A 117-W 1.66-Times Diffraction Limited Continuous-Wave Nd:YVO4 Zigzag Slab Laser with Multilayer Amplified-Spontaneous-Emission Absorbing Coatings*

Abstract

We report a continuous-wave end-pumped Nd:YVO4 zigzag slab laser with multilayer amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) absorbing coatings. The coatings are deposited on the slab faces. A five-layer structure consists of SiO2-Ti-SiO2-Ti-Au, and the thicknesses are 2520 nm, 10 nm, 160 nm, 24 nm and 200 nm, respectively. The designed coatings show good performance for the ASE control in the experimental tests. A stable-unstable hybrid laser oscillator along orthogonal directions in the slab aperture is further configured, achieving the 117W output at a pump of 328 W. The beam quality factors M2 in the unstable direction and stable direction are 1.57 and 1.66, respectively.