100Â W continuous linearly polarized, high beam quality output from standard side-pumped Nd:YAG laser modules

Dynamically stable operation with joined stability zones of a linearly polarized resonator is shown for a laser containing two diode side-pumped Nd:YAG rods. The unpolarized resonator generated 115 W of output. When polarized by a Brewster plate, it reached 100.5 W of output power at a beam quality M2 < 2. Best measured beam quality was of 1.1 and 1.3 in the x and y directions respectively, with 76 W of 95% polarized output. The output power achieved is, to our knowledge, the highest reported for continuous polarized, fundamental-mode lasers using standard side-pumped Nd:YAG modules.