| Preface | xiii |
| List of Symbols | xv |
| Part I. | Fundamentals of Laser Diode Pumping | |
| Chapter 1. | Introduction | 3 |
| 1.1 | Advantages of diode pumping | 4 |
| Chapter 2. | Basic Concepts | 7 |
| 2.1 | Lasers | 7 |
| 2.2 | Resonators | 8 |
| 2.3 | Laser resonator transverse modes | 9 |
| 2.3.1 | TEM[subscript 00] | 10 |
| 2.3.2 | Multimode operation | 12 |
| 2.3.3 | Advantages of single transverse mode operation | 12 |
| 2.3.4 | Longitudinal modes | 12 |
| 2.4 | Laser diodes for pumping solid state lasers | 13 |
| 2.4.1 | Single-stripe diodes | 14 |
| 2.4.2 | Single-mode diodes | 15 |
| 2.4.3 | Pulsed and cw diode operation | 15 |
| 2.4.4 | Diode manufacturing terms | 16 |
| 2.4.5 | Laser diode arrays | 16 |
| 2.4.6 | Laser diode beam spatial properties | 17 |
| 2.5 | Optical fiber concepts | 18 |
| 2.5.1 | Numerical aperture | 18 |
| 2.5.2 | Core size | 18 |
| 2.5.3 | Fiber-coupled single-stripe diodes: Advantages | 19 |
| 2.5.4 | Fiber-coupled laser diode arrays | 20 |
| 2.6 | Light ducts | 21 |
| Part II. | Basic End-pumped Laser Design | |
| Chapter 3. | Design of a TEM[subscript 00] Continuous-Wave Diode-pumped Nd:YAG Laser | 25 |
| 3.1 | Considerations: End-pumped or side-pumped? | 26 |
| 3.2 | Selecting the gain element | 29 |
| 3.2.1 | Laser host crystals | 29 |
| 3.2.2 | Laser rod specifications | 31 |
| 3.3 | Selecting the laser diode | 32 |
| 3.3.1 | Pump diode center wavelength and spectral bandwidth | 32 |
| 3.3.2 | Temperature tuning | 32 |
| 3.3.3 | Bandwidth control | 33 |
| 3.3.4 | Current tuning and mode hop | 34 |
| 3.4 | Selecting the resonator | 34 |
| 3.4.1 | Resonator length | 34 |
| 3.4.2 | Resonator configuration | 35 |
| 3.4.3 | Rod coatings | 36 |
| 3.5 | Selecting the pump optics | 37 |
| 3.5.1 | Pump optics | 37 |
| 3.5.2 | Astigmatism correction | 38 |
| 3.5.3 | Focusing lens | 39 |
| 3.5.4 | Polarization combination of laser diodes | 41 |
| 3.5.5 | Diffraction-limited operation | 43 |
| Chapter 4. | Operation of the Continuous-Wave Diode-pumped Laser | 45 |
| 4.1 | Resonator gain and loss: Findlay-Clay analysis | 45 |
| 4.2 | Threshold | 47 |
| 4.3 | Optimum output coupling | 48 |
| 4.4 | Laser output, slope efficiency and bandwidth | 48 |
| 4.4.1 | Output | 48 |
| 4.4.2 | Slope efficiency | 49 |
| 4.4.3 | Bandwidth | 49 |
| 4.5 | Efficiency factors | 49 |
| 4.5.1 | Electrical-to-optical efficiency | 50 |
| 4.5.2 | Stokes efficiency | 50 |
| 4.5.3 | Geometric coupling efficiency | 50 |
| 4.5.4 | Laser quantum efficiency | 50 |
| 4.5.5 | Transfer efficiency | 51 |
| 4.5.6 | Extraction efficiency | 51 |
| 4.5.7 | Summary of efficiency factors | 51 |
| 4.6 | Dependence of the laser output power on the diode wavelength | 52 |
| Part III. | Advanced Concepts for Diode Pumping | |
| Chapter 5. | Power Scaling Considerations | 57 |
| 5.1 | Scaling the diode pump power | 58 |
| 5.1.1 | Diode arrays | 58 |
| 5.2 | Thermal effects | 60 |
| 5.2.1 | Thermal lensing | 60 |
| 5.2.3 | Other thermal effects | 61 |
| 5.3 | Novel designs for end pumping | 61 |
| 5.3.1 | Penta-prism | 62 |
| 5.3.2 | Diode-pumped ring laser | 63 |
| 5.4 | Fiber-coupled laser diode arrays: Power density | 64 |
| 5.5 | Spectral bandwidth of diode arrays | 65 |
| Chapter 6. | Side-pumped Designs | 67 |
| 6.1 | Zig-zag slab laser | 68 |
| 6.2 | Novel side-pumped design | 69 |
| Chapter 7. | Other Output Wavelengths for Nd-doped Lasers | 71 |
| 7.1 | Operation at 1.3 [mu]m | 71 |
| 7.2 | Operation at 946 nm | 72 |
| Chapter 8. | Diodes for Pumping Other Gain Elements | 75 |
| 8.1 | 900-nm diodes | 75 |
| 8.2 | 670-nm diodes | 75 |
| Chapter 9. | Examples of Other Diode-pumped Lasers | 77 |
| 9.1 | Yb-doped lasers | 77 |
| 9.2 | Cr-doped tunable solid state lasers | 78 |
| 9.3 | Dye lasers | 80 |
| Chapter 10. | Intracavity Elements: Q-switching, SHG, and Single-Longitudinal-Mode Operation | 83 |
| 10.1 | Acousto-optic Q-switch for high repetition rate | 83 |
| 10.2 | Intracavity SHG for visible laser output | 85 |
| 10.3 | Single-longitudinal-mode lasers | 86 |
| 10.3.1 | Ring lasers | 87 |
| 10.3.2 | "Microchip" lasers | 88 |
| Chapter 11. | Conclusion | 91 |
| Bibliography | 93 |
| References | 95 |
| Index | 97 |
