Laser with a polyhedral active element emitting long nanosecond pulses

The results are given of anexperimentalinvestigationof a laser with a polyhedral neodymium-glass element operating under Q-switching conditions. The Q switching was performed by a passive switch. The dependence of the duration of a single giant pulse on the initial transmission coefficient of the switch was determined. Pulses of ~700 nsec duration and ~400 kW output power were obtained. The width of the emission spectrum was determined and found to be less than 0.01 cm^–1 for a pumping intensity exceeding the threshold by not more than 10%. The angular divergence of the output radiation did not exceed 10^–3 rad. The experimental and calculated results were compared.