106.5 W high beam quality diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG laser at 1123 nm

We demonstrate a diode-side-pumped continuous wave (CW) Nd:YAG laser at 1123 nm with over 100 W's output power and good beam quality. The resonator adopts convex-convex structure working in a thermally near unstable cavity. By precise coating design a single 1123 nm wavelength is delivered. Under the pumped power of 870 W, an output power of 106.5 W is obtained, corresponding to an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 12.2%. The beam quality of M(2) factor is measured to be 5.6. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output power with good beam quality for 1123 nm CW Nd:YAG laser.