>30 W vortex LG or HG laser using a mode transforming output coupler.

High-power vortex light generated directly from lasers will help drive their applications in material processing, optical manipulation, levitation, particle acceleration, and communications, but limited power has been achieved to date. In this work, we demonstrate record vortex average power of 31.3 W directly from a laser, to the best of our knowledge, using an interferometric mode transforming output coupler to convert a fundamental mode Nd:YVO laser into a LG vortex output.

Vortex laser by transforming Gaussian mode with an interferometric output coupler.

Generation of vortex beams directly from the laser source can be limited in power and efficiency, or to specific pump sources and gain media. Here, we propose a new high power and high efficiency vortex laser methodology with interferometric mode transformation as output coupling, which uses high power handling and low loss optics that have wavelength versatility. Experimental demonstration is made in a diode-pumped Nd:YVO laser using an imbalanced Sagnac interferometer as output coupler producing high quality vortex output beams (M = 2.