Efficient diode-pumped passively Q-switched laser with Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG composite crystal

Diffusion bonded Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG composite laser crystal has been employed to perform a compact diode-pumped passively Q-switched laser. At the incident pump power of 3.3 W and pulse repetition rate of 16.3 kHz, the maximum average output of 592 mW has been obtained, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 18%. Stable passively Q-switched operation with peak power of 6.5 kW and pulse duration of 6 ns was also achieved. It has been experimentally revealed that Nd:host/Cr:YAG composite structure is a promising material for compact cost-effective Q-switched laser sources with high-peak power and short pulse duration. In addition, thermal lens effect (TLE) in the active medium and its impact on the Q-switched laser performance have been analyzed.     

LD-end-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser with single wall carbon nanotube saturable absorber

We report on a LD-end-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser by using a novel single wall carbon nanotube saturable absorber (SWCNT-SA). The SWCNT wafer was fabricated by electric Arc discharge method on quartz substrate with absorption wavelength of 1064 nm. We firstly investigated the continuous wave (CW) laser performance and scattering properties of Nd:YAG ceramic sample. For the case of passively Q-switched operation, a maximum output power of 376 mW was obtained at an incident pump power of 8.68 W at 808 nm, corresponding to an optical–optical conversion efficiency of 4.3%. The repetition rate as the increase of pump power varied from 14 to 95 kHz. The minimum pulse duration of 1.2 μs and maximum pulse energy of 4.5 μJ was generated at a repetition rate of 31.8 kHz.     

High-efficiency diode-pumped acousto-optically Q-switched 1123 nm ceramic Nd:YAG laser

A high-efficiency diode-pumped acousto-optically (AO) Q-switched ceramic Nd:YAG (cNd:YAG) laser operating at 1123 nm is demonstrated for the first time. With an incident pump power of 17.11 W and a pulse repetition rate of 30 kHz, an average output power of 5.86 W is obtained. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is 34.2% and the slope efficiency is 39.1%.     

Output performance of thermally-insensitive passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser

We study a Cr⁴⁺:YAG Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with a thermally-insensitive corner-cube-prism cavity where the corner cube prism is the key element. The corner cube prism is insensitive to misalignment in any direction. We demonstrate experimentally that a laser cavity with such a prism provides stable laser performance under violent changes of ambient temperature and the effect of the laser crystal thermal lens. The laser mode properties are analyzed by numerical simulations. We show that the numerically simulated results agree well with the experimental ones.     

Pulsed Nd:YAG passive Q-switched laser using Cr4+:YAG crystal

In this paper, we report the experimental results of a pulsed flash lamp Nd:YAG laser at wavelength of 1064 nm and Q-switched by Cr⁴⁺:YAG solid state saturable absorber. We have obtained the output energy (E) and pulse- width (τ_p) of this laser for various initial transmissions of this saturable absorber. Furthermore, the effect of reflectivity of the output coupler (R), diameter of the rod (d), and optical length of the cavity (l) on this laser output data have been investigated. We have used the corner cube as a back mirror, which shows high laser stability and better brightness. We have obtained pulse-width 15 ns with 31 mJ output energy. We have also analyzed this laser theoretically and analytically, which agrees well with our corresponding experimental results.     

A thermally-insensitive passively Q-switched Cr:YAG/Nd:YAG laser

A passively Q-switched laser with Cr⁴⁺:YAG/Nd:YAG composite crystal using a corner cube prism cavity has been realized, in which the corner cube prism is the key element as it aids the compensation of the thermal lens effect of laser crystal. Compared with plane–plane mirror cavities under the same conditions, the stability of the laser performance using the corner cube prism cavity was improved remarkably over temperatures ranging from −40 to 65 °C. The decrease of Nd:YAG stimulated emission cross section with temperature was considered to be the main reason for the increase of average output pulse energy under the same cycle for the two different cavities when the ambient temperature changed −40 to 65 °C. The mode properties produced by the prism cavity were analyzed, and the theoretical results were verified by experimental observations.     

Pre-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG microchip laser

A pre-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG microchip laser is demonstrated with a peak power of 7.5 kW at pulse repetition rate of serveral kilohertzs. The full-width at half-maximum(FWHM)is 734 ps, and the pulse energy is 5.5 μJ with a fundamental spatial mode. In this system, the pre-pumped microchip laser of Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG wafer which is bonded through the thermal-bonding technique has achieved a time jitter value of 12 μs and a Q-switched amplitude instability of 1.26％(15)through the pre-pumped modulation technique.     

Electro-optically Q-switched 946 nm laser of a composite Nd:YAG crystal

A depolarization phenomenon in an electro-optical crystal in a quasi-three-level 946 nm Nd:YAG laser is observed. A compensation of the thermal effects in electro-optical crystals is achieved by employing a quarter-wave plate, with one optical axis parallel to the laser polarization. This technique allows for the production of an electro-optically Q-switched 946 nm Nd:YAG laser at 1 k Hz. A maximum output power of 350 m W at 1 k Hz repetition frequency and 11 ns pulse duration are achieved with an output coupler of 10% transmission under the incident pump power of 11.1 W, corresponding to a peak power of ～32 k W.     

Diode-pumped passively Q-switched yellow laser with SrWO4 Raman crystal and ceramic Nd:YAG gain medium

A diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG/SrWO₄/KTP yellow laser is presented for the first time. As high as 1.02 W average output power was obtained at a pump power of 14.0 W with a pulse repetition frequency of 21.9 kHz and the corresponding diode-to-yellow conversion efficiency was 7.29%. The highest pulse energy of 56.2 μJ was obtained at a pump power of 7.2 W.     

Compact and efficient diode-pumped actively Q-switched 1319 nm Nd:YAG ceramic laser

An efficient compact diode-pumped acousto-optic actively Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser operating at 1319 nm was demonstrated. At an incident pump power of 23.7 W, an average output power of 4.8 W at a pulse repetition frequency of 30 kHz was obtained. The corresponding optical-to-optical conversion efficiency was 20.3%. A maximum single pulse energy of 316 μJ with a pulse duration of 78.5 ns was obtained at an incident pump power of 19.4 W and a pulse repetition frequency of 10 kHz.     

High performance Cr4+:YAG Q-switched CW diode pumped Nd:YAG laser

This paper reports the operation of a Cr4+:YAG Q-switched CW diode laser pumped Nd:YAG at 1064nm. The laser performances resulted in 167 μ J, 21ns pulses at 10kHz, and 1.67W power output. When intracavity polarized, stable amplitude (fluctuations <±1%), TEM00, 153 μ J pulses were generated allowing 50% SHG in KTP. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Diode end-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser with Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber

We report on a diode end-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser. By using a Cr⁴⁺:YAG single crystal with an 80% initial transmission as the saturable absorber, stable Q-switched pulses with a 126-μJ pulse energy, a 12-ns pulse width, and an 8.4-kHz pulse repetition rate have been obtained. The Q-switching performance of the laser under different saturable absorption strengths and output couplings was experimentally investigated.     

1 mJ Passively Q-switched Nd:YAB laser using a V:YAG crystal

We describe the design and operation of a diode-pumped compact and efficient Nd:YAB laser operating at 1338 nm. We use a passive Q-switch V:YAG crystal to achieve 1 mJ Q-switched pulses at the laser output. The laser elaborated provides an average power of 1.5 W in the CW regime and 1 W in Qswitched mode with an optical efficiency of 15 and 10%, respectively. A 65 mm plano-concave cavity is formed with an output in the TEM₀₀ mode. At a pulse width of 15 ns, the achieved peak power is 66 kW.     

A diode side-pumped YAG/Nd:YAG/YAG composite crystal laser

A diode-bar side-pumped YAG/Nd:YAG/YAG composite crystal laser is presented. A maximum output power of 18.4 W at 1.064 μm with a slop efficiency of 57% and an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 46% was obtained for a pump power of 40 W. Compared with a side-pumped conventional crystal laser in the same experimental conditions, the side-pumped composite crystal laser improved the optical-to-optical conversion efficiency by 12%. Experimental results indicate that a composite crystal can depress the thermal effects effectively and improve the optical-to-optical conversion efficiency easily in the diode side-pumped lasers. The composite crystal has great potential in high-power diode side-pumped lasers.     

Graphene passively Q-switched Ho:YAG ceramic laser

We report on the first graphene passively Q-switched Ho:YAG ceramic laser with central wavelength of 2,097 nm. Stable pulses of 28–64 kHz repetition rate and 2.6–9 μs pulse widths were generated under 1,907 nm thulium fiber laser pumping. Maximum average power of 264 mW with 9.3 μJ pulse energy was obtained under 3.27 W of pump power.     

A compact passively Q-switched intra-cavity frequency doubled Nd:YAG/Cr4+:YAG composite crystal green laser

A compact diode-end-pumped passively Q-switched intra-cavity frequency doubled Nd:YAG/Cr⁴⁺:YAG composite crystal laser was demonstrated. The pulsed laser at 532 nm was produced and the dependence of the average out power, pulse width and pulse repetition rate on incident pump power were measured. Under the pump power of 14 W, the minimum pulse width of 3.5 ns with repetition rate of 27.5 kHz was obtained, corresponding single-pulse energy of 18 μJ and peak power of 5.3 kW.     

High-Power passively Q-switched 532 nm green laser by using Nd:YAG/Cr4+:YAG composite crystal

This paper reported a passively Q-switched 532 nm green laser of LD pumped V cavity structure by using Nd:YAG/Cr⁴⁺:YAG composite crystal and the type II phase matching KTP crystal. Under 19.4 W pump power, the average power of the laser pulse up to 1.83 W, with the pulse width of 93.2 ns and repetition frequency of 9.1 kHz.     

High-power high-stability Q-switched green laser with intracavity frequency doubling of diode-pumped composite ceramic Nd:YAG laser

We successfully obtain high-average-power high-stability Q-switched green laser based on diode-side-pumped composite ceramic Nd:YAG in a straight plano-concave cavity. The temperature distribution in composite ceramic Nd:YAG crystal is numerically analyzed and compared with that of conventional Nd:YAG crystal. By use of a composite ceramic Nd:YAG rod and a type-II high gray track resistance KTP (HGTR-KTP) crystal, a green laser with an average output power of 165 W is obtained at a repetition rate of 25 kHz, with a diode-to-green optical conversion of 14.68%, and a pulse width of 162 ns. To the best of our knowledge, both the output power and optical-to-optical efficiency are the highest values for green laser systems with intracavity frequency doubling of this novel composite ceramic Nd:YAG laser to date. The power fluctuation at around 160 W is lower than 0.3% in 2.5 hours.     

Passively Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser towards large pulse energy and short pulse width

A large pulse energy and high peak power passively Q-switched ceramic neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser has been demonstrated with Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystals as the saturable absorbers. By employing a continuous wave (CW) laser-diode (LD) as the pump source, as high as 11.3 W CW output power of 1064 nm was obtained under the pump power of 21.6 W, with an optical conversion efficiency of 52.3%. Inserting different initial transmissions Cr⁴⁺:YAG as saturable absorbers, under the incident pump power of 15.6 W, the largest pulse energy, shortest pulse width, and highest peak power are measured to be 188 μJ, 3.16 ns, and 59.5 kW, respectively. As we has known, this is the best passively Q-switched results ever reported by Nd:YAG ceramic material.     

Single-mode high-peak-power passively Q-switched diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser

We have demonstrated an efficient, compact, passively Q-switched single-mode diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser that uses Cr(4+):YAG as a saturable absorber. Linear- and ring-cavity configurations were demonstrated. Pulse energies and widths were, respectively, 1.5mJ and 3.9ns for the linear cavity and 2.1mJ and 12ns for the ring cavity.