Microchip solid-state cylindrical vector lasers with orthogonally polarized dual laser-diode end pumping

Opt Lett. 2013 May 1;38(9):1434-6. doi: 10.1364/OL.38.001434.

Abstract

We report a simple method for generating cylindrical vector beams directly from laser-diode (LD)-pumped microchip solid-state lasers by using dual end-pumping beams. Radially as well as azimuthally polarized vector field emissions have been generated from the common c-cut Nd:GdVO4 laser cavity merely by controlling the focus positions of orthogonally polarized LD off-axis pump beams. Hyperbolically polarized vector fields have also been observed, in which the cylindrical symmetry of vector fields is broken. Experimental results have been well reproduced by numerical simulations.