WIDENING THE SCOPE OF WORKING OF SOLID-STATE Nd-GLASS LASERS
S. V. Kayukov, S. I. Yares'ko, and P. A. Mikheev

UDC 621.373.826.038.025:621.791.725:621.78

With the example of the serial model of a pulsed Nd-glass 
laser, it is shown that the use of an unstable resonator with a semireflecting 
homogeneous exit mirror makes it possible to significantly decrease 
the laser-beam divergence and increase the uniformity of the radiation-intensity 
distribution in the near zone. We were the first to obtain a laser-beam 
quality of  (40-50) mm*mrad 
for technological glass lasers and to attain a depth of fusing of 
of  6.3 mm for steel (aspect ratio  10) for an energy of  23 J. The obtained 
uniformity of the radiation-intensity distribution was estimated at 
the level of  10%. The beam-quality level attained for the Nd-glass 
laser beam allows us to recommend it for both realization of deep-fusion 
regimes and laser hardening without the use of external integrating 
optical elements.

Samara Branch of the P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute, 
Russian Academy of Sciences, Samara, Russia. Translated 
from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 74, No. 3, pp. 
207-211, May-June, 2001. Original article submitted 
February 29, 2000.

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