Transverse Mode Formation in Longitudinally Pumped Miniature Slab Lasers

The formation of transverse modes in longitudinally pumped miniature slab lasers is investigated theoretically and experimentally. The longitudinally non-uniform gain-guiding is studied by expanding the electric field into the Hermite--Gaussian functions that satisfy boundary conditions of the resonator. Non-Gaussian transversal beam profiles in the near field are found and the beam diameter is reduced when the pump spot becomes smaller. The experimental observation agrees with the theoretical calculation.