Laser resonators for powerful diffraction limited beams

In this presentation the laser resonator properties to provide high power diffraction limited beams with rod lasers are discussed. The birefringence compensated lasers presented here are based on a Nd:YAG double rod laser system with an average output power of 180 W working with a repetition rate of 1 kHz. Scaling results of this Nd:YAG double rod laser system will be reported.