Radially and azimuthally polarized laser beams by thin-disk laser

Abstract

The generation of radially and azimuthally polarized beams is theoretically investigated in thin-disk laser configurations by writing Jones matrices for optical elements. Higher modes are omitted by aperture and the mode-selection operation is done by discontinuous phase elements. Two modes, TEM_01x and TEM_01y, are combined to generate the radially and azimuthally polarized laser beam. The polarization of the output beams is studied by the extended Jones matrices. In addition, the output power of the thin-disk laser is numerically estimated by solving the rate equations in ytterbium-doped materials.