end pumped Nd:YAG solid-state lasers. The majority of these lasers are designed around a circularly symmetric cavity. There are, however, considerable advantages to be gained when we bring the output of the diode-laser bar to a line focus within the crystal, to overlap an elliptical cavity mode. Line-focus pumped systems offer the scope for power scaling by lengthening the pump volume while increasing its power proportionally.