Radially polarized Yb:YAG thin-disc laser

Beams with radial polarization have attracted an increasing interest during the past few years because of their attractive properties. An overview of the different intra- or extra-cavity techniques to generate such beams is given in the present paper. The design, fabrication and characterization of a multilayer polarizing grating mirror developed for an Yb:YAG thin-disc laser resonator are reported. The potential of the proposed solution is discussed together with the first demonstration of a radially polarized Yb:YAG thin-disc laser.