A laser (10) includes a pump source (12) that provides pump energy at a first wavelength and a laser cavity (14). The laser cavity includes a laser gain medium (16) that receives the pump energy from the pump source and creates gain at a second wavelength different from the first wavelength, and a mode stripping portion (18) coupled to the laser gain medium. The mode stripping portion causes the laser cavity to have a low Fresnel number so as to allow only the lowest-order fiber mode to resonate in the laser cavity. Higher-order fiber modes are discriminated against so as to generate a laser output (22) having a substantially diffraction limited beam in a single transverse mode at the second wavelength.
Eye-safe Q-switched short pulse fiber laser