title: Polarization characteristics of a Nd:YAG laser side pumped by diode laser bars.
abstract: A detailed experimental investigation of the polarization characteristics of a diode laser side-pumped Nd:YAG laser has been performed. A Brewster plate inserted into the cavity resulted in a decrease of 50% of the output power that is due to depolarization. A thin-film polarizer (TFP) was introduced into the cavity and the depolarization loss served as the output coupling. By introduction of a quarter-wave plate (QWP) the output coupling rate and the beam shape were improved. An analytical expression for the output coupling rate of a cavity containing a TFP and a QWP has been derived. The experimental results are in good agreement with the simplified theoretical analysis.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quade
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Falter
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Loosen