A linearly polarized continuous-wave 1357-nm Nd:YAG laser

We demonstrated a linearly polarized continuous-wave Nd:YAG laser operating at a 1357-nm single-wavelength, by a 808-nm diode as an end-pump source. We chose a Brewster-angle-cut Nd:YAG laser host crystal, due to its two salient features as follow: linearly polarized laser output and single-wavelength oscillation can be easily obtained. In this paper, a continuous-wave all-solid-state single-wavelength laser operating at 1357 nm is demonstrated with a diode-end-pumped Brewster-cut Nd:YAG laser. The laser had a 1.03-W maximum output power under an incident pump power of 15.0 W, a 12.7% slope efficiency, a 6.9% optical-to-optical conversion efficiency, a 0.14-nm spectral linewidth and a 3% power-output stability within 30 min. PACS 42.55.Rz; 42.55.Xi; 42.70.Hj     

Continuous-wave, 15.2 W diode-end-pumped Nd:YAG laser operating at 946 nm

A high-power continuous-wave (cw) Nd:YAG laser operating at 946 nm by utilizing a quasi-three-level transition is reported. The laser consists of a composite Nd:YAG rod end pumped by a fiber-coupled diode laser and a simple plane-concave cavity. At an incident pump power of 40.2 W, a maximum cw output of 15.2 W at 946 nm is obtained, achieving a slope efficiency of 45%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output at 946 nm ever generated by diode-pumped Nd:YAG lasers. In addition, at an incident pump power of 15.2 W, a 1.25 W blue output at 473 nm is achieved with a simple compact three-element cavity and a type-I lithium triborate (LiB(3)O(5)) crystal as a frequency doubler.     

Continuous-wave high-power Nd:YAG-KNbO3 laser at 473 nm

A continuous-wave high-power Nd:YAG laser operating on the ⁴F_3/2→⁴I_9/2 transition at 946 nm and intracavity frequency-doubled to 473 nm by a KNbO₃ nonlinear crystal at room temperature is reported. The Nd:YAG laser outputs a randomly polarized beam of 3.8 W maximum power (38% optical-to-optical efficiency and 44% slope efficiency with respect to the absorbed pump power) at the 946 nm fundamental wavelength. Intracavity frequency-doubling with a 2.0-mm thick KNbO₃ crystal in a linear resonator yielded 159-mW single-ended blue-output with 4.8% optical-to-optical conversion efficiency versus the absorbed pump power. The 473-nm maximum power of 418 mW with 11.6% optical-to-optical conversion efficiency in absorbed power was obtained from a V-type resonator; the overall optical-to-optical conversion efficiency was 6.7%, while the conversion of the available infrared power reached 50%.     

Diode-pumped 1123-nm Nd:YAG laser

We demonstrated a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser with a plano-concave resonator. When the pump power is 1.57 W, the output power of 1123-nm laser is 132 mW at the temperature of 20 ℃, and the power change is less than 2% in an hour. A periodically poled LiNbOa (PPLN) was used as outer cavity frequency-doubling crystal and 561-nm laser was observed.     

High-power and high-efficiency operation of an all-solid-state,quasi-continuous-wave,titanium sapphire laser system

High-power and high-efficiency operation of an all-solid-state, quasi-continuous-wave, titanium sapphire laser is obtained with a diode-laser-pumped frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser as the pump source. A maximum output power of 2.5 W is obtained for 16-W power of 532-nm pump light. A much higher conversion efficiency of 15.7% is obtained when at the maximum output power.     

High power and highly efficient Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1123 nm

A diode-end-pumped continuous-wave (CW) Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1123 nm is realized efficiently in a 25-mm-long cavity. A composite Nd:YAG (cNd:YAG) crystal is selected as the gain medium. With an incident diode power of 26.1 W, an output power of up to 9.3 W is obtained, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 35.6%. The laser performances at 1123 nm are compared between composite Nd:YAG and common Nd:YAG crystals. The results show that composite Nd:YAG is a better choice for 1123-nm laser generations.     

Diode-pumped eye sensitive laser at 554.7 nm based on intracavity sum frequency generation

We report for the first time a coherent radiation at 554.7 nm by intracavity sum-frequency generation of 946 nm Nd:YAG laser and 1341 nm Nd:YAP laser. Yellow-green laser is obtained by using a doubly folded cavity, type-II critical phase matching KTP crystal sum-frequency mixing. With total pump power of 36.1 W (17.8 W pump power for 1341 nm Nd:YAP laser and 18.3 W pump power for 946 nm Nd:YAG laser), TEM₀₀ mode yellow-green laser at 554.7 nm of 1.43 W is obtained.     

High power CW diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser

We report on the characterization of a diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser operating at high CW output power. A four-fold pump configuration is designed and the pump light is directly coupled into the Nd:YAG rod without the help of any cylindrical lenses. The distribution of pump light in the Nd:YAG rod has been calculated by using ray tracing program. The thermal lens effect of the Nd:YAG rod has been experimentally measured. A maximum output power of 800 W at 1064 nm in multimode operation is obtained for a pump power of 2400 W with 33% optical-optical efficiency. At the same time, the maximum beam parameter product of 25 mm·mrad is achieved.     

All-solid-state doubly resonant sum-frequency mixing laser at 555 nm

We report for the first time a coherent radiation at 555 nm by intracavity sum-frequency generation of 946 nm Nd:YAG laser and 1343 nm Nd:LuVO₄ laser. Yellow-green laser is obtained by using a doubly folded cavity, type-II critical phase matching KTP crystal sum-frequency mixing. With total pump power of 31.9 W (13.7 W pump power for 1343 nm Nd:LuVO₄ laser and 18.2 W pump power for 946 nm Nd:YAG laser), TEM₀₀ mode yellow-green laser at 555 nm of 2.35 W is obtained.     

Continuous wave Nd:YAG-BiBO blue laser under direct 869 nm pumping

We report a blue laser at 473 nm generation by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous wave (CW) laser operation of a 946 nm Nd:YAG laser under in-band diode pumping at 869 nm. An BiBO crystal, cut for critical type I phase matching at room temperature is used for second harmonic generation of the laser. At an incident pump power of 8.6 W, as high as 721 mW of CW output power at 473 nm is achieved. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is up to 8.4%, and the fluctuation of the blue output power was better than 3.5% in the given 30 min.     

Diode-pumped self-Q-switched Cr,Nd:YAG laser with 7-W average output power

We report a diode-pumped self-Q-switched 1064-nm Cr,Nd：YAG of 16-18 ns. The maximum average output power up to 7 W, 3370, is obtained in a simple and compact linear cavity by using transmittance of 1570. The laser operates at TEM00 mode with a laser with pulse duration in the range corresponding to a slope efficiency of a plane-concave output coupler with a pump power of 14.2 W.     

1064 nm Nd:YAG laser intracavity pumped at 946 nm

We present for the first time a Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1064 nm intracavity pumped by a 946 nm diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser. A 885 nm laser diode is used to pump the first Nd:YAG crystal emitting at 946 nm, and the second Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1064 nm intracavity pumped at 946 nm. We achieved an output power of 7.97 W at 1064 nm for an absorbed pump power at 946 nm of 9.55 W, corresponding to an optical efficiency of 83.4%. The beam quality M² quality factor is about 1.1 at the maximum output power.     

Properties of continuous-wave 1123 nm laser with diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG

Laser properties of diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG laser operating at 1123 nm are demonstrated. A 1.0 at % Nd-doped Nd:YAG rod with a size of Ø3 × 63 mm² is used as the active medium. Both radial and tangential thermal focal lengths of this side-pumped Nd:YAG rod are determined under lasing condition. The results show that the bifocusing strength of 1123 nm laser is larger than that of 1164 nm laser, and 1123-nm thermal focal lengths are shorter than those of 1064-nm laser due to higher quantum defect. Laser output performances of 1123 nm in terms of stability, output power and beam quality influenced by pump power at different cavity lengths are also discussed with a convex-piano cavity.     

Experimental study of a high power and high efficiency CW diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG laser

This paper reports on the characterization of a diode-side-pumped CW Nd:YAG laser. A side-pumped configuration with 9 laser diodes is used for the laser. Pump light is directly coupled into the Nd:YAG rod without focusing lenses and the pump light distribution in the Nd:YAG rod was calculated. A maximum output power of 150 W in multimode operation is obtained for a pumping power of 400 W. The optical–optical efficiency is 37%. Output power of the laser under different output couplers, resonator lengths and temperatures of the cooling water have been studied.     

551 nm Generation by sum-frequency mixing of intracavity pumped Nd:YAG laser

We present for the first time a Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1319 nm intracavity pumped by a 946 nm diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser. A 809 nm laser diode is used to pump the first Nd:YAG crystal emitting at 946 nm, and the second Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1319 nm intracavity pumped at 946 nm. Intracavity sumfrequency mixing at 946 and 1319 nm was then realized in a LBO crystal to reach the yellow range. We obtained a continuous-wave output power of 158 mW at 551 nm with a pump laser diode emitting 18.7 W at 809 nm.     

High power CW laser operation with a Nd:YAG single-crystal fiber grown by LHPG method

We report a high power continuous wave laser operation with a Nd:YAG single crystal fiber. A piece of high quality Nd:YAG single crystal fiber was prepared by means of laser heated pedestal growth method and was then applied as the laser gain medium. The crystal fiber laser was end-pumped by a fiber pig-tailed laser diode working around 808 nm. A maximum output power of 13 W was obtained at a pump power of 60 W. To our knowledge, it was the highest laser power ever achieved with a piece of single crystal fiber.     

High power single-longitudinal-mode cyan laser at 500.8 nm

An all-solid-state single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) laser at 500.8 nm with 830 mW output power has been demonstrated for the first time. By using a new resonator for doubly resonant, Nd:GdVO₄ and Nd:YAG were pumped by two laser diode arrays coupled by optical fiber, respectively. In the two sub-cavities, SLM wavelengths of 1064 and 946 nm were induced by using the twisted-mode technique and then mixed into SLM 500.8 nm laser with sum-frequency technology. The SLM 500.8 nm laser output of 830 mW was obtained at the incident pump power of 20 W for Nd:GdVO₄ and 23 W for Nd:YAG. The experimental results showed that the intracavity sum-frequency mixing by twisted-mode technique is an effective method for SLM 500.8 nm laser.     

250 W end-pumped Nd:YAG laser with direct pumping into the upper laser level

A high-power longitudinally pumped Nd:YAG laser using direct pumping into the upper laser level is demonstrated. With an absorbed pump power of 438 W an output power of 250 W was realized, which results in an optical-to-optical efficiency of 57%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of a high-output power 885 nm pumped laser design.     

High power continuous-wave diode-laser-pumped Nd:YAG laser

We report on a diode-laser-pumped cw Nd: YAG laser operating at a power level of 150 W. By using a transverse pump geometry, the radiation of 54 diode lasers with an output power of 10 W each is coupled into a Nd:YAG rod. In multimode operation, an optical slope efficiency of 32% and an optical to optical efficiency of 29% are obtained. In TEM₀₀ operation, an output power of more than 30 W is realized with an optical to optical efficiency of 10%.     

Efficient Nd:YVO_4 laser in-band pumped by wavelength-locked 913.9-nm laser diode and Q-switch operation

An efficient 1064-nm Nd:YVO_4laser in-band pumped by a wavelength-locked laser diode(LD) at 913.9 nm was demonstrated. The maximum continuous wave(CW) output power of 23.4 W at 1064 nm was realized with the incident pump power of 40 W, corresponding to a total optical-to-optical efficiency of 58.5%. This is to the best of our knowledge the highest total optical-to-optical efficiency and output power of Nd:YVO_4laser in-band pumped by a 913.9-nm laser diode.The Q-switched operation of this laser was also investigated. Through a contrast experiment of pumping at 808 nm, the experimental results showed that an Nd:YVO_4laser in-band pumped by a wavelength-locked LD at 913.9 nm had excellent pulse stability and beam quality for high repetition rate Q-switching operation.