21.2 kW, 1.94 times diffraction-limit quasi-continuous-wave laser based on a multi-stage, power-scalable and adaptive optics controlled Yb:YAG master-oscillator-power-amplifier system

A 21.2 kW, 1.94 times the diffraction-limit quasi-continuous-wave laser is presented in this Letter based on a multi-stage, power-scalable Yb:YAG master-oscillator-power-amplifier (MOPA) system under adaptive optics (AO) control. The output laser of the MOPA system is a rectangular beam with a length-width ratio of 2:1, a 200 mu s pulse duration, and a 1000 Hz repetition rate. With the AO control system, the beam quality of the laser is improved from 4.20 to 1.94 times the diffraction limit. To our knowledge, this is the best quality laser in the 20 kW class except for combined lasers.