Abstract: This invention relates to an external cavity slab laser system for pulsed or continuous wave operation consisting of an optically excited, water cooled single or multiple active mirror slab configurations with the external cavity formed by the active mirror and a passive mirror set parallel to each other and separated from each other by a distance greater than the thickness of the slab. Laser beams of both circular and elliptical cross-section can be amplified by the invention which has application in medical apparatus, industrial workstations and defense systems.