8.9-W continuous-wave, diode-end-pumped all-solid-state Nd:YVO4 laser operating at 914 nm

A high power laser-diode-array end-pumped 0.2 at % Nd:YVO₄ continuous-wave (CW) laser operating at 914 nm is reported in this letter. The maximum output power of 8.9 W was obtained at the incident pump power of 48.0 W, giving the corresponding optical efficiency of 18.5% and the average slope efficiency of 25.7%. The beam quality factor was measured to be M ² = 2.71 at the output power of 8.0 W by the traveling knife-edge method.     

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.     

A compact efficient continuous-wave self-frequency Raman laser with a composite YVO4/Nd:YVO4/YVO4 crystal

We report a low-threshold continuous-wave self-Raman laser with a composite YVO₄/Nd:YVO₄/YVO₄ crystal. The use of the composite crystal can reduce the thermal effects and achieve the low-threshold and high Raman output operation. The Raman threshold is as low as 2.2 W for the 808-nm diode pump. Under the pump of a diode power of 25.5 W, the highest Raman output of 2.8 W is obtained at 1175 nm, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 12% and a diode-to-Stokes optical conversion efficiency of 11%. The power fluctuation is less than 1.1% under the highest Raman output.     

912 nm laser operation in diode-pumped grown-together composite Nd:GdVO4/GdVO4 crystal

Novel grown-together Nd:GdVO₄/GdVO₄ composite crystals were presented for the first time, which would be longitudinally pumped by 808 nm diode-laser to efficiently operate on continuous-wave (CW) 912 nm laser at room temperature. The maximum output power of 8.15 W at 912 nm laser was obtained successfully at the absorbed pump power of 28.0 W, giving the corresponding optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 29.1% and the average slope-efficiency of 44.2%. Comparative experimental results show that the laser performance was influenced significantly by the Nd³⁺-doped concentration of the crystals, which would be optimized according to its energy-transfer upconversion (ETU) spectrum.     

LD泵浦Nd:YVO4/LBO单频671 nm激光器

利用半导体激光器(LD)端面抽运位于四镜环行腔中的Nd:YVO4晶体,保证激光器单频运转的腔内光学单向器由TGG和λ/2波片构成.腔内倍频晶体选用Ⅰ类临界相位匹配LBO晶体,我们获得了输出功率为360 mW,波长为671 nm的单频红光.     

Study on optical characteristics of Nd:YVO4/YVO4 composite crystal laser

Thermal effect in crystals is the main obstacle blocking diode-pumped solid state laser to get high and stable output power. Diffusion bonding crystal has been demonstrated to be an effective method to relieve the thermal lensing theoretically based on the numerical heat analysis to the end-pumped anisotropic laser crystal. The temperature distributions in Nd:YVO4/YVO4 composite crystal and conventional crystal were analyzed and compared. The end-pumped Nd:YVO4/YVO4 composite crystal laser was designed and set up with z-cavity. The maximum output powers of 9.87 W at 1064 nm and 6.14 W at 532 nm were obtained at the incident pump power of 16.5 W. The highest optical-optical conversion efficiencies were up to 59.8% at 1064 nm and 37.2% at 532 nm respectively.     

Passively mode-locked 914-nm Nd:YVO4 laser

We demonstrate what is to our knowledge the first mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser operating on the 4F3/2-4I9/2 transition at 914 nm. Using a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror for passive mode locking, we have obtained 3-ps pulses at a repetition rate of 233.8 MHz. The laser is based on a standard delta cavity and is pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser. We obtained an average output power of 42 mW through one mirror and an accumulated output power of approximately 150 mW (through all cavity mirrors) at a pump power of 1.4 W.     

声光调Q的Nd:YVO4晶体1342 nm激光器

报道了采用光纤耦合激光二极管(LD)模块端面抽运Nd:YVO4晶体实现高功率、高重复频率声光调Q 1342 nm波长的激光输出,以及采用考虑增益频谱分布的调Q速率方程模型仿真研究该脉冲激光器的结果.在激光器注入总功率40 W的情况下,可得到最高工作重复频率100 kHz;在50 kHz重复频率工作条件下,可得到11.0 W的平均输出功率及稳定的脉冲输出.应用与介质增益频谱相关的调Q速率方程模型对该脉冲激光器进行了仿真研究,得到了脉冲宽度、脉冲峰值功率、脉冲建立时间等计算结果,还给出了输出在频谱上的分布以及谱宽,并与实验结果进行了比较.考虑增益频谱分布的调Q速率方程模型不仅可以应用于分析、设计脉冲激光器的频谱,而且由于考虑了增益在频谱上的实际分布,基于该模型的仿真计算可以获得比传统单频调Q速率方程更为接近实际的结果.     

激光二极管泵浦Nd:YVO4/YVO4复合晶体绿光激光器

采用一种新型的Nd:YVO4/YVO4复合晶体,利用V型折叠腔,研究了高功率激光二极管端面泵浦的Nd:YVO4/YVO4复合晶体激光器基频1.06 μm及倍频532 nm激光的输出特性.当泵浦功率为24.6 W时,获得1.06 μm激光的最大输出功率为11.7 W,光-光转换效率为48%.当泵浦功率为17 W时,获得了5.32 W的绿光输出,光-光转换效率达到31.3%.     

激光二极管端面抽运Nd:YVO4实现1386 nm连续波激光输出

在Nd:YVO4晶体的4F3/2-4I13/2跃迁带内,除了1342 nm激光辐射之外,其它的跃迁谱线由于小的受激发射截面和强的寄生振荡,很难形成激光振荡.通过调整谐振腔损耗,获得了光纤耦合激光二极管端面抽运1386 nmNd:YVO4激光器激光连续输出.在抽运功率达到4.24 W时,得到了305 mW的1386 nm激光连续输出,最高输出功率下的斜效率为13.9%.实验中还观察到了1342 nm和1386 nm的双波长运转.根据抽运阈值能量和实验数据,计算得到了Nd:YVO4晶体中1386 nm激光辐射处的受激发射截面大约为(3±1)×10-19cm2.     

高稳定LD端面泵浦腔内倍频Nd∶YVO4/LBO连续红光激光器

设计出一种能够较好地补偿激光晶体热效应的激光谐振腔,实现了高稳定LD单端泵浦LBO腔内倍频Nd∶YVO4连续红光激光器.当晶体吸收的泵浦功率为24.56 W时,671 nm激光功率达到1.203 W,光-光转换效率4.9%,激光模式为TEM00模.在输出功率为1.08 W时,激光器1 h功率不稳定度为0.52%.     

高稳定LD泵浦腔内倍频Nd∶YVO4/KTP连续绿光激光器

设计出一种能够较好地补偿激光晶体热效应的激光谐振腔，实现了高稳定LD单端泵浦KTP腔内倍频Nd∶YVO₄连续绿光激光器.当晶体吸收的泵浦功率为24.56 W时，532 nm激光功率达到5.3 W，光-光转换效率达到21.6％，激光模式为TEM00模.在输出功率5W左右时，激光器1 h功率不稳定度优于0.6％     

LD泵浦Nd∶YVO4晶体LBO倍频457 nm蓝色激光器

用国产半导体激光二极管泵浦Nd∶YVO4晶体,在室温下获得914 nm激光连续输出，用Ⅰ类临界位相匹配LBO腔内倍频获得457 nm蓝色激光输出.当泵浦注入功率为1.7 W时倍频蓝激光最大输出达20 mW，光光转换效率为1.2%,功率稳定性24 h内优于±3%.     

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.     

A 15.1 W continuous wave TEM00 mode laser using a YVO4/Nd:YVO4 composite crystal

A effective continuous-wave (CW), high power laser generated using a YVO₄/Nd:YVO₄ composite crystal is presented. 18.8 W output power in multi-mode has been achieved with a maximum absorbed pump power of 31.2 W, corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 60.26%. In TEM₀₀ mode operation, 15.1 W output power also has been achieved with the maximum absorbed pump power of 31.2 W, corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 47.69%. With a 200 mm focal-length positive lens and using the moving knife-edge method, the beam quality factor is measured to be M² = 1.2 for TEM₀₀ mode beam.     

角抽运Nd:YAG复合板条946 nm连续运转激光器

报道了一种适合中小功率输出的全固态激光器的角抽运方法, 抽运光从板条激光器中板条晶体的角部入射, 可获得较高的抽运效率和较好的抽运均匀性.采用单角抽运方式, 首次进行了角抽运Nd:YAG复合板条946 nm连续运转激光器的实验研究. 激光腔采用紧凑型平凹直腔结构, 腔长仅为20 mm. 当注入抽运功率为50 W时, 946 nm激光连续输出功率最高达5.29 W, 光光转换效率为10.6%, 斜效率为12%. 整台激光器结构紧凑, 调谐简单, 成本低, 具有广阔的应用前景. 关键词： 角抽运 Nd:YAG晶体 连续波 946 nm激光     

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.     

Influence of neodymium concentration on the strength of thermal effects in continuous-wave diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 lasers at 1064 nm

The influence of neodymium ion concentration on the continuous-wave power performance of diode-pumped Nd:YVO₄ lasers was experimentally investigated by using three crystals of approximately the same total absorption but different Nd concentrations of 0.5, 1, and 3 at.%. In situ measurements indicate that strong thermal lensing occurs in the highly doped sample (3 at.% Nd) and precludes scaling of the output power to large values. Results also show that undesirable thermal effects are dramatically reduced with decreasing active-ion concentration. The best power performance was obtained with a 10-mm-long Nd:YVO₄ sample that had 0.5 at.% Nd. In this case, up to 6.5 W of continuous-wave output power was obtained at 1064 nm by using a 3% transmitting output coupler.     

High-brightness 2.4-W continuous-wave Nd:GdVO4 laser at 670 nm

We report on a diode-pumped 1.3-microm Nd:GdVO4 cw laser, intracavity doubled for highly efficient generation of red light. We obtained as much as 2.4 W of power at 670 nm (corresponding to 26% optical-to-optical efficiency) in a nearly TEM00 mode and with small amplitude noise. To the best of our knowledge, these results represent the highest performance at this wavelength for cw solid-state lasers.     

High power single-frequency continuous-wave Nd:YVO4 master-oscillator power amplifier

We report a highly-efficient, high-power, single-frequency Nd:YVO₄ master-oscillator power-amplifier with near-diffraction-limited output beam quality. A diode-pumped Nd:YVO₄ ring laser incorporating a passive method for suppressing axial-mode-hopping was employed as the master-oscillator, and was amplified by a three-stage diode-end-pumped Nd:YVO₄ amplifier, yielding 79 W of output with an extraction efficiency of 29%. The overall power gain was 15 dB for an input power from the master-oscillator of 2.4 W, and the M² parameter was less than 1.5 at the maximum power. The prospects for a further increase of power and brightness via this approach are considered. PACS 42.55.Xi; 42.60.Da; 42.60.Jf