All-solid-state 543 nm green laser generated by frequency doubling of a diode pumped Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser at 1086 nm

An efficient and compact green laser at 543 nm is generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous wave (CW) laser operation of a diode pumped Nd:YVO₄ laser at 1086 nm under the condition of suppression the higher gain transition near 1064 nm. With 10 W diode pump power and a frequency doubling crystal LBO, as high as 2.13 W of CW output power at 543 nm is achieved, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 21.3% and the output power stability in 3 h is better than 2.27%.     

All-solid-state continuous-wave frequency doubling Nd:LuVO4/LBO laser with 2.17 W output power at 543 nm

Efficient and compact green-yellow laser output at 543 nm is generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a CW diode-pumped Nd:LuVO₄ laser at 1086 nm under the condition of suppressing the higher gain transition near 1064 nm. With 16 W of diode pump power and the frequency-doubling crystal LBO, as high as 2.17 W of CW output power at 543 nm is achieved, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 13.6% and the output power stability over 8 hours is better than 2.86%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest watt-level laser at 543 nm generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode pumped Nd:LuVO₄ laser at 1086 nm.     

Nd:YVO4自受激拉曼激光器调Q锁模特性

利用Nd:YVO4激光晶体的自受激拉曼效应,结合Cr:YAG被动锁模技术和倍频技术,实现了结构紧凑的1176 nm和588 nm黄光锁模激光输出。激光器为LD端面泵浦,三镜折叠腔结构,并且采用了透过率为10%的输出镜。Nd:YVO4晶体长度为10 mm,Nd3+离子掺杂质量分数为0.2%,Cr:YAG晶体的初始透过率为67%。10 W激光泵浦时,1176 nm激光平均输出功率为123 mW,调Q包络宽度为6 ns,调Q包络内的锁模脉冲重复频率高达1 GHz。588.2 nm 黄光的平均输出功率为8 mW。     

Passively Q-switched <Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis>-cut Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> self-Raman laser

A passively Q-switched a-cut Nd:YVO₄ self-stimulating Raman laser using a Cr:YAG saturable absorber has been demonstrated for the first time. The maximum average output power of the self-Raman laser at 1176 nm is 347 mW at the incident pump power of 10 W with a pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 66 kHz. The pulse width, pulse energy of the 1176 nm are found to be 10 ns and 5.6 μJ. The conversion efficiency from diode laser input power to Raman output power is 3.47%.     

High-power passively Q-switched Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> UV laser at 355 nm

We report on an efficient high-power passively Q-switched UV laser at 355 nm. We take into account the second threshold criterion and the thermal-lensing effect to design and realize a compact reliable passively Q-switched Nd:YVO₄ laser with Cr⁴⁺:YAG as a saturable absorber. At an incident pump power of 16.3 W, the average output power at 1064 nm reaches 6.2 W with a pulse width of 7 ns and a pulse repetition rate of 56 kHz. Employing the developed passively Q-switched laser to perform the extra-cavity harmonic generations, the maximum average output powers at 532 nm and 355 nm are up to 2.2 W and 1.62 W, respectively.     

Continuous-wave Nd:YVO4/KTiOPO4 green laser at 542 nm under diode pumping into the emitting level

We report a green laser at 542 nm generation by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous wave (CW) laser operation of a 1086 nm Nd:YVO₄ laser under 880 nm diode pumping into the emitting level ⁴ F _3/2. A KTiOPO₄ (KTP) 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 14.5 W, as high as 1.33 W of CW output power at 542 nm is achieved. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is up to 9.2%, and the fluctuation of the green output power was better than 3.8% in the given 30 min.     

LD-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 infrared and green lasers

A laser diode directly end-pumped, passively Q-switched Nd:YVO₄/Cr:YAG laser is presented in this paper. With 600 mW incident pump laser, Q-switched 1064 nm laser with an average power of 138 mW, pulse width of 19.8 ns, repetition rate of 170.1 kHz and peak power of 40.96 W is obtained. When a KTP crystal was inserted into the cavity, Q-switched 532 nm laser with an average power of 56 mW, pulse width of 28.4 ns, repetition rate of 118.2 kHz and peak power of 16.7 W is obtained at last.     

LD-pumped Q-switched Nd:YVO4 self-Raman laser

LD-pumped actively Q-switched Nd:YVO₄ self-Raman laser is presented. The maximum average output power of the self-Raman laser at 1173.6 nm was obtained to be 2.21 W at the incident pump power of 18 W and the pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of 30 kHz, with the corresponding optical conversion efficiency of 12.28%.     

Passively Q-switched laser operation in a composite Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>/Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>/Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> crystal with a single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber

By using a piece of single-walled carbon nanotube saturable absorber, the performance of the passively Q-switched composite Nd:YVO₄ laser has been demonstrated for the first time. The maximum average output power and the shortest pulse width are 1220 mW and 103 ns at the incident pump power of 5.04 W for a 10% transmission of the output coupler. The highest pulse repetition rate of 415.6 kHz and the largest single-pulse energy of 2.94 μJ are also obtained. The composite Nd:YVO₄ crystal has more excellent laser performance than the normal Nd:YVO₄ crystal at 1064 nm.     

Compact passively Q-switched green laser with periodically poled MgO:LiNbO<Subscript>3</Subscript>

Passively Q-switched green output with Cr⁴⁺:YAG as saturable absorber and PPMgLN as the frequency doubling crystal was realized in a compact diode end-pumped Nd:YVO₄ laser. The green light output power, pulse width, pulse repetition rate, pulse energy and peak power with three Cr⁴⁺:YAG of different initial transmissions were investigated. The maximum average output power was 1.2 W at the pump power of 4.0 W and the maximum conversion efficiency was 30% with the Cr⁴⁺:YAG of 90% initial transmission. The maximum pulse energy and minimum pulse width were 10.9 μJ and 12 ns with the Cr⁴⁺:YAG of 75% initial transmission.     

Eye-safe Raman laser at 1532 nm with BaWO<Subscript>4</Subscript> crystal under direct 880 nm pumping

A highly efficient 880 nm laser diode pumped actively Q-switched Nd:YVO₄/BaWO₄ eye-safe Raman laser is demonstrated. With an absorbed pump power of 10.9 W, 1.7 W of average output power at the Stokes wave-length is generated at a PRF of 40 kHz, corresponding to a diode-to-Stokes conversion efficiency of 15.6%.     

Efficient 532 nm laser using high gray-tracking resistance KTP crystal

A LD end-pumped acoustic-optic Q-switched intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:YVO₄ laser was demonstrated. It uses a high gray-tracking resistance KTP crystal as nonlinear optical crystal. The output characteristics of 532 nm green laser using different doping concentrations and cavity configurations were investigated. With the pump power of 27.5 W, a maximum average power of 13 W at 532 nm was achieved at a pulse repetition rate of 80 kHz, corresponding to the optical-to-optical efficiency of 47.3%. The pulse width is 30 ns and single pulse energy is up to 162.5 μJ. This work is a significant exploration for using a high gray-tracking resistance KTP crystal to generate highly efficient frequency-doubled green laser.     

High-power eye-safe KTA-OPO driven by YVO4/Nd:YVO4 composite laser

We present a high-power 1.53 μm laser based on intracavity KTA-OPO driven by diode-end-pumped acousto-optical Q-switched YVO₄/Nd:YVO₄ composite. The composite crystal was utilized for reducing the thermal effect, and the mode mismatch compensating OPO cavity was designed for efficient OPO conversion. The output power of eye-safe laser at 1535 nm was up to 4.4 W with the pump power of 27 W, corresponding to a diode-to-signal conversion efficiency of 16.3%. To our knowledge, this is the highest output power in diode-end-pumped circumstances. In the experiment, the strong yellow light generated by Raman conversion and frequency doubling in the KTA crystal was observed.     

Passively Q-switched laser performance of a diode-pump mixed Nd:Lu<Subscript>0.15</Subscript>Y<Subscript>0.85</Subscript>VO<Subscript>4</Subscript> crystal

A diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:Lu_0.15Y_0.85VO₄ laser with a GaAs output coupler is demonstrated. By using a mixed crystal Nd:Lu_0.15Y_0.85VO₄ as laser medium, the passively Q-switched laser can generate shorter pulse width with higher peak power in comparison with the passively Q-switched Nd:LuVO₄ or Nd:YVO₄ lasers under the same laser cavity. At the incident pump power 11.9 W, the minimum pulse width of 3.23 ns and the maximum peak power 1.67 kW can be obtained. The average output power and the pulse repetition rate of the laser are also measured. The experimental results show that the mixed crystal is a promising laser medium for shorter Q-switched pulse with higher peak power.     

The first-stokes pulse generation in Nd:KGW intracavity driven by a diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG/Cr<Superscript>4+</Superscript>:YAG laser

The operation of an all solid-state pulsed Nd:KGW Raman laser pumped by compact passively Q-switched Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG laser is demonstrated. The first-Stokes radiation of stimulated Nd:KGW Raman scattering at the 1178 nm is generated. The average output power of 336 mW at Stokes wavelength was obtained under the laser diode pump power of 5.74 W. The corresponding optical efficiency from the diode light to the Raman output is 9.85%. The pulse width of 1.65 ns and a pulse repetition rate of 10 kHz were also obtained.     

All-solid-state continuous-wave frequency doubling Nd:YLF/LBO laser with 2.15 W output power at 526 nm

An efficient and compact green laser at 526 nm generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous wave (CW) laser operation of a diode pumped Nd:YLF laser at 1053 nm under the condition of suppression the high gain transition at 1047 nm. With 19.5 W diode pump power and a frequency doubling crystal LBO, as high as 2.15 W of CW output power at 526 nm is achieved, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 11.2% and the output power stability in 8 h is better than 2.87%. To the best of our knowledge, this it the highest watt-level laser at 526 nm generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode pumped Nd:YLF laser at 1053 nm.     

Low threshold, actively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 self-Raman laser and frequency doubled 588 nm yellow laser

We reported an actively Q-switched, intracavity Nd³⁺:YVO₄ self-Raman laser at 1176 nm with low threshold and high efficiency. From the extracavity frequency doubling by use of LBO nonlinear crystal, over 3.5 mW, 588 nm yellow laser is achieved. The maximum Raman laser output at is 182 mW with 1.8 W incident pump power. The threshold is only 370 mW at a pulse repetition frequency of 5 kHz. The optical conversion efficiency from incident to the Raman laser is 10%, and 1.9% from Raman laser to the yellow.     

Analytical and Experimental Studies on Nd:YVO4/KTP Lasers Pumped by High-brightness Laser Diodes

We report analytical and experimental studies on the characteristics of a high-brightness laser diode endpumped Nd:YVO₄/KTP laser. A simple model was developed to optimize the cavity parameters and estimate the green output power of intracavity frequency doubled lasers. Using a 1 W high-brightness laser diode as the pump source, high efficiency operation was realized. The second-harmonic output power at 532 nm was measured to be 286.5 mW at an incident pump power of 881.4 mW, corresponding to an optical to optical efficiency of 32.5%.     

LD-pumped single-frequency passively Q-switched green laser

A LD-pumped single-frequency passively Q-switched Nd: YVO₄/KTP/Cr:YAG green laser is presented. Cr:YAG plays the double role of a passive Q-switch and a Brewster plate. With 900 mW incident pump laser, single-frequency passively Q-switched green laser with average power of 86 mW, pulse width of 14.7 ns, repetition rate of 140.8 kHz and peak power of 41.6 W is obtained. Measurement shows that the pulse amplitude and period between pulses are stable within ±1.5%.     

Continuous-wave passively mode-locked Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>/KTP green laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror

A diode-pumped passively mode-locked low-doped Nd:YVO₄ green laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) and an intracavity frequency-doubling KTP crystal is demonstrated. In order to efficiently release the thermal effect, a low-doped Nd:YVO₄ crystal with the Nd³⁺ concentration of 0.1 at % is employed as the gain medium. The maximum average output power of 3.1 W at 532 nm with a repetition rate of 102 MHz is obtained under the pump power of 25 W, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 12.4%. The 532 nm mode locked pulse width is estimated to be approximately 6.1 ps.