Quasi-continuous-wave (quasi-cw) operation of a laser means that its pump source is switched on only for certain time intervals, which are short enough to reduce thermal effects significantly, but still long enough that the laser process is close to its steady state, i.e. the laser is optically in the state of continuous-wave operation. The duty cycle (percentage of “on” time) may be, e.g., a few percent, thus strongly reducing the heating and all the related thermal effects, such as thermal lensing and damage through overheating. Therefore, quasi-cw operation allows the operation with higher output peak powers at the expense of a lower average power