A passively, Q-switched laser is described. The laser may operate at an eye-safe lasing wavelength of 1.34 microns and use a gain element of Nd:YVO.sub.4 and a saturable absorber element of V:YAG with a space separating the gain element and saturable absorber element. The Q-switched laser is pumped by a grating stabilized laser diode. The laser may be used in laser ranging applications.

A fractional handpiece and systems thereof for skin treatment include a passively Q-switched laser assembly operatively connected to a pump laser source to receive a pump laser beam having a first wavelength and a beam splitting assembly operable to split a solid beam emitted by the passively Q-switched laser assembly and form an array of micro-beams across a segment of skin. The passively Q-switched laser assembly generates a high power sub-nanosecond pulsed laser beam having a second wavelength.

A laser apparatus that can generate a high-quality laser beam is provided. The laser apparatus is provided with a laser medium and an insulation layer. The laser medium has a first surface and a second surface. Incident laser light is incident on the first surface. The second surface totally reflects the incident laser light that is incident to the second surface at an incident angle equal to or larger than a critical angle. The insulation layer covers a second area of the second surface that surrounds a first area of the second surface, the first area totally reflecting the incident laser light. The laser medium is exposed in the first area.

A phase transformation device may include a solid photosensitive material having a planar input facet and one or more reflective holographic phase masks (RHPMs) within a volume of the solid photosensitive material, where a particular one of the one or more RHPMs is formed as a periodic refractive index variation of the photosensitive material along a particular grating vector and further with a particular non-planar lateral phase profile, where at least one of a period of the refractive index variation along the grating vector or an orientation of the grating vector for each of the one or more RHPMs are arranged to reflect via Bragg diffraction light incident on the input facet that satisfies a Bragg condition, and where a phase distribution of the reflected light from a particular one of the one or more RHPMs is modified by the associated non-planar lateral phase profile.

A handheld LIBS device and method includes a laser assembly producing two pulsed single spatial mode output beams and a focusing optic which combines the two pulsed single spatial mode output beams at a focal point at a sample. The laser assembly includes a laser assembly housing with an output coupler window for the two pulsed single spatial mode output beams, a gain medium in the laser assembly housing between the output coupler window and an adjustable prism mount in the laser assembly housing holding a prism configured to establish two light paths through the gain medium, a source in the laser assembly housing providing pump energy to the gain medium, and a Q-switch positioned between the prism and the gain medium.

An actively cooled end-pumped solid-state laser gain device includes a bulk solid-state gain medium. An input-end of the gain medium receives a pump laser beam incident thereon and propagating in the direction toward an opposite output-end. The metal foil is disposed over a face of the gain medium extending between the input- and output-ends. A housing cooperates with the metal foil to form a coolant channel on the face the gain medium. The coolant channel has an inlet and an outlet configured to conduct a flow of coolant along the metal foil from the input-end towards the output-end. The metal foil is secured between the gain medium and portions of the housing running adjacent to the coolant channel. The metal foil provides a reliable thermal contact and imparts little or no stress on the bulk gain medium.

The present disclosure describes an optical waveguide provided with an incident side reflection film and an emission side reflection film to resonate light incident via the incident side reflection film and formed to penetrate from the incident side reflection film to the emission side reflection film for propagating resonated light. The disclosure also includes a substrate to which the optical waveguide is formed from a top surface thereof and a first protection member and a second protection member formed with a material corresponding to a material of the substrate, wherein the first protection member and the second protection member are arranged on the optical waveguide such that one end facet of the first protection member forms an identical plane with a first end facet of the substrate including an optical incident end.

Core-cladding planar waveguide (PWG) structures and methods of making and using same. The core-cladding PWG structures can be synthesized by hydride vapor phase epitaxy and processed by mechanical and chemical-mechanical polishing. An Er doping concentration of [Er] between 1×10.sup.18 atoms/cm.sup.3 and 1×10.sup.22 atoms/cm.sup.3 can be in the core layer. Such PWGs have a core region that can achieve optical confinement between 96% and 99% and above.

A fractional handpiece and systems thereof for skin treatment include a passively Q-switched laser assembly operatively connected to a pump laser source to receive a pump laser beam having a first wavelength and a beam splitting assembly operable to split a solid beam emitted by the passively Q-switched laser assembly and form an array of micro-beams across a segment of skin. The passively Q-switched laser assembly generates a high power sub-nanosecond pulsed laser beam having a second wavelength.

In accordance with an example embodiment, a laser arrangement is provided, the laser arrangement comprising a light source for generating light output; a collimator assembly for collimating the light output from the light source into a pump beam; an optical resonator assembly for generating pulsed output beam based on the pump beam directed thereat; and a beam displacement assembly for laterally shifting the pump beam to adjust the position at which the pump beam meets a surface of the optical resonator assembly.