Continuous wave thin plate Nd:glass laser

CW (continuous-wave) operation of end-pumped four-level glass lasers is modeled to obtain expressions for threshold, slope efficiency, and figures of merit. The thermal effects ultimately limiting performance in these lasers is also discussed. Basic design consideration for optimum performance of an end-pumped CW Nd:glass laser intended for mode locking are presented. On the basis of these investigations, a CW Nd:glass laser containing a heavily doped thin phosphate glass plate as the gain material has been built. The plate was inserted into a folded cavity and pumped longitudinally by a Kr laser at 0.8 μm. With 2.5% output coupling the pump threshold and the slope efficiency well above threshold were measured to be 10.5 mW and 36%, respectively. These values agree reasonably with theoretical predictions. Experimental confirmation of the predicted thermal limiting effects are also obtained