A diode-pumped frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser has been demonstrated which emits 7.2 W of 532-nm radiation in the
CW mode as well as 23 ns, 2.7 mJ pulses at a repetition rate of 10 kHz in the Q-switched mode. The high power in both
modes was achieved by intra-cavity second harmonic generation in lithium triborate. The nonlinear output coupling
through SHG in this laser causes a factor of 5.7 change of intra-cavity power between the CW and the Q-switched mode.
The resulting variation of the thermal lens in the laser rod makes it challenging to maintain a geometrically stable cavity
in both operation regimes, which is essential for diffraction limited beam quality. Diffraction limited beam quality with
M2 values of less than 1.1 in the CW and less than 1.2 in the Q-switched regime was achieved by a novel dual-stabilityrange
cavity-design. This design provides geometrically stable cavity configurations in both operation regimes, which
are separated by an unstable region. This cavity makes it possible to switch between the two operation regimes without
any moving components.
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