Abstract

Lasers for coherent radar must meet multiple stringent, and often conflicting, requirements. High pulse energy, high efficiency, and high frequency domain purity are often required simultaneously. One laser design tool used to meet these requirements is the use of unstable resonators. As is well known, these resonators maximize the useful volume of the gain medium and, therefore, the energy extraction and efficiency of any laser with a large-diameter gain volume. Extensive use of unstable resonators has been made to date for CO₂ lasers for coherent radar. In the future, it is reasonable to assume that similar techniques will be applied to solid-state coherent lasers being developed for shorter wavelengths.

© 1991 Optical Society of America