Continuous-wave Nd:YVO4 laser with conical refraction output

The generation of a conical refraction (CR) laser output with excellent quality directly from the oscillator based on a separate gain medium (Nd:YVO4) and an intracavity CR element (KGW) was demonstrated. The decoupling of the gain and CR media reduced the complexity of the setup and has the potential for power scaling using diode pumping.