Diode-pumped Nd:LGS laser emitting at 888 nm

We present what is, to the best of our knowledge, the first diode-pumped Nd:La₃Ga₅SiO₁₄ (Nd:LGS) laser emitting at 888 nm, based on the ⁴ F _3/2-⁴ I _9/2 transition, generally used for a 904 nm emission. The use of a pump module with 16 passes through the crystal allowed the realization of a Nd:LGS thin-disk laser with 1.41 W of continuous wave (cw) output power at 888 nm. Moreover, intracavity second-harmonic generation (SHG) in cw mode has also been demonstrated with a power of 221 mW at 444 nm by using a BiB₃O₆ (BiBO) nonlinear crystal.     

Diode-pumped continuous-wave eye-safe Nd:YAG laser at 1415 nm

We describe the output performance of the 1415 nm emission in Nd:YAG in a plane-concave cavity under traditional pumping into the 4F5/2 level (808 nm) and direct in-band pumping into the 4F3/2 level (885 nm). An end-pumped Nd:YAG laser yielded maximum cw output power of 6.3 W and 4.2 W at 885 nm and 808 nm laser diode (LD) pumping, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output power of a LD-pumped 1415 nm laser.     

Diode-pumped cw Nd:YAG three-level laser at 869 nm

We report for the first time (to our knowledge) a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser emitting at 869 nm based on the (4)F(3/2)-(4)I(9/2) transition, generally used for a 946 nm emission. Power of 453 mW at 869 nm has been achieved in cw operation with a fiber-coupled laser diode emitting 35.4 W at 809 nm. Intracavity second-harmonic generation in the cw mode has also been demonstrated with power of 118 mW at 435 nm by using a BiB(3)O(6) nonlinear crystal. In our experiment, we used a LiNbO(3) crystal lens to complement the thermal lens of the laser rod, and we obtained good beam quality and high output power stability.     

Diode-pumped Nd:GAGG-LBO laser at 531 nm

We report a green laser at 531 nm generation by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous wave (cw) laser operation of a 1062 nm Nd:GAGG laser under in-band diode pumping at 808 nm. A LiB₃O₅ (LBO) 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 18.5 W, as high as 933 mW of cw output power at 531 nm is achieved. The fluctuation of the green output power was better than 3.5% in the given 4 h.     

High energy flash-lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1073.8 nm

A flash-lamp pumped Nd:YAG laser emitting 1073.8 nm is demonstrated. A thin film polarizer is inserted into the cavity for generating linearly polarized lasers. With incident pump energy of 69.6 J and pulse repetition rate of 1 Hz, output pulse energy of up to 487 mJ is obtained from a 1.0 at % Nd-doped Nd:YAG rod with a size of Ø6 mm × 110 mm. And the polarization ratio is more than 1000:1 at the output pulse energy of 487 mJ. The beam quality factors in the two orthogonal directions are 24.4 ± 0.2 and 24.6 ± 0.2, respectively.     

High power and highly efficient Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1123 nm

A diode-end-pumped continuous-wave (CW) Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1123 nm is realized efficiently in a 25-mm-long cavity. A composite Nd:YAG (cNd:YAG) crystal is selected as the gain medium. With an incident diode power of 26.1 W, an output power of up to 9.3 W is obtained, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 35.6%. The laser performances at 1123 nm are compared between composite Nd:YAG and common Nd:YAG crystals. The results show that composite Nd:YAG is a better choice for 1123-nm laser generations.     

Diode-pumped quasi-three-level Nd:CLNGG laser at 928 nm

We describe the output performances of the 928 nm ⁴ F _3/2 → ⁴ I _9/2 transition in Nd:CLNGG under diode-laser pumping. An end-pumped Nd:CLNGG crystal yielded 1.3 W of continuous-wave output power for 17.8 W of absorbed pump power. The slope efficiency with respect to the absorbed pump power was 11.2%. Furthermore, with 17.8 W of diode pump power and the frequency-doubling crystal LiB₃O₅ (LBO), a maximum output power of 260 mW in the blue spectral range at 464 nm has been achieved. The blue output power stability over 4 h is better than 3.2%.     

Diode-pumped continuous-wave Nd:YLF laser at 1313 nm

We present an efficiency Nd:LiYF₄ (Nd:YLF) laser operating at 1313 nm pumped directly into the emitting level ⁴ F _3/2. At the incident pump power of 10.3 W, as high as 3.1 W of continuous-wave output power at 1313 nm is achieved. The slope efficiency with respect to the incident pump power was 36.1%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of such a laser system. Comparative results obtained for the pump with diode laser at 806 nm, into the highly absorbing ⁴ F _5/2 level, are given in order to prove the advantages of the 880 nm wavelength pumping.     

Diode-pumped Nd:YVO(4)/Yb:S-FAP laser emitting at 985 and 492.5 nm

For the first time, to the best of our knowledge, Yb:S-FAP crystals have been intracavity pumped by a Nd:YVO(4) laser at 914 nm. This original pumping scheme allows efficient laser action on the three-level transition at 985 nm with 1.4 W output power. Second-harmonic generation is also presented with a total output power of 120 mW at 492.5 nm.     

Diode-pumped Nd:LGS intracavity-doubled green laser at 532 nm

It is reported that efficient continuous-wave (CW) green laser generation at 532 nm in a KTP crystal at type-II phase matching direction performed with a diode-pumped Nd:LGS laser. With incident pump power of 18.2 W, output power of 2.68 W at 532 nm has been obtained using a 5 mm-long KTP crystal. The optical conversion efficiency was up to 14.7%. At the output power level of 2.68 W, the output stability is better than 3.5%. The beam quality M ² values were equal to 1.33 and 1.19 in X and Y directions, respectively.     

Diode-pumped Nd:LGS/LBO laser at 452 nm

We report a blue laser at 452 nm generation by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous wave (cw) laser operation of a 904 nm Nd:LGS laser under 808 nm diode pumping. A LiB₃O₅ (LBO) crystal, cut for critical type I phase matching at room temperature is used for second harmonic generation (SHG) of the laser. At an incident pump power of 17.8 W, as high as 1.14 W of cw output power at 452 nm is achieved. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency is up to 6.4%, and the fluctuation of the blue output power was better than 4.1% in the given 30 min.     

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

Diode-pumped Nd:YCOB self-frequency-doubling green laser at 530 nm

It is reported that efficient continuous-wave (CW) self-frequency-doubling green laser at 530 nm performed with a diode-pumped Nd³⁺:YCa₄O(BO₃)₃ (Nd:YCOB) laser. With a diode pump power of 14.3 W, TEM₀₀ mode green laser at 530 nm of 1.07 W is obtained. At the output power level of 1.07 mW, the output stability is better than 5%. The beam quality M² value is about 1.37. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest power laser at 530 nm generated by self-frequency doubling of a diode pumped Nd:YCOB laser.     

Diode-pumped Nd:YCOB self-frequency-doubling blue laser at 468 nm

We report a continuous-wave (CW) self-frequency-doubling blue laser at 468 nm by a diodepumped Nd³⁺:YCa₄O(BO₃)₃ (Nd:YCOB) laser. With 14.3 W of diode pump power, a maximum output power of 211 mW in the blue spectral range at 468 nm has been achieved. The beam quality M² values were equal to 1.16 and 1.23 in X and Y directions, respectively. The output power stability over 30 min is better than 5%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest power laser at 468 nm generated by self-frequency doubling of a diode pumped Nd:YCOB laser.     

Diode-pumped Nd:YCOB self-frequency-doubling red laser at 666 nm

It is reported that efficient continuous-wave (CW) self-frequency-doubling red laser at 666 nm performed with a diode-pumped Nd³⁺:YCa₄O(BO₃)₃ (Nd:YCOB) laser. With a diode pump power of 14.3 W, TEM₀₀ mode red laser at 666 nm of 570 mW is obtained. At the output power level of 570 mW, the output stability is better than 3.5%. The beam quality M² value is about 1.25. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest power laser at 666 nm generated by self-frequency doubling of a diode pumped Nd:YCOB laser.     

Nd:YAG laser pumped at 946 nm

A Nd:YAG laser crystal was pumped at 946 nm and lased at 1064 nm. This pump-lase format was investigated in order to reduce the quantum defect between the pump and laser photons as compared to other pump schemes of this material. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first realization of this scheme. A room temperature absorption coefficient and linewidth of approximately 0.075 cm(-1) and approximately 1 nm for 1% at. Nd(+3) concentrations were measured for the 946 nm absorption line. Those parameters impose both narrow-bandwidth pumping and a long absorption path. By increasing the laser crystal temperature above room temperature, the absorption cross sections at 946 and 938 nm increase due to enhanced thermal population of the upper energy level of the ground manifold. The possibility of exploiting this phenomenon to enhance the pump absorption is also discussed.     

Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser at 914 nm

We demonstrate, for the first time, to our knowledge, a diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser, operating on the 4F(3/2)-4I(9/2) transition of the neodymium ion at 914 nm. We obtained 8.8 ps pulses at approximately 914 nm at a repetition rate of 94 MHz, and an averaged output power of 87 mW by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror.     

Diode-pumped Nd:GGG laser at 937 nm under direct pumping

A diode-pumped 937 nm Nd:GGG laser operating on the quasi-three-level under direct pumping at wavelength of around 882 nm is demonstrated, and its performances are investigated. A maximum output power of 358 mW at 937 nm was achieved at absorbed pump power of 4.8 W. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency and the slope efficiency relative to absorbed power were 7.5 and 11.2%, respectively.     

Diode-pumped continuous-wave Nd:LuVO4 laser operating at 916 nm

We realized an efficient diode-pumped Nd:LuVO4 continuous-wave (CW) laser operating at 916 nm. Laser experiments with 0.5 at. % Nd-doped Nd:LuVO4 crystals of various lengths and cutting directions were also investigated. The maximum output power of 930 mW was obtained with a slope efficiency of 27.2% and an optical conversion efficiency of 20.8% at the absorbed pump power of 4.5 W. The laser experiment shows that Nd:LuVO4 crystal can be used for an efficient diode-pumped laser system.     

1064 nm Nd:YAG laser intracavity pumped at 946 nm

We present for the first time a Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1064 nm intracavity pumped by a 946 nm diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser. A 885 nm laser diode is used to pump the first Nd:YAG crystal emitting at 946 nm, and the second Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1064 nm intracavity pumped at 946 nm. We achieved an output power of 7.97 W at 1064 nm for an absorbed pump power at 946 nm of 9.55 W, corresponding to an optical efficiency of 83.4%. The beam quality M² quality factor is about 1.1 at the maximum output power.