22 k W near-diffraction-limited Yb:YAG slab laser amplifier without adaptive optics correction

A high-power CW Yb:YAG slab laser amplifier with no adaptive optics correction has been experimentally established.At room temperature, the amplifier emits a power of 22 kW with an average beam quality (β) of less than 3 in 0.5 min.To our knowledge, this is the brightest slab laser without closed-loop adaptive optics demonstrated to date. In addition,an extracted power of 17 kW with an optical extraction efficiency of 33%, corresponding to a residual optical path difference of less than 0.5 μm, is achieved with the single Yb:YAG slab gain module. The slab gain module has the potential to be scalable to higher powers while maintaining good beam quality. This makes a high-power solid-state laser system simpler and more robust.