High-peak-power diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser with a Brillouin phase-conjugation--pulse-compression mirror

We demonstrate stimulated Brillouin scattering compression of diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser pulses with a 3-ns duration into 350-ps pulses at a pulse-repetition rate of 100 Hz for what is believed to be the first time. The output pulse energy was 6.5 mJ, with a beam-quality factor M(2) of 1.15, and after final amplification the energy reached 36 mJ, with M(2) of 2.5.