Q-Switched Nd^3+ Glass Laser of Variable Temporal Coherence

This paper describes a single transverse mode Q-switched Nd(3+) glass laser working on a few longitudinal adjacent modes. The narrowing of the spectral output is obtained by use of a resonant reflector and a birefringent filter under temperature control. The number of longitudinal modes is varied from one to ten with a constant energy output of 10 mJ by means of intracavity resonators and two-step Q-switching. Observations of the quasiperiodic intensity fluctuations during the 40-nsec pulse give information about the statistical character of multimode giant pulse laser emission.