Spatial beam cleanup of a Nd:YAG laser operating at 1.06 mum with two-wave mixing in Rh:BaTiO(3)

Spatial beam cleanup of a distorted cw Nd:YAG laser operating at lambda = 1.06 mum is demonstrated with two-wave mixing in an infrared-sensitive rhodium-doped barium titanate crystal. Because of the high coupling gain of our crystal, high efficiencies are achieved in agreement with the standard photorefractive model.