In this article we present a comprehensive review of the work done
by our group on the amplitude and frequency stabilization of diode-pumped
near-infrared solid-state lasers. In particular, we describe experiments based
on single-mode Nd:YAG (1064 nm), Er-Yb:glass (1530-1560 nm), and Tm-Ho:YAG
(2097 nm) lasers, end-pumped by semiconductor laser diodes. Amplitude
stabilization is achieved by means of optoelectronic control loops sensing the
laser intensity fluctuations and feeding back the error signal to the current
of the pump diodes. Frequency stabilization is pursued using rovibrational
molecular lines as absolute frequency references by means of various frequency
locking techniques. The most interesting stability results are described in
some detail whereas the wide literature cited through the paper provides for a
useful reference list of related topics and experiments.