title: Improvement of the spatial beam quality of laser sources with an intracavity Bragg grating.
abstract: We demonstrate a novel method for improvement of spatial beam quality by use of the angular selectivity of a thick phase grating inserted into various laser cavities. Preliminary experiments with an intentionally degraded beam from a Nd:YVO4 laser have enhanced beam propagation factor M2 by a factor of 4.5. Operation with a broad-area laser diode in an external cavity with a thick grating was achieved. We obtained 100 mW of cw power in a beam with an M2 of 1.3. Moreover, a reduction of the output spectrum by as much as a factor of 3.8 was obtained.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 8501 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Universitaire, 91403 Orsay Cedex, France. sylvie.yiou@iota.u-psud.fr
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yiou
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Balembois
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Georges
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Huignard