Compact ‘prism-by side-pumped’ solid-state laser

Diode-pumped solid-state laser application in automotive industry requires high peak power, compact and reliable lasers. To date such devices were demonstrated using end pumping and side-pumping scheme. In this work we introduce a new pumping technique for diode-pumped solid-state lasers, named `prism-by side-pumped´ laser. The laser medium is rectangular and a prism is used to couple the pump beam directly from the fiber into the crystal. This geometry is simply to align and presents more compactness in comparison with an end-pumped laser, while power scaling can be realized easily. The design is interesting for passively Q-switched lasers because it allows positioning of the saturable absorber (SA) crystal between the resonator high-reflectivity mirror (HRM) and the laser medium.