Characteristics of Nd：GdVO4 Laser with Different Nd-Doping Concentrations

We report the properties of a compact diode-pumped continuous-wave Nd：GdV04 laser with a linear cavity and different Nd-doped laser crystals. In a 0.2at.% Nd-doped Nd：GdVO4 laser, 1.54 W output laser power is achieved at 912nm wavelength with a slope efficiency of 24.8% at an absorbed pump power of 9.4W. With 0.3at.% Nd-doping concentration, we can obtain the either single-wavelength emission at 1064nm or 912nm or the dual-wavelength emission at 1064nm and 912nm by controlling the incident pump power. From an incident pump power of 11.6 W, the 1064nm emission between ^4Fa/2 and ^4I11/2 is suppressed completely by the 912nm emission between ^4Fa/2 and ^4I9/2. We obtain 670 mW output of the 912nm single-wavelength laser emission with a slope efficiency of 5.5% by taking an incident pump power of 18.4 W. Using a Nd：GdV04 laser with 0.4at.% Nd-doping concentration, we obtain either the single-wavelength emission at 1064nm or the dual-wavelength emission at both 1064nm and 912nm by increasing the incident pump power. We observe a strong competition process in the dualavelength laser.     

Diode-Pumped Quasi-Three-Level Passively Q-Switched Nd：GGG Laser with a Codoped Nd,Cr：YAG Saturable Absorber

We demonstrate the first quasi-three-level passively Q-switched Nd：GGG laser at 937nm using a Nd, Cr：YAG crystal as the saturable absorber. The dependences of the average output power, the repetition rate and the pulse width on the incident pump power are obtained. A maximum average output power of 1.18 W with repetition rate of 35kHz and pulse width of 45ns is achieved at an incident pump power of 18.3 W. The corresponding optical-to-optical and slope efficiencies are 6% and 10%, respectively.     

Efficient Diode-Pumped Tm：YALO3 Laser with a Pump Recycling Scheme

By using a pump recycling configuration, the maximum power of 8.1 W in the wavelength range 1.935-1.938 μm is generated by a 5-ram long Tm：YAIOa （4 at.%） laser operating at 18℃ with a pump power of 24 W. The highest slope efficiency of 42% is attained, and the pump quantum efficiency is up to 100%. The Tm：YAlO3 laser is employed as a pumping source of singly-doped Ho（1%）：GdV04 laser operating at room temperature, in which continuous wave output power of greater than 0.2 W at 2.05/μm is achieved with a slope efficiency of 9%.     

6.5-ns actively Q-switched Nd:YVO_4 laser operating at 1.34 μm

With a plano-concave cavity,diode-pumped continuous-wave(CW) and actively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser operating at 1.34 μm is demonstrated.Maximum CW output power of 4.76 W and Q-switched average output power of 2.64 W are obtained with output coupler(transmission T = 3.9%).For the Q-switching operation,the theoretically calculated pulse energy and pulse width,with a pulse repetition frequency(PRF) range of 5-40 kHz,coincide with the experimental results.With a T = 11.9% output coupler,the maximum peak power of 24.3 kW and minimum pulse width of 6.5 ns are obtained when the PRF is 10 kHz.To the best of our knowledge,this is the shortest actively Q-switched pulse duration ever obtained in a 1.3-μm Nd-doped vanadate laser.     

Wildly Tunable,High-Efficiency MgO：PPLN Mid-IR Optical Parametric Oscillator Pumped by a Yb-Fiber Laser

We demonstrate a wildly tunable, high-eFficiency mid-infrared （mid-IR） output-coupled single resonant optical parametric oscillator （OC-SRO） pumped by a Yb-fiber laser. The compact mid-infrared source employs a 50- mm-long, multi-grating MgO-doped periodically poled lithium niobate （MgO-PPLN） crystal, providing as much as 1.73 W idler power at 3.012#m, and 1.27W signal power at 1645nm, corresponding to an overall conversion efficiency of 41.7% and a slope efficiency of 77.9%. In particular, the mid-infrared output power of 1.03 W and 0.67W are obtained at 3.7μm and 3.9μm, respectively, with an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 14.3% and 9.3%. Furthermore, the idler light is tunable from 3 μm to 3.9 μm by changing the periods from 31 to 28.5μm, with the output power 〉1 W over 78% of the tuning range. Our experimental results are pump power limited and further mid-IR power and conversion efficiency could be obtained with a suitable high-power pump source. The total OC-SRO output power rms at 2.6 W is about 0.6% during 2 h measurement.     

Performance evaluation of ZnGeP2 optical parametric oscillator pumped by a Q-switched Tm,Ho:GdVO4 laser

A doubly resonant ZnGeP2 （ZGP） optical parametric oscillator （OPO） pumped by a novel Tm,Ho：GdVO4 laser was demonstrated. Cryogenic Tin（5 at.-%）, Ho（0.5 at.-%）：GdVO4 laser with high pulse repetition frequency （PRF） of 10 kHz at 2.05 μm was employed as pumping source of ZGP OPO. The 15-mm-long ZGP crystal, 55° cut for I-type phase-matching with low absorption coefficient less than 0.05 cm^-1 at 2 μm, was placed in a piano-piano cavity with resonator length of 30 mm. The ZGP OPO generated a total combined output power of 1.2 W at 3.75 and 4.52 μm under pumping power of 5.3 W, corresponding to slope efficiency of 40% from incident 2μm laser power to midinfrared （Mid-IR） output. A widely tunable range from 3.0 to 6.5 μm was achieved by changing the crystal angle only 3.5°.     

A Diode-Pumped 1617 nm Single Longitudinal Mode Er：YAG Laser with Intra-Cavity Etalons

We demonstrate the continuous wave p-polarized single longitudinal mode （SLM） operation of an Er：YAG laser at 1617.6nm pumped by a diode-laser with three inserted Fabry-Perot （FP） etalons at room temperature. The Brewster angle inserted FP is applied to obtain the p-polarized laser. For free running, the maximum output power is 570 m W with a pump power of 12.5 W. An incident pump power of 12.5 W is used to generate the maximum p-polarized single longitudinal mode output power of 78.5 m W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 1.6% and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 0.61%. The beam quality M2 is measured to be 1.15 at the highest SLM output power. This stable polarized SLM oscillation is encouraging due to its application for an injection-locked system used as a master laser.     

High-efficiency S-band harmonic tuning GaN amplifier

In this paper, we present a high-efficiency S-band gallium nitride （GaN） power amplifier （PA）. This amplifier is fabri- cated based on a self-developed GaN high-electron-mobility transistor （HEMT） with 10 mm gate width on SiC substrate. Harmonic manipulation circuits are presented in the amplifier. The matching networks consist of microstrip lines and discrete components. Open-circuited stub lines in both input and output are used to tune the 2rid harmonic wave and match the GaN HEMT to the highest efficiency condition. The developed amplifier delivers an output power of 48.5 dBm （70 W） with a power-added efficiency （PAE） of 72.2% at 2 GHz in pulse condition. When operating at 1.8-2.2 GHz （20% relative bandwidth）, the amplifier provides an output power higher than 48 dBm （,-~ 65 W）, with a PAE over 70% and a power gain above 15 dB. When operating in continuous-wave （CW） operating conditions, the amplifier gives an output power over 46 dBm （40 W） with PAE beyond 60% over the whole operation frequency range.     

Fluorescence spectrum,thermal properties,and continuous-wave laser performance of the mixed crystal Nd：Lu0.99La0.01 VO4

The fluorescence spectrum and thermal properties of the mixed crystal Nd：Luo.gvLa~.o1VO4 are determined. The strongest emission peak located at 1065.6 nm had a full width at half maximum （FWHM） of 2.1 nm. Continuous-wave （CW） laser performance is demonstrated by a compact planar planar cavity that is end- pumped by a diode laser. The laser output characteristics are investigated by using output couplers with different transmissions. A maximum CW output power of 8.09 W was obtained at an incident pump power of 19.4 W, which corresponds to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 41.7% and a slope efficiency of 54.6%. The dependence of optimum transmission on pump power is calculated theoretically and is found to be consistent with experimental results.     

Generation of high power laser at 1314 nm from a diode-side-pumped Nd:YLF module

We demonstrate a high power continuous-wave （CW） and acoustic-optically （AO） Q-switched 1314-nm laser with a diode-side-pumped Nd：YLF module. A maximum CW output power of 21.6 W is obtained with a diode pump power of 180 W, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 12.0% and a slope efficiency of 16.1%. In the Q-switching operation, a highest pulse energy of 3.8 mJ is obtained at a pulse repetition rate of 1 kHz. The shortest pulse width and maximum single peak power are 101.9 ns and 37.3 kW, respectively.     

CW and quasi-CW diode-laser-pumped Nd:SSGM

Fiber-coupled laser diodes were used to pump a Nd-doped SGGM slab (Nd: 4at.%) in the Continous Wave (CW) and Quasi-CW (Q-CW) modes of operation. The optical-to-optical and slope efficiencies were determined in both cases.     

Efficient passively Q-switched operation of a diode-pumped Nd:GGG laser with a Cr:YAG saturable absorber

The continuous-wave (cw) and passive Q-switching operation of a diode-end-pumped gadolinium gallium garnet doped with neodymium (Nd:GGG) laser at 1062 nm was realized. A maximum cw output power of 6.9 W was obtained. The corresponding optical conversion efficiency was 50.9%, and the slope efficiency was determined to be 51.4%. By using Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystals as saturable absorbers, Q-switching pulse with average output power of 1.28 W, pulse width of 4 ns and repetition rate of 6.2 kHz were obtained. The single-pulse energy and peak power were estimated to be 206 μJ and 51.6 kW, respectively. The conversion efficiency of the output power from cw to Q-switching operation was as high as 84.7%.     

Effect of Nd concentration on the Nd:KGW laser

The effect of Nd concentration on the laser performance at 1064 nm from Nd:KGW has been studied in a single flash-lamp cavity. The Nd concentrations used were 3, 5, and 6 at.% in 6 mm diameter and 80 mm long KGW rods. The 5 at % Nd-doped KGW rod was found to have the highest laser extraction efficiency as compared to the 3 at.% and 6 at.% rods.     

Efficient pulse operation of Nd:GdVO4 laser with AO Q-switch

We realized an efficient laser diode-pumped Nd:GdVO₄ laser with crystals grown by the floating zone method. In the lasing experiment, a slope efficiency of 78% was achieved with a 1 at.% Nd-doped crystal by pumping at 879 nm. Furthermore, excellent pulsed laser operation was demonstrated with the Nd:GdVO₄ crystal by using an acousto-optical (AO) Q-switch. A pulse width of 7 ns was observed when the pulse-repetition frequency was 40 kHz. It is the shortest pulse width recorded in the case of the AO Q-switched Nd:GdVO₄ laser.     

Laser properties of a new average-power Nd-doped phosphate glass

The Nd-doped phosphate laser glass described herein can withstand 2.3 times greater thermal loading without fracture, compared to APG-1 (commercially available Average-Power Glass from Schott Glass Technologies). The enhanced thermal loading capability is established on the basis of the intrinsic thermomechanical properties (expansion, conduction, fracture toughness, and Young's modulus), and by direct thermally induced fracture experiments using Ar-ion laser heating of the samples. This Nd-doped phosphate glass (referred to as APG-t) is found to be characterized by a 29% lower gain cross section and a 25% longer low-concentration emission lifetime. Other measurements pertaining to the concentration quenching, thermal lensing, and saturation of the extraction are also described in this article. It is note-worthy that APG-t offers increased bandwidth near the peak of the 1054 nm gain spectrum, suggesting that this material may have special utility as a means of generating and amplifying ultrashort pulses of light.     

Efficient Pumping Scheme by Direct Excitation of Upper Laser Level in Nd:CNGG

We report an efficient pumping scheme which involves a direct excitation of the upper lasing level of a four-level laser in a Nd-doped Ca₃(NbGa)_2-xGa₃O₁₂ (Nd:CNGG) by using a tunable Ti:sapphire, 700-920nm, cw pump source. The slope efficiency is improved from 10.5% of the traditional band pumping at 808nm to 21.8% of the direct pumping at 882nm. The influence of pumping wavelength on lasing is discussed. We present a scheme of double pumping for lasing.     

Diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:GGG crystal with GaAs saturable absorber

We have experimentally studied the passive Q-switching performance of a diode-pumped Nd-doped gadolinium gallium garnet (Nd:GGG) laser with a GaAs saturable absorber. Stable Q-switched pulses as short as 9 ns with a repetition rate of 196.1 kHz have been obtained with an appropriately coated GaAs wafer used as the output coupler. At 12.44 W of the absorbed pump power, an average output power of 1.03 W has been obtained and the corresponding pulse energy and peak power are 5.25 μJ and 0.58 kW, respectively.     

A high average power rotating hollow cylinder Nd : glass laser

The rotating hollow cylinder glass laser is one of the approaches for the generation of high average output powers scaling to kilowatt levels from solid-state laser materials. An analytical solution of the heat conduction equation is presented for a thin wall, infinitely long glass medium, with boundary conditions given by Newton's law of cooling. The theoretical result is applied to predict thermal effects of this geometry which ultimately limit the laser performance, and the design of such a laser. A flashlamp pumped rotating Nd-doped phosphate glass hollow cylinder laser has been demonstrated. An average power output of 300 W has been achieved at 3.8% slope efficiency and 2.6% overall efficiency. Our investigation shows that the development of a kilowatt average power rotating cylinder laser is feasible.     

Pulsed laser performance at 1.06 μm from Nd:SGGM

A single Xe gas filled flash lamp has been used to pump a Nd-doped SGGM rod 5 mm in diameter and 80 mm in length. Laser emission has been observed at 1.06 m in the free running mode of operation in the input energy range of 1–25 J. The laser performance has been evaluated using two different diffuse/filter combinations to block the ultraviolet radiation from the Xe lamp and the results have been compared. The intrinsic slope efficiency was determined to be approximately 1.5% with an 80% output coupler and a spectralon diffuser.