Pre-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG microchip laser

A pre-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YAG/Cr: YAG microchip laser is demonstrated with a peak power of 7.5 kW at pulse repetition rate of serveral kilohertzs. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) is 734 ps, and the pulse energy is 5.5 μJ with a fundamental spatial mode. In this system, the pre-pumped microchip laser of Nd: YAG/Cr: YAG wafer which is bonded through the thermal-bonding technique has achieved a time jitter value of 12 μs and a Q-switched amplitude instability of 1.26% (1δ) through the pre-pumped modulation technique.     

Fe:ZnSe laser pumped by a 2.93-μm Cr,Er:YAG laser

We demonstrated an Fe:ZnSe laser pumped by a 2.93-μm Cr, Er:YAG laser at liquid nitrogen and room temperature in single-shot free-running operation for the first time. The xenon flash lamp pumped Cr, Er:YAG laser had a maximum single pulse energy of 1.414 J, and the threshold and slope efficiency were 141.70 J and 0.70% which were respectively reduced by 29.3% and increased by 52.2% compared with the Er:YAG laser. At liquid nitrogen temperature of 77 K, the maximum single pulse energy of the Fe:ZnSe laser was 197.6 m J, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 13.4%. The central wavelength and full width at half maximum(FWHM) linewidth were 4037.4 nm and 122.0 nm, respectively. At room temperature, the laser generated a maximum single pulse energy of 3.5 mJ at the central wavelength of 4509.6 nm with an FWHM linewidth of 171.5 nm.     

A Graphene-Based Passively Q-Switched Ho：YAG Laser

A 2.09-μm in-band pumped passively Q-switched Ho： YAG laser is demonstrated. Single layer graphene deposited on a quartz substrate is used as the saturable absorber for the Q-switched operation. The minimum pulse width of 2.11μs is obtained at an average output power of lOOmW, corresponding to a pulse repetition frequency of 57.1 kHz and the pulse energy of 1.75 μJ. The beam quality factors M^2 of the Q-switched laser are 1.18 and 1.22 in the horizontal and longitudinal direction, respectively. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of the passively Q-switched laser is 4.3%, which is the highest conversion efficiency in the 2 μm wavelength, to the best of our knowledge. It shows clearly that the Ho： YAG crystal is a potential gain medium in the 2 μm range for the graphene application.     

1. 32μm Nd~(3 ): YAG Pulse Laser

Using specially coated mirrors, an output energy of 0.97 J at 1.32 μm from a Nd3 : YAG pulse laser is obtained with pumping energy of 66 J. The repetition rate is 1 pulse/sec and the slope efficiency is 1.7%. The repetition rate can be changed from 1 pulse/sec to 10 pulses/sec.     

13.5 mJ polarized 2.09 μm fiber-bulk holmium laser and its application to a mid-infrared ZnGeP_2 optical parametric oscillator

A high pulse repetition frequency(PRF), high energy Ho:YAG laser directly pumped by a Tm-doped fiber laser and its application to a mid-infrared ZnGeP_2(ZGP) optical parametric oscillator(OPO) is demonstrated.The maximum polarized 2.09 μm laser pulse energy is 13.46 mJ at a PRF of 1 k Hz. The corresponding peak power reaches 504 kW. In a double-resonant ZGP-OPO, a maximum mid-infrared laser pulse energy of 1.25 m J,corresponding to a peak power of 79 kW, is accomplished at a PRF of 3 kHz. The nonlinear conversion efficiency reaches 41.7%. The nonlinear slope efficiency reaches 53.3%.     

500-W high average power,high beam quality Nd:YAG solid-state laser with one focusing reflector

In order to explore a 56-J high energy,high frequency lamp-pumped pulsed Nd:YAG solid-state laser, the main factors influencing the higher laser output energy are analyzed,the relation between output power and input power and reflectivity is simulated theoretically,and the effective measures to improve the efficiencies of the laser are brought forward.As a result,pulse width is tunable between 0.1 and 10 ms,frequency between 1 and 1000 Hz.When the input electrical power is 12 kW,the laser can output maximum single pulse energy of 56 J and average power of 500 W with the beam quality of 16.5 mm·mrad, total electro-optic efficiency of 4.2%,and the in stability of±2% output power.It is indicated that the parameters corresponds with the results of theoretical analysis and simulation.     

High-repetition-rate 1.5 μm passively Q-switched Er:Yb:YAl_3(BO_3)_4 microchip laser

End-pumped by a 976 nm diode laser,a high-repetition-rate Er:Yb:YAl_3(BO_3)_4 microchip laser passively Q-switched by a Co~(2+):MgAl_2 O_4 crystal is reported.At a quasi-continuous-wave pump power of 20 W,a 1553 nm passively Q-switched laser with the repetition rate of 544 kHz,pulse duration of 8.3 ns,and pulse energy of 3.9 μJ was obtained.To the best of our knowledge,the 544 kHz is the highest reported value for the 1.5 μm passively Q-switched pulse laser.In the continuous-wave pumping experiment,the maximum repetition rate of 144 kHz with the pulse duration of 8.0 ns and pulse energy of 1.7 μJ was obtained at the incident pump power of 6.3 W.     

Theoretical and experimental investigations of quasi-continuous wave diode array side-pumped Yb＇YAG slab laser

An analytical model of quasi-continuous wave (quasi-CW) diode array side-pumped slab laser for Yb:YAG oscillator in long-pulse free-running has been developed based on the CW model. In this model we first introduce a new parameter, pump pulse width, and make the model available for use in the quasi-CW model. We also give an analytical equation of laser delay time to calculate the laser pulse width. A detailed model is also presented for a new structure laser design, taking account of the geometry of Yb:YAG slab. A quasi-CW diode array side-pumped Yb:YAG slab laser is investigated theoretically and experimentally. Experiments yield a quasi-CW output energy up to 20.36 mJ with the laser pulse width of 654.55 μs at 1049 nm when the diode arrays operate at 25 Hz and 1 ms pulse width. The crystal dimensions are 3 mm×8 mm×1 mm and the doping density is 10 at.%. The experimental results are in good agreement with the predictions of the theoretical model.     

Passively Q-switched diode-pumped Tm,Ho:LuVO_4 laser with a black phosphorus saturable absorber

We presented a passively Q-switched(PQS) diode-pumped c-cut Tm, Ho:LuVO_4 laser with a black phosphorus saturable absorber for the first time.Under PQS mode, an average output power of 0.86 W and a peak power of 2.32 W were acquired from the Tm, Ho:LuVO_4 laser with the pump power of 14.55 W, corresponding to a pulse width of 2.89 μs,a pulse repetition rate of 71.84 kHz, and a pulse energy of about 6.70 μJ.     

LD-pumped passively Q-switched red laser at 660 nm

A laser diode (LD) pumped Nd:YAG red pulse laser at 660 mn was presented by V:YAG passively Q-switching and LBO intracavity frequency doubling. With 1.6-W incident pump power, average output power of 46-mW, pulse duration (FWHM) of 23.3 ns, pulse repetition rate of 21.6 kHz, peak power of 91.4 W, and single pulse energy of 2.13 μJ were obtained. The beam quality factor M2 was less than 1.2. The fluctuations of pulse energy and repetition rate were less than 3% in 4 hours. The pulsed laser at 660 nm is expected to be used as the pump source of Cr3+:doped crystal to obtain the gain-switched tunable laser.     

Passively Q-switched Nd~(3+):YAG laser with corner cube

A passively Q-switched Nd3 :YAG laser with corner cube is theoretically and experimentally studied. We analyze the polarization variation in cavity and simulate the peak power, pulse energy and pulse width changed with the rotation angle of corner cube numerically. An experiment is made to verify the theoretical results. With rotating the angle of corner cube about the axis the variation range of peak power is 1.77 MW (from 10.36 to 8.59 MW), and that of pulse energy is 14.9 mJ (from 159.5 to 174.4 mJ), the fluctuation of pulse width is 2.95 ns. The experimental results agree with the theoretical analysis to the extent of variation rules. The most dynamic to static energy ratio of 62.5% is achieved.     

Diode-pumped,narrow-linewidth,linearly polarized,passively Q-switched 1645 nm Er:YAG laser

We demonstrate a narrow-linewidth linearly polarized 1645 nm Er:YAG laser, directly diode-pumped by a fibercoupled continuous-wave laser diode at 1532 nm. Passive Q-switching is realized by a few-layer graphene saturable absorber. A maximum polarized average output power of 3.13 W is achieved at 23.28 W incident pump power. A pulse energy of as much as 58.8 μJ and pulse width of 4.21 μs are yielded at a 53.2 k Hz pulse repetition rate. The spectrum and linewidth of the output beams are measured to be 1645.34 and 0.05 nm, respectively.This laser can be useful in the detection of atmosphere pollutants.     

A compact and efficient 4.25 μm BaGa_4Se_7 optical parametric oscillator

We report an efficient mid-infrared extracavity optical parametric oscillator(OPO) based on the nonlinear crystal BaGa_4Se_7 pumped by a diode-side-pumped Q-switched Nd:Y_3 Al_5O_(12)(Nd:YAG) laser. The maximum pulse energy of 1.03 mJ at 4.25 μm is obtained with the repetition rate of 10 Hz and pulse width of 12.6 ns when the pump energy was 13.5 m J, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 7.6% from 1.064 μm to 4.25 μm. The idler wave slope conversion efficiency was 12%. To the best of our knowledge, it is the highest reported conversion efficiency for the compact BaGa_4Se_7 OPO driven by the Nd:YAG laser.     

Dual sub-picosecond and sub-nanosecond laser system

A high power laser system delivering a 20-TW, 0.5-0.8 ps ultra-short laser pulse and a 20-J, 500-ps long pulse simultaneously in one shot is completed. This two-beam laser operates at the wavelength of 1053 nm and uses Nd doped glass as the gain media of the main amplification chain. The chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) technology is used to compress the stretched laser pulse. After compression, the ultra-short laser pulse is measured: energy above 16.0 J, S/N contrast ratio-10~5 : 1, filling factor->52.7%. Another long pulse beam is a non-compressed chirped laser pulse, which is measured: energy-20 J, pulse duration 500 ps. The two beams are directed onto the target surface at an angle of 15°.     

Laser diode pumped high-energy single-frequency Er:YAG laser with hundreds of nanoseconds pulse duration

We demonstrated a high-energy single-frequency erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet(Er:YAG)laser.With1470 nm laser diodes(LDs)as pumping sources,single-frequency laser pulses with energy of 28.6 m J,21.6 m J,and 15.0 m J are obtained at pulse repetition frequency of 200 Hz,300 Hz,and 500 Hz,respectively.As far as we know,this is the highest single-frequency pulse energy with the Er:YAG gain medium.With the ring cavity design,pulse duration is maintained at hundreds of nanoseconds.This high-energy single-frequency laser with hundreds of nanoseconds pulse duration is a prospective laser source for light detection and ranging applications.     

Generation of nanosecond 2.65μm pulses and pulse narrowing in fiber-bulk Ho3+:YAG laser pumped gain-switched Cr^2+:Cd Se laser

The generation of mid-infrared pulsed lasers was achieved in a Ho3+:YAG laser pumped gain-switched Cr^2+:Cd Se laser system with the shortest pulse duration of 4.15 ns.With a pump pulse duration of 50 ns and pump power of 2.7 W,the gain-switched Cr^2+:Cd Se laser achieved over 10 times pulse narrowing,obtaining the maximum peak power of 5.7 k W.The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency was 3.7%,which could be further improved with better crystal surface polishing quality.The laser central wavelength was measured to be 2.65μm with a bandwidth(FWHM)of 50 nm.In addition,the parameter optimization for suppressing the pulse tail was discussed,while the long cavity and high output transmissivity contributed to obtaining the single-peak pulses.     

Experimental study of electro-optical-switched pulsed Nd:YAG laser

We report the specification of a compact and stable side diode-pumped Q-switched pulsed Nd:YAG laser. We experimentally study and compare the performance of the pulsed Nd:YAG laser in the free-running and Q-switched modes at different pulse repetition rates from 1 Hz to 100 Hz. The laser output energy is stabilized by using a special configuration of the optical resonator. In this laser, an unsymmetrical concave–concave resonator is used and this structure helps the mode volume to be nearly fixed when the pulse repetition rate is increased. According to the experimental results in the Q-switched operation, the laser output energy is nearly constant around 70 m J with an FWHM pulse width of 7 ns at100 Hz. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency in the Q-switched regime is 17.5%.     

Graphene oxide for diode-pumped Tm:YLF passively Q-switched laser at 2 μm

A diode-pumped Tm:YLF passively Q-switched laser at 2 μm was first demonstrated by using graphene oxide(GO) as a saturable absorber(SA).In this letter,continuous-wave(CW) laser and pulse laser performances were studied meticulously and systematically.It reasonably showed the dependence of the pulse duration,pulse energy,and pulse repetition rate on the absorbed power.A maximum repetition rate of 38.33 kHz and a single pulse energy of 9.89 μJ were obtained.     

The analysis of the transient temperature distribution of double-slab Nd:YAG laser medium

A novel double-slab Nd:YAG laser, which uses face-pumped slab medium cooled by liquid with different temperatures on both sides, is proposed. The thermal distortion of wavefront caused by the non-uniform temperature distribution in the laser gain media can be self-compensated. According to the method of operation, the models of the temperature distribution and stress are presented, and the analytic solutions for the model are derived. Furthermore, the numerical simulations with pulse pumping energy of 10 J and repetition frequencies of 500 and 1000 Hz are calculated respectively for Nd:YAG laser medium. The simulation results show that the temperature gradient remains the approximative linearity, and the heat stress is within the extreme range. Then the absorption coefficient is also discussed. The result indicates that the doping concentration cannot be too large for the high repetition frequency laser. It has been proved that the high repetition frequency, high laser beam quality, and high average outp     

Diode-pumped passively Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YLF laser with Cr~(4+):YAG saturable absorber

A diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YLF laser was demonstrated by using saturable absorber of Cr4 :YAG. At the incident power of 7.74 W, pure passively Q-switched laser with per pulse energy of 210μJ and pulse width of 19.6 ns at repetition rate of 1.78 kHz was obtained by using Cr4 :YAG with initial transmission of 80%. At the incident power of 8.70 W, a Q-switched mode-locking with average output power of 650 mW was achieved, the overall slop efficiency was 16%, corresponding to the initial transmission of 85% of Cr4 :YAG.