Highly-efficient, transversely pumped, 25 W, TEM/sub 00/ Nd:YLF slab laser

Summary form only given. Increasingly many applications require a high-average power laser source with high peak power and brightness for efficient frequency conversion to UV and other wavelengths. In practice end-pumped systems offer high brightness and high efficiency but scaling to high average power is difficult, whereas side-pumped lasers offer greater power capability with less complexity than end-pumped designs, at the expense of efficient fundamental mode extraction efficiency. We present a simple, side-pumped slab laser design using Nd:YLF for low thermal lensing and high energy storage, which has high TEM/sub 00/-mode extraction efficiency.