Approach for power scaling solid-state lasers with intracavity motion

Solid-state lasers are typically limited by adverse thermal effects within the gain medium. In this Letter we describe a new method for dramatically reducing thermal effects in an end-pumped solid-state laser by incorporating a rotating intracavity periscope in the resonator to spatially separate the lasing and thermal processes. In contrast with previous examples of moving solid-state lasers, our approach keeps the gain medium stationary, simplifying the heat removal arrangement. This scheme has been applied to an Nd:YAG laser, yielding an output power of 120 W at 1.064 μm, limited by available pump power. Analysis suggests that scaling to much higher power is feasible with the appropriate laser design.