A high average power dual slab Nd:glass zigzag laser system

A dual slab Nd:LHG5 glass zigzag optical path laser was constructed with single-sided pumping and tested. A single slab (
0.63 \times 5.6 \times 35
cm) produced 80 W in an oscillator with an accompanying distortion of only 3 fringes (632.8 nm) as measured by a single-pass interferogram through the slab. Performance was achieved by producing uniform pumping and cooling of the slabs, and by controlling the distortion at the slab ends with pump shields.