Switching of the polarization of cw YAG:Nd3+ laser radiation

An experimental investigation was made of the maximum modulation frequency of the polarization of radiation from a cw YAG:Nd³⁺ laser. It was found that intracavity modulation of the polarization using an electrooptic phase modulator can be observed up to frequencies of 100–150 MHz. In this case, the control signal is 5–15 times smaller than that for external modulation methods.