what mode does your laser run in?

[climbak]

I think the rectangular ones are the ones most frequently encountered in laser pointers because the crystals used are usually rectangular. One of mine was running in cylindrical tem10 and I am guessing the crystals are cylindrical since each kind of mode is dependent on the symmetry of the lasing medium. Here is a picture of the tem10 mode.

 

[Things]

My 40mw green module seems to run in TEM 01, but the dots are really close together, you dont notice it at all when its collimated.