title: High-power near-diffraction-limited solid-state amplified spontaneous emission laser devices.
abstract: We present investigations into high-power scaling of solid-state amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) laser sources by use of two high-gain (~10(4)) Nd:YVO(4) bounce amplifiers. The sources deliver high power with a high-quality spatial output, but unlike a laser they have a high misalignment tolerance and do not require a precisely aligned cavity. In one system with two amplifiers, we demonstrate an ASE source with 24.5W of output power with good spatial quality, M(2)<2.5 in the horizontal and M(2)<1.2 in the vertical. In a more sophisticated setup, the two amplifiers are arranged in a loop configuration producing 30W of ASE output with near-diffraction-limited spatial quality, with M(2)<1.3 in the horizontal and M(2)<1.2 in the vertical, at an ~38% optical-to-optical conversion efficiency.
authors.affiliation: The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London SW7 2BW, UK. gerald.smith00@imperial.ac.uk
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Shardlow
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Damzen