Patent ID: 7924895

Claim:
A monolithic pumped laser cavity system configured with both edge and face cooling, comprising: a gain medium for providing optical gain for lasing; a laser high reflector operatively coupled to one side of the gain medium, for forming one end of a laser resonator cavity; a passive Q-switch operatively coupled to an opposite side of the gain medium for switching between high and low quality factors to facilitate lasing; a laser outcoupler operatively coupled to the passive Q-switch, for forming another end of the laser resonator cavity; a first end-cap operatively coupled between the gain medium and the laser high reflector; and a second end-cap operatively coupled between the gain medium and the passive Q-switch; and a heat sink, wherein the gain medium, laser high reflector, passive Q-switch, first and second end-caps, and laser outcoupler are encased in thermally conductive potting material, such that at least top and bottom edges of the laser resonator cavity are covered by the thermally conductive potting material to provide edge cooling, and a face of at least one of the gain medium, laser high reflector, passive Q-switch, and laser outcoupler has face cooling, the edge and face cooling for extracting heat from the edges and the at least one face of the laser resonator cavity to the heat sink, and an aspect ratio of end-cap to gain medium cross-section is varied to generate desired thermal gradients in the gain medium.