160 W direct-emission LG₀₁ vortex beam from a thin-disk laser by synergistic thermal and loss management

We demonstrate the direct generation of a 160 W, high-purity Laguerre-Gaussian vortex beam (LG₀₁) from a Yb:Lu₂O₃ thin-disk laser oscillator. This is achieved through a synergistic thermal and loss management strategy. A strong, pump-induced thermal lens renders the resonator unstable for the fundamental LG₀₀ mode, while an intracavity polarization-controlled output coupler provides tunable loss to suppress competing higher-order modes. This represents the highest, to the best of our knowledge, output power directly generated by an LG₀₁ beam from any vortex laser oscillator, establishing a viable and scalable approach for high-power structured light sources.