Abstract

Since their development about a decade ago, monolithic nonplanar Nd:YAG ring lasers have proven their capabilities in various applications of single-frequency radiation in both scientific and industrial fields, mainly because of their outstanding stability properties in both frequency and intensity. While continuous wave (cw) single-frequency operation based on these lasers was limited at first to the ⁴F_3/2-⁴I_11/2 transition in Nd:YAG at 1064 nm, it now covers numerous transitions ranging from 473 nm in the blue spectral region to 1444 nm in the “eye-safe” wavelength region. This emergence was made possible by the development of highly selective dielectric coatings, diffusion bonding of different crystal materials and the application of highly efficient engineered nonlinear crystal materials.

© 2001 EPS