Efficient high-power self-frequency-doubling Nd:GdCOB laser at 545 and 530 nm

We report an efficient high-power self-frequency-doubling (SFD) Nd:GdCOB laser. The maximum output power is 3.01 W at a wavelength of 545 nm with an optical efficiency of 20.7%, which, to our knowledge, is the highest SFD laser output power and efficiency yet obtained. By optimizing the configuration and cut orientation of the Nd:GdCOB crystals, a SFD laser at a wavelength of about 530 nm was achieved with a maximum output power of 1.32 W. We propose that these SFD lasers will have promise in applications such as laser displays, medical treatment, spectroscopic analysis, etc.     

高功率、低量子亏损同带抽运掺镱光纤放大器

开展了基于同带抽运的高功率、低量子亏损的掺镱光纤放大器实验研究. 搭建了一台输出功率为21 W的1018 nm短波 长掺镱光纤激光器, 并利用其对双包层掺镱光纤进行同带抽运, 获得18.6 W的1080 nm波段激光输出, 光-光转换效率高达90.86%. 关键词： 光纤放大器 同带抽运 双包层光纤 转换效率     

All-solid-state continuous wave doubly linear resonator sum-frequency mixing yellow laser

We report a continuous-wave (CW) yellow laser emission by sum-frequency mixing in Nd:YVO4 crystal. Using type-II critical phase-matching KTP crystal, a yellow laser at 593.5 nm is obtained by 1064 and 1342 nm intracavity sum-frequency mixing. The maximum laser output power of 2.1 W is obtained when an incident pump laser of 18.2 W is used. At the output power level of 2.1 W, the output stability is better than 3.2%.     

Femtosecond high-power spontaneous mode-locked operation in vertical-external cavity surface-emitting laser with gigahertz oscillation

We realize a femtosecond high-power spontaneous mode-locked operation with gigahertz oscillation in a vertical-external cavity surface-emitting laser under the condition of eliminating the internal and external unwanted reflection. We find that the reflectivity of the output coupler has a significant influence not only on the output power but also on the output pulse duration. With an incident pump power of 20 W, we have achieved 2.35 W of average output power with 778 fs pulse duration at a repetition rate of 2.17 GHz. The shortest pulse duration was 654 fs at an average output power of 0.45 W.     

Generation of a uniform high-density microwave plasma for CO2 lasers using orthogonal electric fields

To realize a CO₂ laser using a fast-axial-flow high-output-power microwave discharge excitation, we devised a technology for making the microwave discharge uniform by varying the oscillation direction of an electric field with time. We also verified the effectiveness of this technology. As a result, we succeeded in increasing the discharge uniformity to 70% of the laser-tube cross-sectional area and realized a high laser output power and a high laser efficiency. In the case of a microwave input power of 1450 W, a maximum laser output power of 273 W and a laser efficiency of 18.8% were achieved; in the case of a microwave input power of 1070 W, a laser output power of 214 W and a laser efficiency of 20.0% were achieved. At the time of maximum output power, a high input power density of 280 W/cm³, which is approximately 20 times that in a dc discharge method, was achieved. Thus, a high-output-power microwave-discharge-excited CO₂ laser has become feasible. PACS 42.60.By; 52.80.Pi     

A kilowatt level diode-side-pumped QCW Nd:YAG ceramic laser

We demonstrate a kilowatt level Quasi-continuous-wave (QCW) diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG ceramic laser at 1064 nm. The laser system adopts a master oscillator power amplifier scheme (MOPA). The master oscillator contains two diode-pumped laser modules. Under the pump power of 2000 W, an output power of 686 W was obtained. After amplified by an identical ceramic laser module, a maximum output power of 1020 W was obtained under a total incident pump power of 3433 W, corresponding to an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 29.7%. At the maximal output power, the repetition frequency was measured to be 1 kHz and the pulse width was 114 μs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time to realize QCW side-pumped Nd:YAG ceramic laser system with output power above 1 kW.     

An efficient continuous-wave YVO_4/Nd:YVO_4/YVO_4 self-Raman laser pumped by a wavelength-locked 878.9 nm laser diode

We report an efficient continuous-wave self-Raman laser at 1176 nm based on a 20-mm-long composite YVO_4/Nd:YVO_4/YVO_4 crystal and pumped by a wavelength-locked 878.9 nm diode laser.A maximum output power of 5.3 W is achieved at a pump power of 26 W,corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 20%and a slope efficiency of 21%.The Raman threshold for the diode pump power was only 0.92 W.The results reveal that in-band pumping by a wavelength-locked diode laser significantly enhances output power and efficiency of self-Raman lasers by virtue of improved pump absorption and relieved thermal loading.     

High-power Tm-doped fiber distributed-feedback laser at 1943 nm

We report on high-power operation of a fiber distributed-feedback (DFB) laser fabricated from Tm-doped photosensitive alumino-silicate fiber and in-band pumped by an Er/Yb fiber laser at 1565 nm. The fiber DFB laser yielded up to 875 mW of single-ended output at 1943 nm on two orthogonally polarized modes for 3.5 W of absorbed pump power. Further scaling of the DFB laser output power was achieved with the aid of a simple Tm-doped fiber amplifier stage spliced directly to the DFB fiber without the need of an optical isolator. The maximum output power from the DFB laser and fiber amplifier was >3 W for a combined absorbed pump power of 8.1 W. The influence of thermal loading, owing to quantum defect heating in the Tm-doped core, on the output power and longitudinal mode behavior is discussed, and the prospects for further improvement in performance are considered.     

Operation of electro-optically Q-switched Nd:LuAG laser at 1064 nm

We present the operation of a diode-pumped high-power electro-optically Q-switched 4 W Nd:LuAG laser operating at 1064 nm. At an absorbed optical power of 20 W, the laser described provides a maximum output of 3.5 W average power at a repetition rate of 50 Hz. The output varies up to a factor of 1.3% for about 1 h operation with a peak power of 280 kW, with the laser beam quality in the TEM00 mode.     

Highly-Efficient Ho:S<Subscript>i</Subscript>Sc<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>5</Subscript> Laser Pumped by a Narrow Line-Width Tm:YAP Laser at 1.94 <Emphasis Type="Italic">μ</Emphasis>m

We present a highly-efficient continuous-wave Ho:SSO laser pumped by a diode-pumped Tm:YAP laser with a narrow linewidth (NL) of 0.3 nm. With the free-running (FR) Tm:YAP laser, we obtain a maximum output power of 2.23 W at an absorption pump power of 7.2 W, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 31% and a slope efficiency of 42.6%. With the NL Tm:YAP laser, we obtain a maximum output power of 2.88 W at the same absorption pump power. The optical conversion efficiency increases to 40% when the slope efficiency increases to 55.5%. The output linewidth of the Ho:SSO laser is 0.8 nm when we use the Tm:YAP laser with a narrow linewidth of 1.8 nm pumped by a FR Tm:YAP laser. The beam quality also changes from 1.31 to 1.22.     

Tm:fiber laser in-band pumped Ho:LuAG laser with over 18 W output at 2124.5 nm

We describe efficient operation of a Ho:LuAG laser in-band pumped by a cladding-pumped narrow linewidth Tm fiber laser at ∼1907 nm. With 1.0 at % Ho³⁺-doped LuAG and an output coupler of 6% transmission, the laser had a threshold pump power of ∼0.85 W and generated 18.04 W of continuous-wave output power at 2124.5 nm for 35 W of incident pump power, corresponding to an average slope efficiency with respect to incident pump power of 53.4%.     

Efficient, multiwatt, continuous-wave laser operation on the (4)F((3/2))-(4)I((9/2)) transitions of Nd:YVO(4) and Nd:YAG

We report multiwatt, diode-pumped cw operation on the (4)F(3/2)-(4)I(9/2) laser transition at 914.5 nm in Nd:YVO(4), for which an output power of 3.0 W and a slope of efficiency of 22.8% were achieved. For the corresponding laser transition of Nd:YAG at 946 nm an output power of 5.35 W and a slope efficiency of 40.2% were measured. By intracavity frequency doubling, an output power of 1.5 W at 473 nm was generated.     

Development of a highly stable Yb:YAG thin disk pulsed green laser for high power Ti:sapphire based amplifier at 100 kHz repetition rate

We have developed a pulsed Yb:YAG thin disk green laser for pumping a 100 kHz and 10 W femtosecond laser. We optimized numerically and experimentally the open duration of the acousto-optic (AO) Q-switcher and the internal SHG method, generating stable output energy at a 100 kHz repetition rate. We demonstrated a 515 nm output power of over 80 W with a pulse-to-pulse stability of less than 1% RMS with an LD power to green power conversion efficiency of 24%. With the developed green laser, we obtained 16 W of a Ti:sapphire laser in a cavity dumped mode. PACS 42.55.Xi; 42.60.Gd; 42.60.By; 42.65.-k; 42.65.Re     

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.     

Highly efficient optically pumped cesium vapor laser

We have demonstrated an optically pumped continuous wave Cs vapor laser with an input power to output power slope efficiency of 81%. The laser power was 0.35 W for an input power of 0.57 W, yielding an overall optical efficiency of 63%.     

Diode end-pumped 1123-nm Nd:YAG laser with 2.6-W output power

We present a compact and high output power diode end-pumped Nd:YAG laser which operates at the wavelength of 1123 nm. Continuous wave (CW) laser output of 2.6 W was achieved at the incident pump power of 15.9 W, indicating an overall optical-optical conversion efficiency of 16.4%, and the slope efficiency was 18%.     

Stable High Power and High Beam Quality Diode-Side-Pumped Continuous-Wave Intracavity Frequency-Doubled Nd:YAG Laser

We report a stable high power and high beam quality diode-side-pumped cw green laser from intracavity frequency-doubled Nd： YAG laser with KTP. By using a L-shaped concave-convex resonator, designed with two Nd：YAG rods birefringence compensation, a large fundamental mode size in the laser crystal and a tight focus in the nonlinear crystal could be obtained simultaneously. The green laser delivers a maximum 532nm output power of 23.2 W. Under 532nm output power of 20.9 W, the beam quality factor is measured to be 4.1, and the fluctuation of the output power is less than 1.4% in an hour.     

Evaluation of the Performance of an HO:yap Laser Resonantly Pumped by a Thulium Fiber Laser

We investigate the continuous-wave performance of an Ho:YAP laser resonantly pumped by a Tm fiber laser at different output transmittance of 20 %, 30 %, and 50 %. We use a 40 mm long a-cut crystal with 0.5 at.% Ho ion. Our experimental results show that the best power performance is obtained at an output transmittance of 30 %. At an absorbed pump power of 12.1 W, we obtain a maximum output power of 6.1 W at 2118.1 nm with a slope efficiency of 63.4 %. The laser operates at the TEM₀₀ mode with a beam quality factor M ₂ ~ 1.5 measured using a 90/10 knife-edge method.     

Narrow linewidth, 100 W cw Yb3+-doped silica fiber laser with a point-by-point Bragg grating inscribed directly into the active core

We report on the power scaling to 103 W of a 1.1 microm continuous-wave Yb(3+)-doped silica fiber laser incorporating a point-by-point (PbP) fiber-Bragg grating inscribed directly into the active core using 800 nm femtosecond laser pulses. The spectrum of the laser exhibited a narrow linewidth that broadened to 260 pm at 103 W. The output was frequency doubled using an 11 mm long periodically poled MgO:LiNbO3 crystal to generate 2.1 W of green with an internal conversion efficiency of 10% at high power and 0.81%/W at low power.     

LD-pumped actively Q-switched Yb:YAG laser with an acoustic-optical modulator

We have investigated an acoustic-optical Q-switched Yb:YAG laser end-pumped by a fiber-coupled laser diode. At room temperature, the 1030-nm wavelength pulsed output is realized. When the incident power was 11.3 W, a maximum average output power of 1.034 W is achieved at the repetition frequency of 20 kHz, and this corresponds to an optical conversion efficiency of 9.1%. The shortest laser pulse width of 37.4 ns was observed at the repetition frequency of 5 kHz, when the incident power was 11.3 W. The highest peak power 6.79 kW was achieved at the repetition frequency of 1.12 kHz, when the incident power was 8.7 W. The highest single-pulse energy of 319.67 μJ was achieved at the repetition frequency of 1.12 kHz, when the incident power was 10.14 W.