New Concepts for Diode-Pumped Solid-State Lasers

Abstract

Solid-state lasers are attractive sources of coherent radiation for various scientific and technological applications. But the different fields of applications increasingly demand more powerful, efficient, and rugged lasers with higher beam quality. Hence, at present a new generation of laser systems, based on diode lasers, has begun to dominate. Through replacement of the discharge lamps formerly used as pump sources by diode lasers, the inherent advantages of the latter regarding compactness, efficiency, and reliability are directly transferred to the laser system as a whole. Moreover, the diode lasers allow for the realization of completely new laser concepts, and as a consequence, for the demonstration of laser output parameters that were not accessible so far. After a short introduction to the field of solid-state lasers, we will focus on two very promising examples of these new concepts, namely the fiber laser and the thin-disk laser, which have attracted much attention recently.