Diode-pumped Nd<Superscript>3+</Superscript>:YAl<Subscript>3</Subscript>(BO<Subscript>3</Subscript>)<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser at 1338 nm

A high-power diode -pumped Nd³⁺:YAl₃(BO₃)₄ (Nd:YAB) laser emitting at 1338 nm is described. At the incident pump power of 9.8 W, as high as 734 mW of continuous-wave (CW) output power at 1338 nm is achieved. The slope efficiency with respect to the incident pump power was 9.0%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of such a laser system. The output power stability over 60 min is better than 2.6%. The laser beam quality M ² factor is 1.21.     

Diode-pumped CW Nd<Superscript>3+</Superscript>:YAlO<Subscript>3</Subscript> laser at 1339 nm

A diode-pumped Nd³⁺:YAlO₃ (Nd:YAP) laser emitting at 1339 nm is described. At the incident pump power of 17.8 W, as high as 3.4 W of continuous-wave (CW) output power at 1339 nm is achieved. The slope efficiency with respect to the incident pump power was 23.6%. The output power stability over 60 min is better than 3.5%. The laser beam quality M ² factor is 1.33.     

All-solid-state Nd:Gd<Subscript>0.18</Subscript>Y<Subscript>0.82</Subscript>VO<Subscript>4</Subscript>-LBO green laser at 532 nm

We report a continuous-wave (CW) coherent green radiation at 532 nm by intracavity frequency doubling generation of 1064 nm Nd:Gd_0.18Y_0.82VO₄ laser. With incident pump power of 18.2 W, output power of 1.08 W at 532 nm has been obtained using a 5 mm-long KTP crystal. The optical conversion efficiency was up to 5.9%. At the output power level of 1.08 W, the output stability is better than 5%. The beam quality M² values were equal to 1.26 and 1.12 in X and Y directions, respectively.     

Q-switched Ho:YAlO<Subscript>3</Subscript> laser pumped by Tm:YLF laser at room temperature

A Q-switched high efficient Ho:YAlO₃ (Ho:YAP) laser pumped by a diode-pumped Tm:YLF laser at room-temperature is realized. The maximum output energy reaches 1.58 mJ under the repetition frequency of 5 kHz, when the incident pump power is 15.6 W. The pulse width is 22 ns. The wavelength is 2118 nm when the transmission of output coupler is 30%. The beam quality factor is M ² ∼ 1.39 measured by the traveling knife-edge method.     

High efficiency,high repetition-rate Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser with TEM<Subscript>00</Subscript> end-pumped by 887 nm

Thermal effect of laser crystal is a very important factor for solid lasers. The most of heat is generated from the quantum loss between pump light and lasing light. If a longer wavelength of pump light is adopted, quantum loss and quantum loss efficiency can be reduced and improved, respectively. In this paper, a Nd:YVO₄ laser end-pumped by 887 nm LD is reported. Output power of 25 W is obtained from a single Nd:YVO₄, when the crystal absorbs pump light power of 38 W. The corresponding opto-optic conversion efficiency is up to 65.7%. When 30.7 W pump light is absorbed in the crystal, 19.4 W TEM₀₀ is obtained with M _x ² = 1.30, M _y ² = 1.26 and opto-optic conversion efficiency of 63.2%. The laser can work at the Q-switched mode. The uniform pulses are generated at high repetition of 100 kHz. And the conditions of pulse stability are analyzed in this paper.     

Diode-pumped CW Nd:YAG laser at 1356 nm based on the <Superscript>4</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">F</Emphasis><Subscript>3/2</Subscript>-<Superscript>4</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">I</Emphasis><Subscript>13/2</Subscript> transition

We describe the output performances of the 1356 nm ⁴ F _3/2-⁴ I _13/2 transition (generally used for a 1319 nm transition) in Nd:YAG under in-band pumping with diode laser at the 809 nm wavelength. An end-pumped Nd:YAG crystal yielded 1.02 W of continuous-wave (CW) output power for 18.2 W of incident pump power. Moreover, intracavity second-harmonic generation (SHG) has also been achieved with a power of 290 mW at 678 nm by using a LiB₃O₅ (LBO) nonlinear crystal. The red beam quality factor M ₂ was less than 1.37. The red power stability was less 3.2% in 4 h.     

Amplification of a <Emphasis Type="Italic">Q</Emphasis>-Switched Ho:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> Oscillator in Thulium-Doped Large-Mode-Area Fiber

We report a high peak power, narrow linewidth, stable pulsed Ho:GdVO₄ amplifier based on thuliumdoped fiber, which produces 6.65 W average output power at 2,048 nm and 56.8 kW peak power with 11.7 ns pulse width at 10 kHz repetition rate. We use a simple Q-switched Ho:GdVO₄ laser as a seed laser and a thulium-doped fiber pumped by a 792 nm laser diode as an amplifier. The fiber amplifier provided 6.5 dB gain to the input signal. The spectral linewidth of the Ho:GdVO₄ amplifier remains < 0.5 nm with an M² beam quality of 1.36.     

Compact diode-directly-pumped passively mode-locked TEM<Subscript>00</Subscript> Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser at 1341 nm using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror

We report on a compact 880-nm diode-directly-pumped passively mode-locked TEM₀₀ Nd:GdVO₄ laser at 1341 nm with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) for the first time. Under the absorbed pump power of 14.6 W, the maximum output power of 1.27 W was obtained at the repetition rate of 85.3 MHz with the pulse width of 45.3 ps, corresponding to an optical-optical efficiency of 8.8% and the slope efficiency of 33.3%, respectively. The beam quality factor was measured to be M ² = 1.18, indicating a TEM₀₀ mode.     

Efficient Nd:Y<Subscript>0.36</Subscript>Gd<Subscript>0.64</Subscript>VO<Subscript>4</Subscript>-GdCa<Subscript>4</Subscript>O(BO<Subscript>3</Subscript>)<Subscript>3</Subscript> red laser under diode pumping into the emitting level

We report a red laser at 671 nm generation by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous wave (cw) laser operation of a 1342 nm Nd:Y_0.36Gd_0.64VO₄ laser under diode pumping into the emitting level ⁴ F _3/2. An GdCa₄O(BO₃)₃ (GdCOB) 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 17.8 W, as high as 1.12 W of cw output power at 671 nm is achieved. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is up to 6.3%, and the fluctuation of the red output power was better than 3.5% in the given 30 min.     

Quasi-three-level Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser by diode pumping at 888 nm

We report efficient laser emission on the 914 nm ⁴ F _3/2 to ⁴ I _9/2 transition in Nd:YVO₄ under the pump with diode lasers at 888 nm for the first time. Continuous wave 6.57 W output power at 914 nm is obtained from a V-type resonator under 18.3 W of absorbed pump power; the slope efficiency with respect to the absorbed pump power was 60.6%. Moreover, intracavity frequency doubling with BiB₃O₆ (BiBO) nonlinear crystal yielded 1.77 W of deep-blue light at 457 nm with beam quality characterized by an M₂ factor of 1.25.     

Diode-pumped CW Nd:YAG laser at 1116 nm based on the <Superscript>4</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">F</Emphasis><Subscript>3/2</Subscript>-<Superscript>4</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">I</Emphasis><Subscript>11/2</Subscript> transition

We describe the output performances of the 1116 nm ⁴ F _3/2-⁴ I _11/2 transition (generally used for a 1064 nm transition) in Nd:YAG under in-band pumping with diode laser at the 809 nm wavelength. An end-pumped Nd:YAG crystal yielded 680 mW of continuous-wave (CW) output power for 18.2 W of incident pump power. Moreover, intracavity second-harmonic generation (SHG) has also been achieved with a power of 97 mW at 558 nm by using a LiB₃O₅ (LBO) nonlinear crystal. The yellow-green beam quality factor M ² was less than 1.21. The yellow-green power stability was less 2.5% in 4 h.     

Quasi-three level laser based on diode-pumped Nd<Superscript>3+</Superscript>:YAlO<Subscript>3</Subscript> crystal

We describe the output performances of the 930 nm ⁴ F _3/2 → ⁴ I _9/2 transition in Nd³⁺:YAlO₃ (Nd:YAP) under in-band pumping with diode laser at the 803 nm wavelength. An end-pumped Nd:YAP crystal yielded 1.13 W of continuous-wave (CW) output power for 17.8 W of incident pump power. Moreover, intracavity second-harmonic generation has also been achieved with a power of 172 mW at 465 nm by using a LiB₃O₅ (LBO) nonlinear crystal. The blue beam quality factor M ² was less than 1.3. The blue power stability was less 3% in 60 min.     

All-solid-state CW Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>-LBO red laser under direct 912 nm pumping

We report a red laser at 670.5 nm generation by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous wave (CW) laser operation of a 1341 nm Nd:GdVO₄ laser under in-band diode pumping at 912 nm. An LBO crystal, cut for critical type I phase matching is used for second harmonic generation of the laser. At an incident pump power of 8.9 W, as high as 347 mW of CW output power at 670.5 nm is achieved. The fluctuation of the red output power was better than 3.7% in the given 30 min, and the beam quality factor M ² is 1.65.     

A high beam quality laser-diode end-pumped Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> slab laser

An 83 W, near-diffraction-limited LD end-pumped Nd:GdVO₄ slab laser with hybrid resonator was presented with the pumping power of 238 W, the slope efficiency and optical-to-optical conversion efficiency were 39.4 and 34.9%, respectively. At the output power of 70 W, beam quality M² factors were 1.2 in stable direction and 1.3 in unstable direction.     

Diode-pumped Nd:LuVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>-LBO green laser at 533 nm

We report a continuous-wave (CW) coherent green radiation at 533 nm by intracavity frequency doubling generation of 1066 nm Nd:LuVO₄ laser. With incident pump power of 18.2 W, output power of 4.3 W at 533 nm has been obtained using a 5 mm-long LBO crystal. The optical conversion efficiency was up to 23.6%. At the output power level of 4.3 W, the output stability is better than 3%. The beam quality M² values were equal to 1.13 and 1.21 in X and Y directions, respectively.     

Passively Q-switched GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>/Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser with Cr<Superscript>4+</Superscript>:YAG saturable absorber under direct 879 nm diode pumping to the emitting level

A passively Q-switched 1.06 μm laser with Cr⁴⁺:YAG saturable absorber by direct 879 nm diode pumping grown-together composite GdVO₄/Nd:GdVO₄ crystal to the emitting level was demonstrated in this paper. The characteristics of pulsed laser were investigated by using two kinds of Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal with the initial transmissivity of 80 and 90%, respectively. When the T ₀ = 90% Cr⁴⁺:YAG was used, an average output power of 1.59 W was achieved at an incident pump power of 10 W. The pulse width and repetition rate were 64.5 ns and 170 kHz, respectively. The thermal lens effect of laser crystal was analyzed.     

Diode pumped Nd:Lu<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>Y<Subscript>0.5</Subscript>VO<Subscript>4</Subscript>-LBO red laser at 671 nm

We report a efficient compact red laser at 671 nm generation by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous wave laser operation of a diode pumped Nd:Lu_0.5Y_0.5VO₄ laser on the ⁴ F _3/2-⁴ I _13/2 transition at 1342 nm. An LBO crystal, cut for critical type I phase matching at room temperature is used for second harmonic generation of the laser. At an absorbed pump power of 17.8 W, as high as 2.25 W of continuous wave output power at 671 nm is achieved with 10-mm-long LBO. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is up to 12.6%, and the fluctuation of the red output power was better than 3.6% in the given 30 min.     

Efficiency intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:Y<Subscript>0.36</Subscript>Gd<Subscript>0.64</Subscript>VO<Subscript>4</Subscript>-LBO green laser at 532 nm with direct pumping

We report an efficient laser emission on the 1064 nm ⁴ F _3/2 to ⁴ I _11/2 transition in mixed vanadate crystal Nd:Y_0.36Gd_0.64VO₄ under the pump with diode laser at 880 nm. Continuous wave (CW) 10.7 W output power at 1064 nm is obtained under 17.8 W of incident pump power; the slope efficiency with respect to the incident pump power was 71.2%. Moreover, intracavity frequency doubling with LiB₃O₅ (LBO) nonlinear crystal yielded 4.6 W of green light at 532 nm. An optical-to-optical efficiency with respect to the incident pump power was 25.8%.     

Diode-pumped Pr<Superscript>3+</Superscript>:YAlO<Subscript>3</Subscript>/LBO violet laser at 374 nm

We report a diode-pumped Pr³⁺:YAlO₃ laser emitting at 747 nm. A power of 232 mW at 747 nm has been achieved in continuous-wave operation with a diode emitting 2 W at 448 nm. Furthermore, intracavity second-harmonic generation in continuous-wave mode has also been demonstrated with a power of 52 mW at 374 nm by using a LBO nonlinear crystal. The fluctuation of the violet output power was better than 2.3%. The beam quality M ² value is 2.2.     

Diode-pumped Nd:CaYAlO<Subscript>4</Subscript>-KTP intracavity-doubled green laser at 540 nm

It is reported that efficient continuous-wave (CW) green laser generation at 540 nm in a KTP crystal at type-II phase matching direction performed with a diode-pumped Nd:CaYAlO₄ laser. With incident pump power of 18.2 W, output power of 324 mW at 540 nm has been obtained using a 5 mm-long KTP crystal. At the output power level of 324 mW, the output stability is better than 2.8%. The beam quality M ² values were equal to 1.34 and 1.22 in X and Y directions, respectively.