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Q-Switches and External Switching Devices

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Solid-State Laser Engineering

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Optical Sciences ((SSOS,volume 1))

Abstract

The most important device to be discussed in this chapter is the laser Q-switch. This device, located inside the laser resonator, drastically changes the power and temporal characteristic of the beam obtained from a laser oscillator. Other switches employed outside the resonator include optical gates, which are used to select one pulse from a train of pulses or to slice a small portion from a larger pulse, and optical isolators, which are employed to eliminate feedback between amplifier stages.

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Koechner, W. (1988). Q-Switches and External Switching Devices. In: Solid-State Laser Engineering. Springer Series in Optical Sciences, vol 1. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-15143-3_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-15143-3_8

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