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.     

Intracavity—Doubled Self—Q—Switched Nd,Cr：YAG 946／473nm Microchip Laser

We carried out the operation of an intracavity frequency-doubled self-Q-switched Nd,Cr:YAG/NHbO3 946/473nm microchip laser pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser.The overall cavity length was about 4mm.The maximum average blue power of 12mW was achieved with a repetition rate of 13kHz at an absorbed pump ower of 545mW.The pulses of the 473nm laser had a duration of 7ns and a peak power of 132W at this pump level.The conversion efficiency was 2.2% with respect to the absorbed pump power of a 808nm laser.     

Fe:ZnSe laser pumped by a 2.93-μm Cr,Er:YAG laser

We demonstrated an Fe:ZnSe laser pumped by a 2.93-μm Cr, Er:YAG laser at liquid nitrogen and room temperature in single-shot free-running operation for the first time. The xenon flash lamp pumped Cr, Er:YAG laser had a maximum single pulse energy of 1.414 J, and the threshold and slope efficiency were 141.70 J and 0.70% which were respectively reduced by 29.3% and increased by 52.2% compared with the Er:YAG laser. At liquid nitrogen temperature of 77 K, the maximum single pulse energy of the Fe:ZnSe laser was 197.6 m J, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 13.4%. The central wavelength and full width at half maximum(FWHM) linewidth were 4037.4 nm and 122.0 nm, respectively. At room temperature, the laser generated a maximum single pulse energy of 3.5 mJ at the central wavelength of 4509.6 nm with an FWHM linewidth of 171.5 nm.     

Observation of self-Q-switching in bulk Yb:GdYSiO laser

We report the first self-Q-switched Yb-doped GdYSiO_5(Yb:GYSO) laser operating at 1080 nm.Stable Q-switched pulses with a repetition rate of 18.1 k Hz and pulse duration of 9.45 μs are obtained.A maximum average output power of452.6 m W is achieved with a 1% transmission output coupler.With a 3% transmission output coupler,the shortest pulse width of 6.6 μs is obtained.It demonstrates that Yb:GYSO crystal can be simultaneously employed as a saturable absorber and a gain medium to generate microsecond Q-switched pulses in the near infrared region.     

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 LiNbO3 (PPLN) was used as outer cavity frequency-doubling crystal and 561-nm laser was observed.     

Generation of 170-fs Laser Pulses at 1053nm by a Passively Mode-Locked Yb:YAG Laser

A novel method is developed to obtain 1.05μm laser operation with a Yb：YAG laser. By using a Yb：YAG crystal with proper length and doping concentration, a femtosecond Yb： YAG laser is realized at the central wavelength of 1053nm. The measured pulse duration and spectral bandwidth （FWHM） are 170fs and 7nm; the repetition rate is 80 MHz. Under a power pump of 2 W, an average mode-locking power of 180mW is achieved.     

Green Output of 1.5 W from a Diode-Pumped Intracavity Frequency-Doubled Self-Q-Switched and Mode-Locked Cr,Nd：YAG Laser

We report a diode-pumped intracavity frequency-doubled self-Q-switched and mode-locked Cr,Nd：YAG/KTP green laser with a Z-type cavity, which produces 1.5 W of average power at 532nm with incident pump power 14.2 W. The individual mode-locked green pulse duration is about 560ps with 149 MHz repetition rate. Almost 100% modulation depth of the mode-locked green pulses is achieved at an incident pump power of 4.13 W. The maximum energy of Q-switched green pulse is 19.8μJ. The experimental results of pulse duration and pulse energy of Q-switched green pulse agree well with the theoretical calculations.     

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.     

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.     

A passively Q-switched diode pumped Yb:YAG microchip laser

A passively Q-switched diode pumped Yb:YAG microchip laser with Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber mirror is reported. The TEMoo laser pulses are obtained with 1,7-uJ pulse energy, 15-ns pulse width, 0.11-kW peak power, and a repetition rate of 2.2 kHz at 1049 nm. The doped concentration and dimension of Yb:YAG microchip crystal are 10 at.-% and 5×0.6 mm2, respectively.     

Theoretical and experimental investigations of quasi-continuous wave diode array side-pumped Yb＇YAG slab laser

An analytical model of quasi-continuous wave (quasi-CW) diode array side-pumped slab laser for Yb:YAG oscillator in long-pulse free-running has been developed based on the CW model. In this model we first introduce a new parameter, pump pulse width, and make the model available for use in the quasi-CW model. We also give an analytical equation of laser delay time to calculate the laser pulse width. A detailed model is also presented for a new structure laser design, taking account of the geometry of Yb:YAG slab. A quasi-CW diode array side-pumped Yb:YAG slab laser is investigated theoretically and experimentally. Experiments yield a quasi-CW output energy up to 20.36 mJ with the laser pulse width of 654.55 μs at 1049 nm when the diode arrays operate at 25 Hz and 1 ms pulse width. The crystal dimensions are 3 mm×8 mm×1 mm and the doping density is 10 at.%. The experimental results are in good agreement with the predictions of the theoretical model.     

A high-power high-stability Q-switched green laser with intracavity frequency doubling using a diode-pumped composite ceramic Nd：YAG laser

We successfully obtain a high-average-power high-stability Q-switched green laser based on diode-side-pumped composite ceramic Nd:YAG in a straight plano-concave cavity. The temperature distribution in composite ceramic Nd:YAG crystal is numerically analyzed and compared with that of conventional Nd:YAG crystal. By using a composite ceramic Nd:YAG rod and a type-II high gray track resistance KTP (HGTR-KTP) crystal, a green laser with an average output power of 165 W is obtained at a repetition rate of 25 kHz, with a diode-to-green optical conversion of 14.68%, and a pulse width of 162 ns. To the best of our knowledge, both the output power and optical-to-optical efficiency are the highest values for green laser systems with intracavity frequency doubling of this novel composite ceramic Nd:YAG laser to date. The power fluctuation at around 160 W is lower than 0.3% in 2.5 hours.     

Diode-Pumped Passive Q-Switched 946-nm Nd：YAG Laser with 2.1-W Average Output Power

We demonstrate a diode-pumped passive Q-switched 946nm Nd: YAG laser with a diffusion-bonded composite laser rod and a co-doped Nd, Cr:YAG as saturable absorber. The average output power of 2.1 W is generated at an incident pump power of 14.3 W. The peak power of the Q-switched pulse is 643 W with 80kHz repetition rate and 40.8 ns pulse width. The slope efficiency and optical conversion efficiency are 17.6% and 14.7%, respectively.     

Radially polarized and passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with composite structure of gain medium

We report on a radially polarized and passively Q-switched Nd:YAG/Cr4+:YAG laser.The bulk Nd:YAG crystal is bonded with two undoped YAG crystal end caps to weaken the thermal lens e?ect and thus,enhance the extraction of stored energy in the bulk gain material.In the absence of active water cooling,the average laser power reaches 383 mW with 33% slope efficiency,and the laser pulse achieves 1.457-W peak power,18.9-ns duration,and 13.9-kHz repetition rate with 97.6% polarization purity.     

Diode-Pumped Self-Q-Switched Cr,Nd：YAG Laser with High Average Output Power

A diode end-pumped self-Q-switched Cr,Nd:YAG laser was established with pulse duration in the range of 8-10ns. The maximum average output power was 4.4 W and the slope efficiency was 27% using an output coupler of R=70%. At pumping power of 17.4 W the laser produces high-quality pulses at 1064 nm in a TEMoo-mode.     

Compact High—Power Blue Light from a Diode—Pumped Intracavity—Doubled Nd：YAG Laser

We report an efficient continuous wave(cw) operationof 946nm and 473nm laser beams generated from a diodepumped composte Nd:YAG rod.A very simple compact linear cavity was employed with cavity length of 35mm.A composite Nd:YAG laser rod was used to release thermal effects.The maximum cw output of 3.3W at 946nm was obtained with slope efficiency of 22% at incident pump power of 17.5W.By intracavity doubling with an LBO crystal,as much as 590mW of single-ended blue output at 473nm was achieved with an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 3.4%.The total blue output would be 1.06W with overall conversion efficiency of 6.1% if the lasers emitted in both the directions were taken into account.     

Diode-pumped efficient laser action of Yb~(3+):LYSO crystal

Effective diode-pumped continuous wave (CW) tunable laser action of a new alloyed crystal Yb:LYSO is demonstrated. The alloyed LYSO crystal possesses the desirable physical and laser performance of La2SiO5 (LSO), as well as the favorable growth properties and costs of Y2SiO5 (YSO) in the same time. With a 5 at.-% Yb:LYSO sample, the output power of 2.84 W at 1085 nm and an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 54.5% are achieved. Its laser wavelength can be tuned over a broad range of 81 nm, from 1030 to 1111 nm.     

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.     

High power CW and diode-side-pumped Q-switched operation of a Nd：YAG 1319-nm laser

We demonstrated the highly efficient continuous wave （CW） and Q-switched infrared laser from a diode- side-pumped Nd：YAG crystal. A CW output as high as 66 W at 1319 nm was achieved under the pump power of 460 W, corresponding to a coversion efficiency of 14.3%. A maximum average power of 8.9 W of TEM00 mode was obtained in Q-switched operation at the repetition rate of 8 kHz. The performance of the laser considering the thermal lens effect induced by pump power was also analyzed.     

A Continuous-Wave Diode-Side-Pumped Tm:YAG Laser with Output 51W

A compact diode-side-pumped Tm：YAG laser is presented, which can output 51 W of cw power at 2.02 μm. The Tm：YAG rod is side pumped by nine diode arrays with the central wavelength of 783nm and the with bandwidth of about 2.5 nm at 25^o C. To decrease the thermal effect on the both ends and dissipate the heat effectively, one composite Tm：YAG rod with the undoped YAG end caps and the screw threads on the side surface of the rod is used as the laser crystal. The maximum optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of the 2.02-μm laser output is 14.2%, with a slope effciency of 26.8%