A cryogenic, end pumped, zigzag slab laser suitable for power scaling

Power scaling in solid-state lasers is limited by thermally induced distortion and birefringence in the laser crystal. It is well known that the thermo-mechanical and thermo-optical properties of YAG improve significantly at cryogenic temperatures, but these advantages remain to be fully exploited in robust, power scalable designs. We report the first cryogenic, conduction cooled, end pumped, zigzag slab Yb:YAG laser capable of repeated temperature cycling.