Solid-state laser using wedge-shaped optical member, and method for manufacturing the same

Abstract

A solid-state laser is made up of a solid-state laser crystal, a pump source for pumping the laser crystal, a resonator, an etalon disposed in the resonator for selecting an oscillation wavelength, and a nonlinear optical crystal disposed in the resonator for converting the wavelength of the solid-state laser beam. A wedge-shaped optical member, with two light-transmission end faces being not parallel to each other, is disposed in the resonator. A resonator mode is set to a mode, where the maximum output of a solid-state laser beam is obtained with respect to a resonator temperature in the vicinity of a temperature at which the maximum efficiency of wavelength conversion of the nonlinear optical crystal is obtained, by fixing the wedge-shaped optical member at an optimum position. A wedge-shaped nonlinear optical member may be used both as the nonlinear optical crystal and the wedge-shaped optical member, or a wedge-shaped etalon may be used both as the etalon and the wedge-shaped optical member. Alternately, the solid-state laser further includes a wedge-shaped birefringent polarization control element, with two end faces being not parallel to each other, for controlling the direction of linear polarization of a solid-state laser, and this wedge-shaped birefringent polarization control element may be used as the wedge-shaped optical member.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.