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Optical-to-optical conversion efficiencies of as high as 32% with a slope efficiency of 44% were obtained with a novel diode-bar, side-pumped laser cavity design. A slab geometry with a single, high-angle-of-incidence reflection was used to extract gain from near the pump face of a Nd:YVO(4) bar that absorbed strongly at the pump wavelength. Small-signal gains of greater than 8 cm(-1) and pulse energies of as much as 3.2 mJ were obtained in an almost TEM(00) mode. Aperturing effects by the laser rod were found to limit the effects of nonuniform gain on the laser mode.

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Fast switching of high-power 10-μm radiation by reflection from optically induced carriers in polycrystalline germanium has been demonstrated. Initial studies carried out with a single-mode TEA CO2 laser and a 2-nsec ruby laser pulse have resulted in the generation of synchronized ∼2-nsec pulses of 0.69- and 10-μm wavelength. Potential applications of this technique include the selection of single high-energy pulses from the mode-locked output of large-aperture CO2 lasers.

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