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Updated: Sep 26, 2026
The Generation of Higher-order Laguerre-Gauss Optical Beams for High-precision Interferometry
Published on: August 12, 2013
Improvement of the spatial beam quality of laser sources with an intracavity Bragg grating
Sylvie Yiou1, François Balembois, Patrick Georges
1Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique, Unité Mixte de Recherche 8501 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Centre Universitaire, 91403 Orsay Cedex, France. sylvie.yiou@iota.u-psud.fr
Abstract:
We demonstrate a novel method for improvement of spatial beam quality by use of the angular selectivity of a thick phase grating inserted into various laser cavities. Preliminary experiments with an intentionally degraded beam from a Nd:YVO4 laser have enhanced beam propagation factor M2 by a factor of 4.5. Operation with a broad-area laser diode in an external cavity with a thick grating was achieved. We obtained 100 mW of cw power in a beam with an M2 of 1.3. Moreover, a reduction of the output spectrum by as much as a factor of 3.8 was obtained.
