1.05-1.44 µm tunability and performance of the CW Nd³⁺:YAG laser

The Nd3+:YAG laser pumped by a CW 5-kW krypton arc-lamp was tuned to 19 different transitions from 1.052 to 1.444 μm by means of intracavity thin solid etalons and appropriately coated resonator mirrors. Each transition was tunable over 6-12 wavenumbers and most exhibited 10-30-W CW output, attaining 37 W at 1.319 μm and 52 W at 1.112 μm. The 1.061-μm line is 90 percent as strong as at 1.064 μm, and wavelength shift with temperature variation was measured for both. TEM00output of 20 W was available by using apertures, and compensation of thermal lensing resulted in 60 W combined TEM00+ TEM01output.