Importance

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Abstract

A laser having a combination of end and side pumping so as to produce high power pulsed output with little or no delay between side pump pulses and laser output pulses, with suppressed spiking due to gain switching, and with high modulation rates. An active medium, such as a solid state laser rod, in a resonant optical cavity is pumped by a first optical pump source directing radiant energy into an end of the active medium so as to encourage or establish lasing operation in a desired transverse cavity mode, such as the TEM.sub.00 mode. A second optical pump source directs additional radiant energy into a side of the active medium so as to amplify the intensity of the laser output in the desired mode. Typically, both pump sources are diode laser arrays, the first operating continuous wave or quasi-continuous wave, the second operating in high peak power pulses or being modulated at up to high data rates, that are determined by the cavity and active medium lifetimes and the ratio of the pumping power level to the threshold pumping level.

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First Claim