Novel stable resonator for large-volume TEM00 mode operation

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Abstract
A novel stable resonator is developed to realize stable operation at a TEM00 mode with a large beam diameter. The output coupler has a circular partial‐reflection region in the center surrounded by an antireflection region. The transverse mode is mainly selected by the partial‐reflection region. An amplified diffraction beam is extracted from the outer antireflection region. By combining part of the ‘‘core’’ beam transmitted from the partial‐reflection region with the amplified diffraction beam, a diffraction‐limited beam with the M2 factor of 1.3 is obtained from a high power continuous wave CO2 laser as predicted theoretically.