Confocal diode pumped laser

Claim 2

A high efficiency, diode pumped laser, comprising: a resonator mirror and an output coupler defining a nearly confocal resonator with a resonator optical axis; a laser crystal positioned in the resonator along the resonator optical axis; a diode pump source supplying a pump beam to the laser crystal in the laser resonator producing an output beam; and a power source supplying power to the diode pump source; wherein the output beam has a power greater than about 4 W.

Claim 3

The laser of claim 1, wherein the laser has an optical slope efficiency in a TEMOO mode of greater than about 40%.

Claim 4

The laser of claim 1, wherein the laser has an optical efficiency of greater than about 25%.

Claim 5

The laser of claim 1, wherein a ratio of a TEMOO mode diameter of the laser crystal to a pump beam diameter in the crystal is about less than 1.0 to 0.83.

Claim 6

The laser of claim 1, wherein the output beam is a diffraction limited gaussian beam.

Claim 7

A high efficiency, diode pumped laser, comprising: a resonator mirror and an output coupler defining a non-confocal resonator with a resonator optical axis; a strong thermal lens laser crystal, the thermal lens having a controlled ellipticity, positioned in the resonator along the resonator optical axis transforming the non-confocal resonator to a nearly confocal resonator; a diode pump source supplying a pump beam to the laser crystal in the laser resonator to produce an output beam; and a power source supplying power to the diode pump source.

Claim 8

A high efficiency, diode pumped laser, comprising: a resonator mirror and an output coupler defining a non-confocal resonator with a resonator optical axis; a strong thermal lens laser crystal, the thermal lens having a controlled ellipticity, positioned in the resonator along the resonator optical axis transforming the non-confocal resonator to a nearly confocal resonator; a diode pump source supplying a pump beam to the laser crystal in the laser resonator to produce an output beam; and a power source supplying power to the diode pump source.

Claim 9

The laser of claim 6, wherein the laser has an optical slope efficiency in a TEMOO mode of greater than about 40%.

Claim 10

The laser of claim 6, wherein the laser has an optical efficiency of greater than about 25%.

Claim 11

The laser of claim 6, wherein a ratio of a TEMOO mode diameter of the laser crystal to a pump beam diameter in the crystal is about less than 1.0 to 0.83.

Claim 12

The laser of claim 6, wherein the output beam is a diffraction limited gaussian beam.

Claim 13

The laser of claim 6, wherein the output beam has a power greater than about 4 W.

Claim 14

A nearly diffraction limited, high efficiency, diode pumped laser, comprising: a resonator mirror and an output coupler defining a nearly confocal resonator with a resonator optical axis; a strong thermal lens laser crystal, the thermal lens having controlled ellipticity, with a TEMOO mode diameter, positioned in the resonator along the resonator optical axis; a diode pump source supplying a pump beam to the laser crystal in the laser resonator to produce an output beam, and create a pump beam diameter in the laser crystal greater than the TEMOO mode diameter; and a power source supplying power to the diode pump source.

Claim 15

A nearly diffraction limited, high efficiency, diode pumped laser, comprising: a resonator mirror and an output coupler defining a nearly confocal resonator with a resonator optical axis; a strong thermal lens laser crystal, the thermal lens having controlled ellipticity, with a TEMOO mode diameter, positioned in the resonator along the resonator optical axis; a diode pump source supplying a pump beam to the laser crystal in the laser resonator to produce an output beam, and create a pump beam diameter in the laser crystal greater than the TEMOO mode diameter; and a power source supplying power to the diode pump source.

Claim 16

The laser of claim 12, wherein the laser has an optical slope efficiency in a TEMOO mode of greater than about 40%.

Claim 17

The laser of claim 12, wherein the laser has an optical efficiency of greater than about 25%.

Claim 18

The laser of claim 12, wherein a ratio of the TEMOO mode diameter of the laser crystal to the pump beam diameter in the crystal is about less than 1.0 to 0.83

Claim 19

The laser of claim 12, wherein the output beam is a diffraction limited gaussian beam.

Claim 20

The laser of claim 12, wherein the laser crystal is Nd:YVO4.

Claim 21

A multi port, high efficiency, diode pumped laser, comprising: a resonator mirror and an output coupler defining a nearly confocal resonator, the resonator including first and second pump windows defining a first fold arm of the of the resonator, the first fold arm defining a first fold arm optical axis; a first laser crystal positioned in the resonator along the first fold arm optical axis; a first diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the first pump window, supplying a first pump beam to the laser crystal in the laser resonator producing an output beam; a second diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the second pump window, supplying a second pump beam to the laser crystal in the laser resonator producing the output beam; and at least one power source supplying power to the first and second pump sources.

Claim 22

A multi port, high efficiency, diode pumped laser, comprising: a resonator mirror and an output coupler defining a nearly confocal resonator, the resonator including first and second pump windows defining a first fold arm of the of the resonator, the first fold arm defining a first fold arm optical axis; a first laser crystal positioned in the resonator along the first fold arm optical axis; a first diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the first pump window, supplying a first pump beam to the laser crystal in the laser resonator producing an output beam; a second diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the second pump window, supplying a second pump beam to the laser crystal in the laser resonator producing the output beam; and at least one power source supplying power to the first and second pump sources.

Claim 23

The laser of claim 18, wherein the laser has an optical slope efficiency in a TEMOO mode of greater than about 40%.

Claim 24

The laser of claim 19, wherein the laser has an optical efficiency of greater than about 25%.

Claim 25

The laser of claim 20, wherein a ratio of a TEMOO mode diameter of the laser crystal to a pump beam diameter in the crystal is about less than 1.0 to 0.83.

Claim 26

The laser of claim 20, wherein the output beam is a diffraction limited gaussian beam.

Claim 27

The laser of claim 20, wherein the output beam has a power greater than about 4 W.

Claim 28

The laser of claim 20, wherein the laser crystal is made of a strong thermal lens material, with a thermal lens of controlled ellipticity.

Claim 29

The laser of claim 20, wherein the laser crystal is Nd:YV04.

Claim 30

The laser of claim 20, further comprising, a second laser crystal positioned adjacent to the first laser crystal along the first fold arm optical axis, between the first laser crystal and the second pump window.

Claim 31

A multi port, high efficiency, diode pumped laser, comprising: a resonator mirror and an output coupler defining a nearly confocal resonator, the resonator including first and second pump windows defining a first fold arm of the resonator, third and fourth pump windows defining a second fold arm of the resonator, the first fold arm defining a first fold arm optical axis, and the second fold arm defining a second fold arm optical axis; a first laser crystal positioned in the resonator along the first fold arm optical axis; a second laser crystal positioned in the resonator along the second fold arm optical axis; a first diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the first pump window, supplying a first pump beam to the first crystal to produce an output beam; a second diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the second pump window, supplying a second pump beam to the first crystal to produce the output beam; a third diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the third pump window, supplying a third pump beam to the second crystal to produce the output beam; a fourth diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the fourth pump window, supplying a fourth pump beam to the second crystal to produce the output beam; and at least one power source supplying power to the first, second, third and fourth diode pump sources.

Claim 32

A multi port, high efficiency, diode pumped laser, comprising: a resonator mirror and an output coupler defining a nearly confocal resonator, the resonator including first and second pump windows defining a first fold arm of the resonator, third and fourth pump windows defining a second fold arm of the resonator, the first fold arm defining a first fold arm optical axis, and the second fold arm defining a second fold arm optical axis; a first laser crystal positioned in the resonator along the first fold arm optical axis; a second laser crystal positioned in the resonator along the second fold arm optical axis; a first diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the first pump window, supplying a first pump beam to the first crystal to produce an output beam; a second diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the second pump window, supplying a second pump beam to the first crystal to produce the output beam; a third diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the third pump window, supplying a third pump beam to the second crystal to produce the output beam; a fourth diode pump source, positioned adjacent to the fourth pump window, supplying a fourth pump beam to the second crystal to produce the output beam; and at least one power source supplying power to the first, second, third and fourth diode pump sources.

Claim 33

The laser of claim 27, wherein the laser has an optical slope efficiency in a TEMOO mode of greater than about 40%.

Claim 34

The laser of claim 27, wherein the laser has an optical efficiency of greater than about 25%.

Claim 35

The laser of claim 27, wherein a ratio of a TEMOO mode diameter of each laser crystal to a corresponding pump beam diameter in the crystal is about less than 1.0 to 0.83.

Claim 36

The laser of claim 27, wherein the output beam is a diffraction limited gaussian beam.

Claim 37

The laser of claim 27, wherein the output beam has a power greater than about 4 W.

Claim 38

The laser of claim 27, wherein the laser crystal is made of a strong thermal lens material, with a thermal lens of controlled ellipticity.

Claim 39

The laser of claim 27, wherein the laser crystal is Nd:YV04.

Claim 40

The diode pumped laser of claim 27, further comprising, a third laser crystal positioned adjacent to the first laser crystal along the first fold arm optical axis, between the first laser crystal and the second pump window; and a fourth laser crystal positioned adjacent to the second laser crystal along the second fold arm optical axis, between the second laser crystal and the fourth pump window.