Detailed study of thermal lensing in Nd:YVO/sub 4/ under intense diode end-pumping

Summary form only given. With its natural birefringence and high /spl sigma//spl tau//sub f/ product, Nd:YVO/sub 4/ is becoming an increasingly popular choice as a lasing material for diode pumped solid-state lasers. Here, we present the results of such a study, which considers the effect on thermal lensing of neodymium concentration, heat-sinking arrangement and laser configuration on thermal lensing. We have also examined the effect of energy-transfer-upconversion (ETU), between neighbouring excited ions on thermally-induced lens aberration and degradation in beam quality.