Abstract

Self-starting laser systems which use gain gratings written within a laser amplifier to form a loop resonator (see figure 1) have been demonstrated using flashlamp-pumped Nd:YAG [1] and laser-pumped Ti:Sapphire [2]. Such systems, termed Self-Starting Holographic Laser Oscillators (SSHLO), rely on the gain grating to control the lasing mode. SSHLO’s and have been shown to correct for intra-cavity phase distortions and produce high quality TEM₀₀, SLM [1] and tunable [2] self Q-switched outputs.

© 1998 IEEE