Intracavity adaptive optics has been successfully used in solid state lasers to improve output laser beam quality. However, In order to utilize this technology to improve the output laser beam quality successfully, the distribution characteristics of phase aberration in the laser resonator should firstly be known. Thus, a set of Hartmann- Shack wave front sensor (HSWFS) to measure the time and space characteristics of phase aberration in a diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG laser was set up. In this paper, the HSWFS is briefly introduced. The experimental results for measurement of the phase aberration in a diode side-pumped Nd:YAG laser are presented. The experimental results show that, the main phase aberration in the resonator is generated by the Nd:YAG rod. The phase aberration induced by thermal deformation in the cavity mirrors is minor. The temporal behavior of phase aberration in the resonator and from cavity mirrors under light heating was also obtained.
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