Dye-laser-pumped Nd:GdCOB Self-frequency-doubling Laser

Nd:Ca4GDO(BO3)3, abbreviated as Nd:GdCOB, is a new multifunctional material for self-frequency-doubling green lasers. By using datachroom-5000 pulsed dye-laser as pumping source, we have achieved green laser output at 530.2 nm from a Nd:GdCOB crystal (7 mol-% Nd3+) uncoated HT film for 1.06 μm and 0.53 μm. The threshold energy is lower than 1.2 mJ. When the pumping energy is 17.5 mJ, the output energy of the green laser is 1.35 mJ and the corresponding conversion efficiency is 7.7%.     

Passively Q-switched self-frequency doubling Nd:Ca4GdO(BO3)3 laser with Cr:YAG saturable absorber

Nd³⁺ : Ca₄GdO(BO₃)₃, known as Nd : GdCOB, is a new self-frequency doubling laser crystal. Using Cr⁴⁺ : YAG as passive Q-switch, we have realized the Q-switched laser running at 0.53 μm with an Nd : GdCOB crystal. Meanwhile, the pulse width, the single pulse energy and the repetition rate under different small-signal transmission of Cr⁴⁺ : YAG and different pump conditions are measured and the numerical solutions of the coupling wave rate equations agree with the experimental results.     

High peak power Nd:YAG laser pumped by 600-W diode laser stack

The Q-switched laser with triangle slab made of Nd:YAG crystal side pumped by 600-W quasi-cw diode laser stack has been designed. The multimode (M²≈2.6) output energy of about 42 mJ was demonstrated in free running mode for110-mJ pump energy. In Q-switch experiments, the KDDP Pockels cell was placed between the slab and rear mirror in plane-plane cavity with output coupler of 84% transmission. The energy of 8 mJ in 2.1-ns pulse duration was obtained for near TEM₀₀ output beam. For passive Q-switching by means of Cr:YAG crystal of 12.6% unsaturated transmission, the energy of 5.1 mJ in 2.5-ns pulse duration was obtained for output beam close to TEM₀₀ mode.     

Study of passive Q-switching for flash-lamp-pumped 1.34-μm Nd:GdVO4 laser

The static laser performance of a-growth Nd:GdVO4 crystal (a-cut, 4 × 4 × 25 (mm)) at 1.34μm pumped by flash-lamp is investigated with different transmissions of output couplers. With the output coupler transmission of T = 30%, the static output energy of 148 mJ is obtained when the pump energy is 35.2 J,and the corresponding electric-optical conversion efficiency is 0.42%. The Q-switched output of lasers with the output wavelength ranging from 1.3 to 1.6 μm can be realized by using Co2+ :LaMgAl11O19 (Co:LMA)as saturable absorber. A flash-lamp-pumped, passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO4 laser with Co:LMA as saturable absorber is demonstrated in plano-concave laser cavity. With the cavity length of 16.3 cm and pump energy of 19.8 J, the single-pulse output energy, pulse width, and peak power are obtained to be 4m J, 80 ns, and 5 × 104 W, respectively.     

Compact eye-safe laser sources based on OPOs with KTP or PPKTP crystals

We report on compact eye-safe nanosecond laser sources emitting in the 1.5 μm wavelength range based on non-critically phase-matched parametric interaction in optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) with KTP and periodically poled KTP (PPKTP) crystals, pumped by the fundamental frequency of Nd:YAG lasers. As much as 250 μJ signal pulse energy at 1.5 μm wavelength, 6.5 ns FWHM pulse-width, has been obtained in a PPKTP-OPO, extracavity pumped by a Nd:YAG microlaser oscillator–amplifier at 650 μJ pump pulse energy, 8 ns pulse-width. A single signal pulse of 2.7-mJ output energy at 1.57 μm wavelength, less than 5 ns pulse-width, was generated in a KTP-OPO, intracavity pumped by a passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser.     

Actively Q-switched intracavity second-harmonic generation of 1.06 μm in BiB3O6 crystal

We have investigated the acousto-optically Q-switched intracavity second-harmonic generation of 1.06 μm in a 1.9-mm-long BiB₃O₆ crystal, cut for type-I phase-matching direction of (θ,)=(168.9°,90°), performed in a diode-end-pumped Nd:YVO₄ laser. When the incident pump power was 4.3 W at 30 kHz of pulse repetition frequency, a maximum average green output power of 480 mW, the shortest pulse with FWHM width of 72 ns, the highest single pulse energy of 16 μJ and the maximum peak power of 222 W were obtained, giving the corresponding optical conversion efficiency of 11.2%. The effect of varying temperature in BIBO crystal on the average green output power was also investigated.     

Spectroscopic and laser properties of Nd:Gd0.8La0.2VO4 crystal

The polarised absorption and fluorescence spectra of Nd:Gd_0.8La_0.2VO₄ crystal are measured and compared to those of Nd:GdVO₄. CW laser properties of diode-pumped Nd:Gd_0.8La_0.2VO₄ crystal operating at fundamental wavelengths of 1.06 and 1.34 μm, as well as when intracavity frequency-doubled to 532 and 670 nm, have been studied. The maximum output powers at 1.06 μm, 1.34 μm, 532 nm and 670 nm are 1.18 W, 671 mW, 206 mW and 42 mW respectively, at a diode-launched pump power of 2.9 W. The threshold pump powers are 80, 267, 7 and 15 mW respectively.     

Space phase matching and self-frequency-doubling red laser in Nd:GdCOB crystal

By using the calculation theory of the phase-matching direction and effective nonlinear coefficient of frequency doubling in biaxial crystal, we calculate the effective nonlinear coefficients at different frequency-doubling phase-matching directions of the three main fluorescent lines (936, 1060, 1331 nm) of Nd:GdCOB crystal. The space distribution curves of effective nonlinear coefficient are drawn. Two crystal specimens are cut at the optimal type I phase matching angles: for specimen 1, θ=65°, Φ=34.6° (the first octant); for specimen 2, θ=66.5°, Φ=145.5° (the second octant). When pumped by Datachroom-5000 pulsed dye laser, the output self-frequency-doubling red laser in specimen 2 is 0.62 mJ, and the corresponding conversion efficiency is 2.5%. Under the same pumping condition, the output red laser of specimen 1 is much smaller than that of specimen 2, which is well in agreement with the theoretical calculation.     

High-energy PPMgLN optical parametric oscillator pumped by a 1.064 μm E-O Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser

A high-energy PPMgLN optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a E-O Q-switched Nd:YAG laser working at 1.064 μm was successfully illustrated. A maximum output pulse energy of 3.4 mJ was obtained with a pump threshold of 1.5 mJ and a slope efficiency of 30% around room temperature. The OPO output signal and idler wavelength were 1552 and 3384 nm, respectively. The damage to the input surface of PPMgLN crystal was carefully observed with a damage threshold of 4.6 J/cm².     

High efficiency and high energy parametric wavelength conversion using a large aperture periodically poled MgO:LiNbO3

We have demonstrated an efficient high energy 2 μm laser generation with a 36 mm long large aperture 5 mol% MgO-doped periodically poled LiNbO₃ (PPMgLN) nonlinear optical crystal. A high power Q-switched Nd:YAG laser (1.064 μm) was used to pump the quasi-phase matched (QPM) optical parametric oscillator (OPO). A total output energy of 186 mJ with 58% slope efficiency was obtained in two separate beams at 2 μm.     

Optical parametric oscillators for high pulse energy and high average power operation based on large aperture periodically poled KTP and RTA

We report on optical parametric oscillators (OPOs) based on large aperture periodically poled KTiOPO₄ (PPKTP) and RbTiOAsO₄ (PPRTA) pumped with high pulse energy and high average power Q-switched solid-state lasers. The OPOs were pumped with 1064-nm pulses of a diode-pumped Nd:YVO₄ laser at 20 kHz repetition rate. The emitted signal wavelengths were 1.72 μm and 1.58 μm and the idler wavelengths were 2.79 μm and 3.26 μm, respectively. Pumping the PPKTP OPO with 7.2 W and the PPRTA OPO with 8 W average power, 2 W and 1.3 W total OPO output powers were generated. Two-dimensional measurements of the total OPO output power, the signal wavelength and the signal bandwidth in dependence on the crystal location indicated a good uniformity of the quasiphasematching structure over the entire 3-mm-thick crystals. This allowed pumping with larger pump beams and therefore with pulse energies of tens of millijoules. Pumping with different flash-lamp-pumped lasers, good OPO performance and high output pulse energies could be achieved for all pump lasers. Maximum input pulse energies of 56 mJ gave output pulse energies of as much as 18 mJ. The temperature tuning behaviors of both OPOs were measured, showing excellent agreement with calculated temperature tuning curves. New equations for temperature dispersion in RTA are presented. These results show that large-aperture PPKTP and PPRTA crystals are well suited for tunable nanosecond OPO operation with multi-watt average pump power and several tens of millijoules pump pulse energies. Received: 7 September 2001 / Published online: 7 November 2001     

High repetition rate passively Q-switched diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser

We demonstrated an efficient and compact, diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YVO₄ laser operation at 1.064 μm wavelength with high repetition rate, using Cr⁴⁺:YAG as saturable absorber, formed with a simple flat–flat resonator. The maximum CW output power of 4.05 W was obtained at the incident pump power of 8 W. For Q-switched operation, the maximum average output power was measured to be 1.4 W with the corresponding repetition rate of 200 kHz, the pulse width of 60 ns when the initial transmission of Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal was 85%. The shortest pulse width of 12 ns, the largest pulse energy of 36 μJ and the highest peak power of 3 kW were obtained when the Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal with an initial transmission of 60% was used.     

A diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO4 laser with a GaAs saturable absorption

We have demonstrated a passively Q-switched operation of Nd:GdVO₄ laser in which a GaAs crystal is used as the saturable absorber for the first time as far as we know. A maximum average output power of 1.64 W was obtained at an incident pump power of 12 W, the corresponding optical conversion efficiency and peak power were 13.7% and 116.8 W, respectively. The maximum peak energy obtained in the experiment by 50% transmission couple was 19 μJ.     

Passively Q-switched 1.32-μm Nd:YAG laser with a V:YAG saturable absorber

By using a new saturable absorber V³⁺:YAG, a flash-lamp-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 1.32 μm has been realized. The single-pulse energy and the pulse width of the output laser versus the pump energy are measured. With a cavity length of 440 mm and a pump energy of 43.4 J, the obtained single-pulse output energy and pulse width are 10 mJ and 86.9 ns, respectively, corresponding to a peak power of 115 kW.     

Three-level operation of a diode-bar-pumped Yb:S-FAP laser

We present an all solid-state Yb:S-FAP laser system running on the three-level laser transition at 985 nm. The pump source was a high fill-factor laser diode bar, with the output reformatted using a two-mirror beamshaping system to produce a rectangular pump beam that focused to a square spot. A nearly on-axis multipassing system was used to obtain four pump passes through a 1.6 mm Yb:S-FAP laser crystal. Gain-switched three-level laser output was achieved with an efficiency of 4.3% with respect to incident pump power. Electro-optic Q-switching produced 0.12 mJ pulses for a pump pulse energy of 11 mJ. Intra-cavity second-harmonic generation yielded a maximum pulse energy at 492.5 nm of 12 μJ.     

LD end pumped mode locked and cavity dumped Nd:YAP laser at 1.34 μm

We report a LD end pumped actively mode locked, passively Q switched and cavity dumped Nd:YAP laser at 1.34 μm. The dumped output pulse energy of 160 μJ is obtained at a repetition rate of 10 Hz. Passing through a LD end pumped, double-passed Nd:YAP amplifier the pulse energy is amplified to 1.44 mJ. The corresponding amplification factor is 9. Stimulated Raman scattering experiment is taken with a 9 mm long PbWO₄ Raman crystal. Maximum of 20% Raman conversion is reached.     

Passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO4 laser with GaAs saturable absorber

A xenon flash-lamp-pumped, passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO₄ laser with GaAs semiconductor saturable absorber is demonstrated. The static laser performance is investigated and the static output is 52 mJ when the pump energy is 9.45 J. The dynamic laser has the highest slope efficiency when the GaAs wafer is both the saturable absorber and output coupler. Pulses with duration of 64 ns and dynamic output of 47.6 mJ are obtained when the pump energy is 9.45 J. The highest dynamic–static ratio is 0.9:1. The coupled rate equations are used to simulate the Q-switched process of laser. The theoretical and experimental results are compared and discussed.     

Passively Q-switched Nd:LuVO4 laser using Cr:YAG as saturable absorber

A passively Q-switched all solid-state Nd:LuVO₄ 1.06 μm laser was demonstrated by using Cr⁴⁺:YAG as saturable absorber. The characteristics of average output power, pulse width, repetition rate, pulse energy, and peak power were studied with different output couplings and initial transmission of saturable absorbers. When output coupling with the transmission of 20% was used, the shortest pulse width of 16 ns at the repetition rate of 12.5 kHz was obtained, which results in the pulse energy of 71 μJ and peak power of 4.43 kW with the initial transmission of 70% of Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal.     

Efficient diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 continuous-wave laser at 1.34 μm

We report a high-power continuous-wave(cw) diode-pumped efficient 1.34 μm Nd:YVO₄ laser. The laser properties of a low Nd³⁺-doped concentration of the Nd:YVO₄ crystal operating at 1.34 μm formed with a simple plane-concave cavity have been demonstrated. With the incident pump power of 22 W, an output power of 8.24 W was obtained, giving an optical conversion efficiency of 37.5% and slope efficiency of 40%. The thermal effects of cw end-pumped solid-state lasers were studied.     

Comparative studies of eye-safe intracavity and extracavity optical parametric oscillators with an unstable telescopic cavity

We have experimentally studied the lasing characteristics of an eye-safe optical parametric oscillator (OPO) with an unstable telescopic cavity when it is placed inside (intracavity OPO) and outside (extracavity OPO) the plane-parallel cavity of a pulsed, nearly single-mode KGW:Nd pump laser. We used a KTP crystal as the nonlinear medium for the OPO. We have shown that the intracavity OPO has the higher lasing efficiency. We have observed that the distribution of nonlinear losses introduced by the intracavity OPO, nonuniform over the cavity cross section, leads to an increase in the diameter and divergence of the radiation beam from the pump laser and a dependence of its temporal lasing dynamics on the transverse beam coordinate. We propose a physical model qualitatively explaining the spatial and temporal lasing dynamics of a radiation source with an intracavity OPO. Both OPO versions generate beams of radiation with about the same divergence. When the KGW:Nd laser has an electrical pumping energy of 7.3 J and a cavity length of 77 cm, the intracavity OPO and the extracavity OPO emit pulses with energies of 14.5 mJ and 12.0 mJ and duration 18 nsec and 13 nsec respectively. The divergence of the eye-safe radiation (λ = 1.578 μm) at 86.5% of the total pulse energy is no greater than 5.5 mrad for an OPO output beam diameter of = 2 mm. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 73, No. 4, pp. 535–543, July–August, 2006.