Progress in diode-pumped solid-state lasers

The introduction of high-power laser diode arrays for pumping solid-state lasers has led to unprecedented opportunities for achieving high laser output powers from very small volumes efficiently and with good beam quality.1,2 Because the laser diodes act only as pump sources, lasers analogous to existing solid-state lasers are realizable (assuming the wavelength of the diode pump source falls within a pump band of the laser material). In addition, because of the diode-pumped laser's inherent efficiency, ruggedness, and size, new laser devices quite different from those now in use can be envisioned. Numerous potential applications include free space optical communications, medical lasers, remote sensing and 0.532-μm illuminators.