8-mJ TEM(00) diode-end-pumped frequency-quadrupled Nd:YAG laser

A frequency-quadrupled Nd:YAG laser pumped by a commercially available high-brightness stack is described. A master oscillator power amplifier configuration was implanted, and the laser delivered energy of 8 mJ at 0.266microm . The laser was air cooled for easy use.     

cw dual-wavelength operation of a diode-end-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser

A dual-wavelength continuous wave (cw) diode-end-pumped Nd:YVO₄ laser that generates simultaneous laser action at the wavelengths 1064 nm and 1342 nm is demonstrated. The optimum oscillation condition for the simultaneous dual-wavelength operation in a diode-end-pumped solid-state laser has been derived. The relationship between the laser cavity and the output stability is also studied. Experimental results show that the stability of the output power at the two wavelengths could be enhanced by use of a three-mirror cavity. Received: 26 August 1999 / Revised version: 11 October 1999 / Published online: 23 February 2000     

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.     

Compact TEM00 Nd:YVO4 slab laser end pumped by an LD bar

In this paper, we present a laser-diode (LD) bar end-pumped Nd:YVO₄ slab laser, which uses a simple coupling system and a compact quasi-concentric resonator (QCR). A TEM₀₀ output was obtained with a pump width varied from 2.57 to 9.44 mm and the slope efficiency is kept at about 48%. Under 40-W pumping, a maximum TEM₀₀ output of 15.84 W was achieved and the optical-to-optical efficiency was 39.6% correspondingly.     

High-power diode-directly-pumped tenth-order harmonic mode-locked TEM00 Nd:YVO4 laser with 1 GHz repetition rate

A high-efficiency high-power diode-directly-pumped tenth-order harmonic mode-locked TEM₀₀ Nd:YVO₄ laser with 1 GHz repetition rate was first demonstrated. The maximum output power was 10.4 W with optical-optical efficiency of 41.8% and slope efficiency of 78.1%, respectively, the pulse width was about 30 ps at the output power of 9.6 W. Based on the large third-order nonlinearity of Nd:YVO₄, the tenth-order harmonic mode-locked pulses were induced by the intensity-dependent Kerr effect and the cooperative action of counter-propagating pulses colliding in the laser crystal for a colliding-pulse-modelocking-like cavity. The pulses were further modulated by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror.     

High-efficiency 60 W TEM(00) Nd:YVO(4) oscillator pumped at 888 nm

We propose a technique for pumping Nd:YVO(4) with high optical power at 888nm while making absorption independent of the pump light polarization state. This is especially suitable for systems end pumped by high-power, high-brightness fiber-coupled diode sources associated with long vanadate crystals to effectively spread the heat load in a large volume. A compact 60 W output, 55% optical efficiency cw TEM(00) oscillator was demonstrated.     

High-repetition-rate eye-safe intracavity KTA OPO driven by a diode-end-pumped Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser

An eye-safe, high-repetition-rate, single-resonant nanosecond intracavity optical parametric oscillator (IOPO), based on a non-critically phase-matched KTA crystal driven by a diode-end-pumped acousto-optically Q-switchedNd:YVO4 laser, was demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge. With an absorbed pump power of 11.3 W, 1.1 W average power and 2.5 ns pulse width at the signal (1534 nm) wavelength for 30-kHz repetition rate are synchronously achieved with the 25 mm long KTA crystal. The corresponding peak power and single pulse energy are estimated to be up to 14.7 kW and 36.7 μJ. The conversion efficiency from diode laser power to OPO signal output power was 9.8% and the corresponding slope efficiency was 15.4%. PACS 42.60.Gd; 42.65.Yj; 42.55.Xi     

Efficient continuous-wave generation in a self-organizing diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser with a reciprocal dynamic holographic cavity

A diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser is demonstrated that has a reciprocal self-intersecting loop cavity with self-organization by formation of a dynamic holographic grating induced by the generating beam. Continuous-wave high spatial quality generation (M2 < 1.2) with 9.6 W of power and 32% optical efficiency is obtained. Spectral compositions and temporal dynamics are investigated as functions of diode-pumping power.     

Low-noise 62 W CW intracavity-doubled TEM00 Nd:YVO4 green laser pumped at 888 nm

We present a CW intracavity frequency-doubled TEM(00) Nd:YVO(4) laser oscillator pumped at 888 nm, producing 62W of green light at 532 nm with M(2)=1.05 and RMS noise of 0.05%, thanks to the simultaneous oscillation of a large number of longitudinal modes. A diode-to-green optical efficiency of 29% is achieved by the use of a noncritically phase-matched lithium triborate crystal inserted in a periodic resonator containing two Nd:YVO(4) crystals pumped with a total of 211W at 888 nm.     

High-power diode-end-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser: thermally induced fracture versus pump-wavelength sensitivity

We report two kinds of compact and efficient diode-end-pumped TEM₀₀ lasers with output power >25 W at ≈50 W of incident pump power. One laser consists of a single 0.3 at. % Nd:YVO₄ crystal in a V-type cavity, the other laser includes two 0.5 at. % Nd:YVO₄ crystals in a linear cavity. Experimental results show that lowering Nd³⁺ concentration can be beneficial in extending the fracture-limited pump power but it also increases the sensitivity of the pump wavelength due to the overlapping efficiency. Received: 19 February 2000 / Revised version: 30 May 2000 / Published online: 20 September 2000     

Diode-end-pumped passively mode-locked high-power Nd:YVO4 laser with a relaxed saturable Bragg reflector

We demonstrate a high-power passively mode-locked Nd:YVO (4) laser that uses a saturable Bragg reflector (SBR) with strain relaxation. 23.5 W of average power with ~21.5-ps cw mode-locked pulse trains was generated at a 50-W pump power. Experimental results show that appropriate strain relaxation in the SBR makes the mode-locking operation less sensitive to temperature variation.     

Efficient end-pumped slab Nd:YVO4 laser with a multifolded quasi-concentric resonator

A novel end-pumped slab Nd:YVO₄ laser with a multifolded quasi-concentric resonator (FCR) is reported. This planar-folded stable resonator matches the sheet-shaped pump volume with the TEM₀₀ mode and yields highly efficiently laser operation with a good beam quality. In a prototype experiment, a 19.55-W output was achieved with a pump power of 45 W, which was single mode in one direction. In addition, the optical-to-optical efficiency reached 43.4%. After introducing a telescope system into the folding plane, a 10.23-W quasi-TEM₀₀ output was obtained, and the overall efficiency was 22.7%.     

Radially polarized laser beam from a Nd:YAG laser cavity with a c-cut YVO4 crystal

We demonstrate the generation of a radially polarized beam by simply inserting an undoped c-cut YVO₄ crystal into a Nd:YAG laser cavity. In a hemispherical cavity, the cylindrically symmetric, positive birefringence of the YVO₄ crystal extends the stability limit of the cavity length for an extraordinary ray (radial polarization) compared to an ordinary one (azimuthal polarization). By adjusting the cavity length, a radially polarized beam with an output power up to 1 W was selectively obtained. In addition, a higher-order transverse mode was also generated by arranging the cavity design. The method demonstrated in this paper can be readily applied to laser systems with an isotropic laser medium. PACS 42.60.Da; 42.25.Lc; 42.25.Ja     

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.     

Efficient diode-end-pumped dual-wavelength Nd, Gd:YSGG laser

We demonstrate a dual-wavelength laser based on a new laser material-Nd, Gd:YSGG, or Nd:GYSGG for short-for the first time to our knowledge. Besides its attractive properties such as antiradiation, high segregation coefficient, etc., this kind of laser crystal also shows excellent laser performance. For continuous-wave operation, the maximum output power is 10.1 W with the absorbed power of 18.45 W at 808 nm, corresponding to the slope efficiency of nearly 60%. The maximum single pulse energy and peak power reach 277 μJ and 4.6 kW (60 ns) when the absorbed pump power is 11.4 W for acousto-optic Q-switched operation.     

105 W, <10 ps, TEM(00) laser output based on an in-band pumped Nd:YVO4 Innoslab amplifier

We reported on a compact and efficient in-band pumped Nd:YVO4 partially pumped slab (Innoslab) picosecond amplifier. A new method for mode-matching was demonstrated to simplify the amplifier design. Integrating the benefits of the in-band pumping technique and the excellent thermal management of the Innoslab amplifier design, a 105 W, 8.4 ps laser output was achieved with near-diffraction limited beam quality of M(x)(2)=1.12 and M(y)(2)=1.09 in the orthogonal directions.     

全固态高功率连续单横模Nd:YVO4/LBO绿光激光器

报道了激光二极管泵浦的高功率连续单横模绿光激光器。考虑到激光晶体因吸收泵浦光而产生的热透镜效应,我们选择低掺杂浓度Nd:YVO4激光晶体,设计了V字型热不灵敏折叠式驻波谐振腔,利用I类非临界相位匹配LBO非线性晶体,当泵浦功率为23 W时,得到7 W单横模532 nm绿光输出功率,光-光转化效率为33%,长期功率稳定性优于1.6%(自由运转3小时)。     

47 W, 6 ns constant pulse duration, high-repetition-rate cavity-dumped Q-switched TEM(00) Nd:YVO(4) oscillator

We report on a cavity-dumped Q-switched TEM(00) Nd:YVO(4) oscillator offering a unique combination of high power, constant short pulse duration, and high repetition rate, suppressing the gain dependence of pulse duration in classical Q-switched oscillators. Its performance is compared with that of the same oscillator operated in a classical Q-switched regime, demonstrating the much higher peak powers achievable with this technique, especially at high repetition rates. Up to 31 W of 532 nm green light was generated by frequency doubling in a noncritical phase matched LBO crystal, corresponding to 70% conversion efficiency.     

Operational characteristics of dual gain single cavity Nd:YVO4 laser

Operational characteristics of a dual gain single cavity Nd:YVO₄ laser have been investigated. With semiconductor diode laser pump power of 2 W, 800 mW output was obtained with a slope efficiency of 49%. Further, by changing the relative orientation of the two crystals the polarization characteristics of the output could be varied. In particular by keeping the two Nd:YVO₄ crystals with their c-axes orthogonal to each other and adjusting the gain of the crystals so that both operate at approximately the same power level, completely unpolarized beams could be obtained.