High-efficiency 60 W TEM00 Nd:YVO4 oscillator pumped at 888 nm

We propose a technique for pumping Nd:YVO4 with high optical power at 888 ran while making absorption independent of the pump light polarization state. This is especially suitable for systems end pumped by high-power, high-brightness fiber-coupled diode sources associated with long vanadate crystals to effectively spread the heat load in a large volume. A compact 60 W output, 55% optical efficiency cw TEM00 oscillator was demonstrated. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.