Analysis and developments of high-power planar waveguide lasers

Planar waveguide laser has been one of the most promising high power solid-state lasers, due to its outstanding performance in terms of large mode volume and one dimension being confined. The current status and future perspectives of planar waveguide lasers at home and abroad are reviewed. Some attractive structures of planar waveguides are compared and discussed in detail, including double-clad waveguide configuration, the tapered structure waveguide and the self-imaging structure. The advancements of high power planar waveguide lasers as well as some limitations are analyzed.