Mode shaping of a Nd:YAG laser with diffractive mirrors

Summary form only given. Conventional spherical mirror laser cavities produce spatial modes that are described by Hermite Gaussian functions. For some applications, however, the lowest-order Gaussian mode shape is not desired. In addition, the lasing threshold separation between this mode and higher-order modes is often small, leading to potential multi-mode operation. Laser cavities with non-spherical mirrors have been demonstrated that allow the designer to customize the fundamental laser mode and maximize the modal discrimination. In this paper, we show that a diffractive optical element can be used as a mode-synthesizing mirror (MSM) inside a Nd:YAG laser cavity.