Abstract

Conventional Q-switching (QS) of pulsed solid- state lasers is achieved by means of electrooptic modulators (EOM) which give a defined polarization status. This technique can be applied to solid-state lasers as Nd:YAG, Nd:glass, etc. when the pumping rate is low enough to consider as negligible the polarization losses due to the rod thermal birefringence. Nd:glass lasers require slab configurations even in the case of moderate output average power. Continuous wave high-power Nd:YAG lasers can operate successfully in the QS mode only when acoustooptic modulators (AOM) are used, since they introduce low losses independent of the polarization distribution.

© 1985 Optical Society of America