Ion-exchanged Nd:glass tapered waveguide laser

Summary form only given. We describe the laser operation of tapered waveguides based on ion-exchanged Nd:BK7 glass. A tapered waveguide is of interest as it could allow end-pumping with broad-stripe diodes and, for materials with a strong pump absorption, side-pumping with high power diode bars. If the taper is combined with a single-mode channel and adiabatic expansion of the lowest-order spatial mode can be achieved then there is good potential for simple and compact, high-power sources with good output beam quality. The output beam from the broad planar end of the taper was measured to be /spl sim/1.5 times diffraction limited in both planes, while the output from the normal channel guide was /spl sim/1.0 and /spl sim/1.2 times diffraction limited in the horizontal and vertical planes respectively. The prospects for compact, diode-pumped lasers of high beam quality based on adiabatic tapered waveguides are discussed.