Diode-pumped grazing incidence slab lasers

Diode-pumped grazing incidence slab (GISL) lasers, and materials which may be used with this configuration, are discussed. Of the materials investigated so far, Nd:YVO/sub 4/ has been shown to yield high efficiency and high small-signal gain, and a compact, 1-kHz repetition rate laser, using a Nd:YVO/sub 4/ slab has generated 3-ns duration, millijoule pulses with high beam quality. A numerical model for GISL lasers has been developed and used to simulate a hybrid Nd:YVO/sub 4//Nd:YAG oscillator. A preliminary, experimental investigation of such a hybrid system has yielded results that are consistent with the model predictions.