Effect of Grain Size on Modal Structure and Polarization Properties of Laser-Diode-Pumped Miniature Ceramic Lasers

The effect of average grain size on oscillation properties is studied in laser-diode-pumped miniature ceramic lasers. The inherent segregation of lasing patterns into local modes is found to be prevented in the case of ceramics with grains of micrometer size, resulting in linearly polarized TEM00 transverse-mode oscillations.