Compact 584-nm light source based on sum-frequency mixing of diode pumped Nd:YLF lasers

A dual-wavelength continuous-wave (CW) diode end-pumped Nd:YLiF₄ (Nd:YLF) laser that generates simultaneous laser action at the wavelengths 1047 and 1321 nm is demonstrated. A total output power of 350 mW for the dual-wavelength was achieved. Furthermore, intracavity sum-frequency mixing at 1047 and 1321 nm was then realized in a LBO crystal to reach the yellow-green range. We obtained a total CW output power of 34 mW at 584 nm.     

Compact CW 485-nm laser based on sum-frequency mixing of diode pumped Nd:LuVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>-Yb:YAG lasers

We report for the first time a continuous-wave (CW) coherent radiation at 485 nm by intracavity sum-frequency generation of 916 nm Nd:LuVO₄ laser and 1030 nm Yb:YAG laser. Blue laser is obtained by using a doubly cavity, type-II critical phase matching KTP crystal sum-frequency mixing. With total pump power of 30.2 W, TEM₀₀ mode blue laser at 485 nm of 179 mW is obtained. The blue power stability in 30 min is better than 3%.     

480-nm blue laser based on sum-frequency mixing of diode pumped Nd:ASL-Yb:YAG lasers

We report for the first time a continuous-wave (CW) coherent radiation at 480 nm by intracavity sum-frequency generation of 900 nm Neodymium Doped Strontium and Lanthanum Aluminate (Nd:ASL) laser and 1030 nm Yb:Y₃Al₅O₁₂ (Yb:YAG) laser. Blue laser is obtained by using a doubly cavity, type-I critical phase matching LiB₃O₅ (LBO) crystal sum-frequency mixing. With total pump power of 28.6 W, the blue laser at 480 nm of 170 mW is obtained. At the output power level of 170 mW, the blue power stability is better than 4.7% and laser beam quality M ² factor is 1.43.     

494.5 nm generation by sum-frequency mixing of diode pumped neodymium lasers

We report a coherent radiation at 494.5 nm by intra-cavity sum-frequency generation of 912 nm Nd:GdVO₄ laser and 1080 nm Nd:CaYAlO₄ laser. Blue laser is obtained by using a doubly folded cavity, type-II critical phase matching KTP (KTiOPO₄) crystal sum-frequency mixing. With total pump power of 33 W (13.8 W pump power for 1080 nm Nd:CaYAlO₄ laser and 19.2 W pump power for 912 nm Nd:GdVO₄ laser), TEM₀₀ mode blue laser at 494.5 nm of 1.6 W is obtained. The power stability in 30 min is better than 3.5%.     

Diode-pumped Nd:LuVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>-Nd:YLF laser at 590 nm

We report a continuous-wave (CW) yellow laser emission by sum-frequency mixing in two Nd:LuVO₄ and Nd:YLF crystals. Using type-I critical phase-matching (CPM) LBO crystal, a yellow laser at 590 nm is obtained by 1066 and 1321 nm intracavity sum-frequency mixing. The maximum laser output power of 223 mW is obtained when an incident pump laser of 18.2 W is used. At the output power level of 223 mW, the output stability is better than 4.5%.     

500.5-nm blue-green laser based on sum-frequency mixing of diode pumped neodymium lasers

We report for the first time a continuous-wave (CW) coherent radiation at 500.5 nm by intracavity sum-frequency generation of 1063 nm Nd:GdVO₄ laser and 946 nm Nd:YAG laser. Blue-green laser is obtained by using a doubly cavity, type-II critical phase matching KTiOPO₄ (KTP) crystal sum-frequency mixing. With total pump power of 27.8 W, TEM₀₀ mode blue-green laser at 500.5 nm of 421 mW is obtained. At the output power level of 421 mW, the blue-green power stability is better than 2.8% and laser beam quality M ² factor is 1.37.     

Diode-pumped Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>-Nd:YLF blue laser at 488 nm by intracavity sum-frequency-mixing

We report a laser architecture to obtain continuous-wave blue radiation at 488 nm. A 808 nm diodepumped the Nd:YVO₄ crystal emitting at 914 nm. A part of the pump power was then absorbed by the Nd:YVO₄ crystal. The remaining was used to pump the Nd:YLF crystal emitting at 1047 nm. Intracavity sum-frequency mixing at 914 and 1047 nm was then realized in a LBO crystal to reach the blue radiation. We obtained a continuous-wave output power of 514 mW at 488 nm with a pump laser diode emitting 19.6 W at 808 nm.     

AlGaInAs/InP eye-safe laser pumped by a Q-switched Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser

An AlGaInAs quantum-well structure grown on a Fe-doped InP transparent substrate is developed to be a gain medium in a high-peak-power nanosecond laser at 1570 nm. Using an actively Q-witched 1064 nm laser to pump the gain chip, an average output power of 135 mW is generated at a pulse repetition rate of 30 kHz and an average pump power of 1.25 W. At a pulse repetition rate of 20 kHz, the peak output power is up to 290 W at a peak pump power of 2.3 kW.     

Diode-pumped doubly Q-switched Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser

By using both an acoustooptical (AO) modulator and a Cr⁴⁺:YAG saturable absorber in the cavity, a diode-pumped doubly Q-switched Nd:GdVO₄ laser, which can generate short pulses with high peak powers and symmetric temporal profiles, has been demonstrated. A peak power of 3.05 kW with a corresponding pulse width of 16 ns has been achieved at an incident pump power of 7.7 W. A reasonable analysis about the experimental results has been given by considering the ground-state absorption and excited-state absorption of a Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal.     

High efficiency 1341 nm Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser in-band pumped at 912 nm

A high-efficiency 1341 nm Nd:GdVO₄ laser in-band pumped at 912 nm is demonstrated for the first time. Using an all-solid-state Nd:GdVO₄ laser operating at 912 nm as pump source, 542 mW output was obtained with 1.14 W absorbed pump power. The slope efficiency with respect to the absorbed pump power was 56.6%, and the fluctuation of the output power was better than 2.6% in the given 30 min. The beam quality factor M ₂ is 1.15.     

High efficiency 1341 nm Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> bounce laser in-band pumped at 879 nm

A high-efficiency Nd:GdVO₄ bounce laser in-band pumped at 879 nm is demonstrated for the first time. From a side-pumped Nd:GdVO₄ crystal, 8.2 W output was obtained with 18.5 W absorbed pump power. Corresponding slope efficiency with respect to the absorbed pump power was 51.4%, and the beam quality factor M2 is 1.13 and 1.15 for tangential direction and sagittal direction, respectively. Effects of crystal’s doping concentration and temperature on laser power and conversion efficiency were also investigated.     

Study of Yb:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> lasers end-pumped by a 985-nm diode laser

Efficient continuous-wave operation is demonstrated at room temperature with a Yb:YVO₄ laser end pumped by a 985-nm diode. An output power of 2.46 W is generated at the highest available absorbed pump power of 6.2 W, with an optical-to-optical and slope efficiency of 40 and 76%, respectively. A theoretical calculation of the laser characteristics agrees closely with the experimental results.     

Diode-pumped Tm:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> lasers with double etalons

Diode end-pumped single-frequency Tm:GdVO₄ laser at room temperature was reported. The maximal output power of single-frequency is as high as 51 mW by using two uncoated fused YAG etalons, which are respectively 0.05 mm thick and 1 mm thick. We obtained the single frequency Tm:GdVO₄ laser at 1919.7 nm. The slope efficiency is 1.4%. The single-longitudinal-mode (SLM) laser can be used as a seed laser for coherent wind measurements and differential absorption LIDAR systems.     

Intracavity sum-frequency generation of CW blue light in Nd:LuVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser

We report for the first time a continuous-wave (CW) blue laser emission by sum-frequency mixing in Nd:LuVO₄ crystal. Using type-I critical phase-matching (CPM) LBO crystal, a blue laser at 493 nm is obtained by 1066 and 916 nm intracavity sum-frequency mixing. The maximum laser output power of 520 mW is obtained when an incident pump laser of 18.2 W is used. At the output power level of 520 mW, the output stability is better than 2.8%. The beam quality M ² value is are about 1.22 and 1.31 in both horizontal and vertical dimensions respectively.     

Efficient sub-nanosecond intracavity optical parametric oscillator pumped with a passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser

An efficient diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO₄/Cr⁴⁺:YAG laser was employed to generate a high-repetition-rate, high-peak-power eye-safe laser beam with an intracavity optical parametric oscillator (OPO) based on a KTP crystal. The conversion efficiency for the average power is 8.3% from pump diode input to OPO signal output and the slope efficiency is up to 10%. At an incident pump power of 14.5 W, the compact intracavity OPO cavity, operating at 46 kHz, produces average powers at 1571 nm up to 1.2 W with a pulse width as short as 700 ps. PACS 42.60.Gd; 42.65.Yj; 42.55.X     

Passively Q-switched GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>/Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser with Cr<Superscript>4+</Superscript>:YAG saturable absorber under direct 879 nm diode pumping to the emitting level

A passively Q-switched 1.06 μm laser with Cr⁴⁺:YAG saturable absorber by direct 879 nm diode pumping grown-together composite GdVO₄/Nd:GdVO₄ crystal to the emitting level was demonstrated in this paper. The characteristics of pulsed laser were investigated by using two kinds of Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal with the initial transmissivity of 80 and 90%, respectively. When the T ₀ = 90% Cr⁴⁺:YAG was used, an average output power of 1.59 W was achieved at an incident pump power of 10 W. The pulse width and repetition rate were 64.5 ns and 170 kHz, respectively. The thermal lens effect of laser crystal was analyzed.     

494 nm blue laser based on sum-frequency mixing of diode pumped Nd<Superscript>3+</Superscript> lasers

We report for the first time a continuous-wave (CW) blue radiation at 494 nm by intracavity sumfrequency generation of 912 nm Nd:GdVO₄ laser and 1079 nm Nd:YAlO₃ (Nd:YAP) laser. Using type-I critical phase matching LiB₃O₅ (LBO) crystal, 494 nm blue laser was obtained by 912 and 1079 nm intra-cavity sum-frequency mixing, and output power of 179 mW was demonstrated. At the output power level of 179 mW, the output power stability is better than 3.5% and laser beam quality M ₂ factor is 1.21.     

504 nm blue-green laser based on sum-frequency mixing of diode pumped Nd<Superscript>3+</Superscript> lasers

We report for the first time a continuous-wave (CW) blue-green radiation at 504 nm by intracavity sum-frequency generation of 946 nm Nd:YAG laser and 1080 nm Nd:YAlO₃ (Nd:YAP) laser. Using type-I critical phase matching LiB₃O₅ (LBO) crystal, 504 nm blue-green laser was obtained by 946 and 1080 nm intra-cavity sum-frequency mixing, and output power of 215 mW was demonstrated. At the output power level of 215 mW, the output power stability is better than 4.7% and laser beam quality M² factor is 1.21.     

Cavity-dumped mode-locked Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser at low repetition rate

We report a cavity-dumped mode-locked Nd:GdVO₄ laser with semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors at low repetition rate. In this laser system, a single mode-locked laser pulse is generated, amplified and cavity-dumped by means of electro-optic modulator at 1 to 10 Hz repetition rate. The energy of the pulse is about 150 nJ and the pulse duration is determined to be 10 ps.     

Diode-pumped Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript>/Nd:YLF laser at 488 nm

We present a laser architecture to obtain continuous-wave blue radiation at 488 nm. A 808 nm diode-pumped the Nd:YVO₄ crystal emitting at 914 nm. A part of the pump power was then absorbed by the Nd:YVO₄ crystal. The remaining was used to pump the Nd:YLiF₄ (Nd:YLF) crystal emitting at 1047 nm. Intracavity sum-frequency mixing at 914 and 1047 nm was then realized in a BiB₃O₆ (BiBO) crystal to reach the blue radiation. We obtained a continuous-wave output power of 339 mW at 488 nm with a pump laser diode emitting 18.3 W at 808 nm.