A diode-pumped laser with a direct edge coupling of a pump beam is provided. The laser includes a microchip laser cavity optically pumped by a laser diode emitting an astigmatic pump beam having a substantially elliptical beam cross-section at an output laser diode facet. The microchip laser cavity is disposed at a substantial distance exceeding 0.001'' from the laser diode pump where the astigmatic pump beam has a greatly reduced ellipticity, providing high laser output efficiency without coupling lens element between the laser cavity and the laser diode pump. The pumping arrangement is favourable for single-mode lasing. In some embodiments, the laser cavity includes nonlinear crystal for intra-cavity SHG, a saturable absorber for passive Q-switching and mode locking, and a polarizing prism.