Stimulated emission from a needle-shaped neodymium glass laser

An investigation was made of the kinetics of lasing in neodymium-doped silicate glasses in the form of thin needle-shaped rods with diameters ~1 mm and 30—40 cm long. A similarity with fiber lasers was observed. The output radiation included regular giant pulses, which appeared because of bleaching of short-lived color centers. Quasi-cw lasing with relaxation-type oscillations and mode self-locking, accompanied by the emission of a series of ultrashort laser pulses, was observed.