Generation of High-Purity Higher-Order Laguerre-Gauss Beams at High Laser Power

We have investigated the generation of highly pure higher-order Laguerre-Gauss (LG) beams at high laser power of order 100 W, the same regime that will be used by second-generation gravitational wave interferometers such as Advanced LIGO. We report on the generation of a helical-type LG33 mode with a purity of order 97% at a power of 83W, the highest power ever reported in literature for a higher-order LG mode. This is a fundamental step in proving technical readiness for use of LG beams in gravitational wave interferometers of future generations.