Abstract: | A high power continuous-wave (CW) diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser operated in heat capacity mode is demonstrated by use of two identical highly efficient diode-pumped laser heads placed in a plane-plane resonator. The laser heads are uniformly pumped with a five-fold symmetrical side-pumping configuration,and each head is able to output maximum output power of 2200 W at 808 nm. Under a total pump power of 4290 W, the output power of the laser at 1064 nm is up to 2277 W, corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 53.1%. |