Cavity-dumped burst-mode Nd:YAG laser master-oscillator power-amplifier system with a flat-top beam output realized by gain profile-controlled side pumping

We report a compact cavity-dumped burst-mode Nd:YAG laser master-oscillator power-amplifier system with a flat-top intensity distribution across the output-beam section. Custom-designed gain profile-controlled diode side pumping modules providing flat-top and concave gain profiles were utilized to generate a uniform beam profile and suppress thermal lensing during amplification, respectively. Bursts with an energy of 2.0 J and duration of 1.6 ms were operated at 10 Hz. Within the bursts, single pulses with an energy of 12.7 mJ and pulse width of 3.3 ns were achieved at 100 kHz. (C) 2022 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement