Patent ID: 6606338
Filing Date: 2003-08-12
Classification: H01S

Abstract:
A mode-synchronized solid-state laser comprising:a laser resonator; a laser medium being provided inside said laser resonator; said laser resonator being formed by a resonator mirror and an output coupling mirror and which is folded by at least one concave folding mirror; an optical axis of the at least one concave folding mirror being inclined relative to a folded optical axis of the laser resonator causing an elliptic beam profile inside of the laser resonator; a saturable absorber being provided inside said laser resonator; at least one laser pump source being provided whose pump beam pumps the laser medium; said laser resonator having an elongated resonator length L which is a function of the pulse repetition frequency; the pulse repetition frequency being determined by a distance between the resonator mirror and the output coupling mirror; an elliptic thermal lens being provided in the laser medium and eliminating said elliptic beam profile inside of the laser resonator by generating an elliptical deformation of the beam profile which is offset by 90Â° relative to the elliptic beam profile generated by the folding mirror; and wherein the elliptical deformation generated by said elliptic thermal lens is adjusted by determining the degree of ellipticity of the thermal lens by virtue of the material characteristics, the crystallographic orientation and the geometric dimensioning of the laser medium and by a choice of intensity and intensity distribution of the pump beam in the laser medium the most uniform possible energy density distribution occurs over the irradiated zone of the saturable absorber.