Opto-thermal frequency control of diode pumped microlasers

Abstract

The pump-induced changes of refractive index in the microchip laser allow tuning, modulation and control its frequency. We investigated two configurations of microchip lasers (Nd:YVO/sub 4/ and Nd:YAG @ 1064 nm) with 808 nm pumping. The pump-induced tunability of microchip lasers was found to be on the level of tens MHz/mW. The offset frequency between two microchip lasers could be stabilised for hours applying only /spl plusmn/5%-changes of pumping power. Using this technique of control, we improved long term laser frequency stability up to three orders.