SCALABLE ASPHERIC CORRECTIVE MIRROR FOR END-PUMPED SOLID-STATE LASERS

A procedure is presented to design an aspheric corrective mirror to remove the effects of thermally induced optical aberrations in end-pumped solid-state lasers. The design is based on solving the inverse problem of bending a thin plate of variable thickness; i.e., given the plate deflection profile a thickness profile must be calculated by solving the differential equation for bending. The advantage of this type of aberration correction is the fact that it can be scaled to different pump powers during operation while still matching the aspheric profile in question. Guidelines for fabrication of the mirror are also presented.