Laser-diode-pumped Nd:YAG active-mirror laser

We describe a simple design, laser-diode-pumped cw Nd:YAG active-mirror laser and present a thermal analysis of the crystal. A cw output power of 2.4 W and an M(2) beam quality value of less than 1.9 at an incident pumping power of 8.9 W were obtained. From the thermal analysis we predict that the output power can be increased by increasing the pump beam diameter and the pump power at a constant excitation density.