Design of a self-injected unstable cavity Nd: YAG Laser

A detailed analysis of a self-injected Nd: YAG laser with an unstable cavity is presented. With respect to the normal Q-switched laser-mode operation the pulse peak power is increased by a factor of eight with a pulse length of about 1 ns. Moreover single transverse mode operation is achieved, with divergence near the diffraction limit. An evaluation of the most significant parameters useful for the design of an unstable resonator for self-injection applications is also presented.