High-repetition-rate 1.5 μm passively Q-switched Er:Yb:YAl_3(BO_3)_4 microchip laser

End-pumped by a 976 nm diode laser,a high-repetition-rate Er:Yb:YAl_3(BO_3)_4 microchip laser passively Q-switched by a Co~(2+):MgAl_2 O_4 crystal is reported.At a quasi-continuous-wave pump power of 20 W,a 1553 nm passively Q-switched laser with the repetition rate of 544 kHz,pulse duration of 8.3 ns,and pulse energy of 3.9 μJ was obtained.To the best of our knowledge,the 544 kHz is the highest reported value for the 1.5 μm passively Q-switched pulse laser.In the continuous-wave pumping experiment,the maximum repetition rate of 144 kHz with the pulse duration of 8.0 ns and pulse energy of 1.7 μJ was obtained at the incident pump power of 6.3 W.     

High-peak-power passively Q-switched 1.3 μm Nd:YAG/V~(3+):YAG laser pumped by a pulsed laser diode

We demonstrate a high-pulse-energy, short-pulse-width passively Q-switched(PQS) Nd:YAG∕V3t:YAG laser at 1.3 μm, which is end-pumped by a pulsed laser diode. During the PQS regime, a maximum total output pulse energy of 3.3 m J is obtained under an absorbed pump pulse energy of 21.9 m J. Up to 400 μJ single-pulse energy is realized with the shortest pulse width of 6.16 ns and a pulse repetition frequency of 34.1 k Hz,corresponding to a peak power of 64.9 k W. The high-energy laser pulse is operated in the dual wavelengths of 1319 and 1338 nm, which is a potential laser source for THz generation.     

Diode-pumped self-starting mode-locked femtosecond Yb:YCa4O（BO3）3laser

A self-starting mode-locked femtosecond laser is accomplished with an oxoborate self-frequency doubling crystal Yb:YCa4O(BO3)3(Yb:YCOB) as the gain medium and a semiconductor mirror as the saturable absorber. Pumped by a976-nm fiber-coupled diode laser with 50-μm core diameter, stable mode-locked laser pulses up to 430 mW were obtained at a repetition rate of 83.61 MHz under 5-W pump power. The autocorrelation measurement shows that the pulse duration is as short as 150 fs by assuming the sech2pulse shape at a central wavelength of 1048 nm. This work has demonstrated a compact and reliable femtosecond laser source for prospective low-cost applications.     

A Passive Q-Switched Microchip Er/Yb Glass Laser Pumped by Laser Diode

A laser-diode-pumped 1.54-μm passive Q-switched erbium doped glass laser was reported. We utilize a laser diode with wavelength of 973nm to pump a 1-mm Er/Yb co-doped phosphate glass with the erbium and ytterbium concentrations of 1 wt.% and 21 wt.%, respectively. A Co^2＋ ：MgAl2O4 slab crystal was used as a passive Q- switcher. Q-switched pulses with repetition frequency of 800Hz, width of 7.4ns, peak power of 2.2kW and average power of 13.3 m W were obtained when absorbed pump power was 4 75 m W. A sandwich structure of the Q- switched microchip Er/Yb glass laser was demonstrated, which shows shorter pulse width of 6.8 ns. Dependences of pulse duration and repetition frequency on pump power were also investigated.     

An efficient intracavity-pumped KTP optical parametric oscillator at 1572 nm

We demonstrate an efficient and eye-safe wavelength intracavity optical parametric oscillator (OPO), based on a KTP crystal inside a Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser end pumped by a fiber-coupled diode laser. In the acousto-optic Q-switched operation with the pulse repetition rate of 10 kHz, a 1572-nm eye-safe laser with the average power of 237 mW at the incident pump power of 5.64 W is obtained. Under the pulse repetition rate of 5 kHz, the signal light with pulse width of 2 ns and peak power of 18.5 kW is achieved. The conversion efficiency of the average power is 4.2% from pump diode to OPO signal output and the signal pulse duration is about 13 times shorter than that of the depleted pump light.     

Compact, Low Threshold Nd^3＋：YVO4 Self-Raman Laser at 1178 nm

A compact low-threshold Raman laser at 1178 nm is experimentally realized by using a diode-end-pumped actively Q-switched Nd^3＋ ：YVO4 self-Raman laser. The threshold is 370mW at a pulse repetition frequency of S kHz. The maximum Raman laser output is 182 m W with the pulse duration smaller than 20 ns at a pulse repetition frequency of 30kHz with 1.8 W incident power. The optical efficiency from the incident power to the Raman laser is 10% and the slope efficiency is 13.5%.     

Generation of Q-Switched Mode-Locked Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser Operating in Dark Regime

We demonstrate a stable Q-switched mode-locked erbium-doped fiber laser(EDFL) operating in dark regime based on the nonlinear polarization rotation technique.The EDFL produces a pulse train where the Q-switching envelope is formed by multiple dark pulses.The repetition rate of the Q-switched envelope can be increased from 0.96 kHz to 3.26 kHz,whereas the pulse width reduces from 211 μs to 86 μs.The highest pulse of 479 nJ is obtained at the pump power of 55 mW.It is also observed that the dark pulses inside the Q-switching envelope consist of two parts:square and trailing dark pulses.The shortest pulse width of the dark square pulse is obtained at 40.5μs when the pump power is fixed at 145 mW.The repetition rate of trailing dark pulses can be increased from 27.62 kHz to 50 kHz as the pump power increases from 55 mW to 145 mW.     

Passively Q-Switched Nd,Cr:YAG Laser Simultaneous Dual-Wavelength Operation at 946 nm and 1.3μm

A diode-end-pumped Q-switched high-efficiency Nd,Cr:YAG laser with simultaneous dual-wavelength emission at 946 nm and 1.3μm is demonstrated.The maximum output power of 1.93 W with simultaneous dual-wavelength operation is achieved at an absorbed pump power of 13.32 W and an absorbed slope efficiency of 15.15%.The maximum optical-optical efficiency is 14.49% with pulse widths of 16.38 ns at 946 nm and 26.65 ns at 1.3 μm.A maximum total repetition rate of 43.25 kHz is obtained.     

Q-switched fiber laser using carbon platinum saturable absorber on side-polished fiber

A 1550 nm Q-switched fiber laser using a carbon platinum saturable absorber deposited on side-polished fiber(SPF) is proposed and demonstrated. The SPF is approximately 2 mm with a polarization-dependent loss(PDL)of 0.4 dB and an insertion loss of 2.5 dB. A stable Q-switched output spectrum is obtained at 1559.34 nm with a peak power of ~6 mW, a pulse width of 1.02 μs, pulse energy of 5.8 nJ, average output power of 0.76 mW, and a repetition rate of 131.6 kHz taken at a pump power of 230.0 mW. A signal-to-noise ratio of 49.62 d B indicates that the Q-switched pulse is highly stable.     

Zinc-oxide nanoparticle-based saturable absorber deposited by simple evaporation technique for Q-switched fiber laser

A Q-switched erbium-doped fiber laser(EDFL) incorporating zinc-oxide(ZnO) nanoparticles-based saturable absorber(SA) is proposed and demonstrated. To form the SA, the ZnO nanoparticles, which are originally in the powder form, are first dissolved in ethanol and subsequently deposited onto the surface of fiber ferrule by using the adhesion effect with the evaporation technique. By integrating the ZnO nanoparticle-based SA into a laser cavity of an EDFL, a self-started and stable Q-switching is achieved at a low threshold power of 20.24 mW. As the pump power is increased, the pulse repetition rate is tunable from 10.34 kHz to 25.59 kHz while pulse duration decreases from 21.39 μs to 3.65 μs. Additionally,this Q-switched laser has a maximum energy per pulse of 19.34 nJ and an average output power of 0.46 mW. These results indicate the feasibility and functionality of the ZnO nanoparticles-based SA for Q-switched generation, which offers the flexibility and easy integration of the SA into a ring laser cavity.     

Resonantly pumped Q-switched Er:GdVO4 laser

We describe a Q-switched Er:GdVO₄ laser resonantly pumped by a MgO-doped periodically poled LiNbO₃ optical parametric oscillator （MgO: PPLN OPO） at 1536 nm. In continuous-wave lasing, the maximum output power is 1.14 W with an incident pump power of 4.7 W and a slope efficiency of 27%. In Q-switched operation, 1.1 mJ of output pulse energy is achieved at 200 Hz. The upper-state lifetime at different pulse repetition frequencies is also calculated.     

1 kHz nanosecond-pulsed room temperature Fe:ZnSe laser gain-switched by a ZnGeP_2 optical parametric oscillator

We demonstrate a Fe:ZnSe laser gain-switched by a ZnGeP_2 optical parametric oscillator(OPO) under the pulse repetition frequency of 1 kHz at room temperature. The 2.9 μm signal light of the OPO is employed as the pump for the Fe:ZnSe laser. The maximum output power of the Fe:ZnSe laser is 58 mW with the pulse duration of 2.7 ns under the incident pump power of 280 mW, corresponding to a peak pulse power of 21.5 kW and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 20.7%. The spectrum of the Fe:ZnSe laser has a range of 4030.2–4593.6 nm with a dip at 4187.1–4340.4 nm due to the absorption of CO_2.     

Q-switched Er-doped fiber laser with low pumping threshold using graphene saturable absorber

We propose a Q-switched Er-doped fiber laser(EDFL) with a threshold pumping power as low as 7.4 mW, and demonstrate using graphene polyvinyl alcohol(PVA) thin film as a passive saturable absorber(SA). The SA is fabricated from graphene flakes, which is synthesized by electrochemical exfoliation of graphite at room temperature in 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate aqueous solution. The flakes are mixed with PVA solution to produce a thin film, which is then sandwiched between two ferrules to form a SA and integrated in the EDFL ring cavity to generate a stable Q-switched pulse train. The pulse train operates at 1560 nm with a threshold pump power of 7.4 mW. At maximum 1480 nm pump power of 33.0 mW, the EDFL generates an optical pulse train with a repetition rate of 27.0 kHz and pulse width of 3.56 μs. The maximum pulse energy of 39.4 nJ is obtained at a pump power of 14.9 mW. This laser can be used as a simple and low-cost light source for metrology, environmental sensing, and biomedical diagnostics.     

LD-pumped passively Q-switched red laser at 660 nm

A laser diode (LD) pumped Nd:YAG red pulse laser at 660 mn was presented by V:YAG passively Q-switching and LBO intracavity frequency doubling. With 1.6-W incident pump power, average output power of 46-mW, pulse duration (FWHM) of 23.3 ns, pulse repetition rate of 21.6 kHz, peak power of 91.4 W, and single pulse energy of 2.13 μJ were obtained. The beam quality factor M2 was less than 1.2. The fluctuations of pulse energy and repetition rate were less than 3% in 4 hours. The pulsed laser at 660 nm is expected to be used as the pump source of Cr3+:doped crystal to obtain the gain-switched tunable laser.     

A 2.048μm Tm,Ho:GdVO4 Laser Pumped Doubly Resonant Optical Parametric Oscillator Based on Periodically Poled Lithium LiNbO3

A multi-grating periodically poled LiNb03 （PPLN） doubly resonant optical parametric oscillator （DROPO） pumped by a 2-ttm laser is demonstrated experimentally. Employing acousto-optically Q-switched Tm,Ho：GdV04 laser with pump pulse of 25ns and repetition rate of lOkHz as pump sources firstly, the noncritically quasi- phase-matched （QPM） tunable mid-IR output in 3.87-4.43 μm is produced. Wavelength tuning is achieved with crystal temperature tuning from 50-180^o C. When the incident average pump power is 3 W at 2.048μm, the total OPO output power of 195mW at wavelength 3.88μm is obtained, corresponding to optical-to-optical conversion efficiency up to 6.5%.     

Diode end-pumped self-Q-switched and mode-locked Nd,Cr：YAG /KTP green laser

We first experimentally demonstrate a laser-diode end-pumped self-Q-switched and mode-locked Nd,Cr:YAG green laser with a KTP crystal as the intra-cavity frequency doubler. The device produces an average output power of 680 mW at 532 nm. The corresponding pulse width of the Q-switched envelope of the green laser is 170±20 ns. The mode-locked pulses have a repetition rate of approximately 183 MHz and the average pulse duration is estimated to be around sub-nanosecond. It is found that the intra-cavity frequency doubling greatly improves the modulation depth and stability of the mode-locked pulses within the Q-switched envelope.     

High repetition rate passively Q-switched laser on Nd:SRA at 1049 nm with MXene Ti_3C_2T_x

A new disordered crystal Nd:SrAl_(12)O_(19)(Nd:SRA) with an Nd~(3+)doping concentration of 5% was successfully grown using the Czochralski method.A diode-pumped Nd:SRA Q-switched laser operating at 1049 nm was demonstrated for the first time,to the best of our knowledge.Based on an MXene Ti_3C_2T_x sheet,a high repetition rate of 201 kHz and a Q-switched pulse width of 346 ns were obtained when the absorbed pump power was 2.8 W.The peak power and single pulse energy were 1.87 W and 0.65 μJ,respectively.     

A periodically poled LiNbO3 in wavelength conversion optical parametric generator from 2 to 3.88 ——4.34 μm

A periodically poled lithium niobate （PPLN） optical parametric generator （OPG） pumped by a laser diode （LD）-pumped Q-switched Tm,Ho：GdVO4 laser operated at 2.048 μm with pump pulse of 25 ns and repetition rate of 10 kHz is reported. A continuous tunable middle-infrared （mid-IR） spectrum of 3.88 - 4.34 μm is obtained by changing the crystal temperature from 50 to 124℃. When the incident pump power is 3 W, the total OPG output power is 95 mW, corresponding to optical conversion efficiency of 3.2%.     

Cadmium Selenide Polymer Microfiber Saturable Absorber for Q-Switched Fiber Laser Applications

We demonstrate the generation of a Q-switching pulse train in an erbium-doped fiber laser(EDFL) cavity using a newly developed cadmium selenide(CdSe) based saturable absorber(SA). The SA is obtained by embedding CdSe nanomaterials into a polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA) microfiber. It is incorporated into an EDFL cavity to generate a Q-switched laser operating at 1533.6 nm. The repetition rates of the produced pulse train are tunable within 37-64 kHz as the pump power is varied from 34 mW to 74 mW. The corresponding pulse width reduces from 7.96μs to 4.84μs, and the maximum pulse energy of 1.16 nJ is obtained at the pump power of74 mW.     

A 5.9-mJ 500-Hz Electro-Optic Q-Switched 1053 nm Nd：LiLuF4 Laser

An efficient and high power 1053 nm electro-optic Q-switched Nd：LiLuF4 laser, end-pumped by two fiber coupled laser diodes at wavelength 806 nm, is reported for the first time. With an incident pump power of 24.4 W, the maximum laser output power of 7.3 W is achieved in free-running mode, and the optical conversion efficiency is 29.8%. For the Q-switched operation, the shortest pulse width of 17ns is obtained at the pulse repetition rate of 500 Hz, corresponding to the pulse energy of 5.9mJ with the peak power of 0.35 MW.