title: Adaptable beam profiles from a dual-cavity Nd:YAG laser.
abstract: We report a technique to tailor a laser beam profile from a donut to quasi-top-hat intensity distribution, directly from the laser, simply achieved by simultaneous excitation and control of the relative contributions of the fundamental (TEM00) and first-order Laguerre-Gaussian (LG01) transverse modes. Exploiting a dual-cavity configuration with a single Nd:YAG gain element, adaptable continuous-wave laser beam profiles from the primary cavity could be obtained by varying the diffraction loss of an acousto-optic modulator in the secondary cavity. We investigate the resultant beam profiles as a function of pump power and the AOM diffraction loss, and discuss the prospects for tunable laser beams profiles.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Mackenzie
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D053844:Lasers, Solid-State; D055620:Optical Phenomena