On the possibility of increasing the pulse energy of a passively Q-switched erbium glass minilaser

A simple method to increase the output energy of a passively Q-switched erbium glass laser is proposed. Using the amplitude modulation of losses at the active element face, the fundamental mode was reliably suppressed and the laser operated in a selected higher-order mode. The output energy was experimentally increased by a factor of 2.1, and the range of allowable pump energy instability was extended threefold.