Variational analysis of Er:Ti:LiNbO3 waveguide lasers based on Gaussian/two-half Gaussian mode field distribution

Starting with two dimensional, scalar wave equation, a variational equation was established for the fundamental TE and TM modes guided in Ti:LiNbO₃ waveguides on the basis of assuming a symmetric Gaussian mode field function in the width direction and two-half Gaussian trial functions in the depth direction. The controllable waveguide fabrication parameters, including channel width, diffusion temperature, initial Ti-strip thickness and diffusion time, dependent of fundamental mode size, effective pump area, coupling efficiency between pump and laser modes, and the coupling loss between a Ti:LiNbO₃ waveguide and a fiber were numerically calculated for Z-cut Er:Ti:LiNbO₃ channel waveguide lasers at three possible emission wavelengths 1532,1563 and 1576 nm and two possible pump wavelengths 1480 and 980 nm. The calculated results were compared with those of Gaussian/Hermite–Gaussian mode field distribution in detail.     

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.     

Diodes-double-end-pumped high efficiency continuous wave 36 W TEM00 mode Nd:GdVO4 laser

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.     

Radially polarized LG01-mode Nd:YAG laser with annular pumping

We demonstrated a radially polarized, LG₀₁-mode Nd:YAG laser by applying annular-shaped pump light. The annular profile of the pump light was originated from the mode conversion inside a conventional multimode fiber under off-focus coupling condition. This laser gave a maximum output power of 1.2 W at 1,064 nm with a slope efficiency of 28.3 %.     

Compact TEM<Subscript>00</Subscript> grazing-incidence Nd:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser using a folded cavity

A compact diode-side-pumped Nd:GdVO₄ laser system using a folded cavity and grazing-incidence configuration is presented. The highest multimode output power obtained was 21.8 W at 36 W of effective diode pump power. Highest optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 61.5% was achieved at 33 W of effective diode pump power with 20.3 W of multimode output power. For single-mode TEM₀₀ operation, an intracavity telescope was adopted for mode matching in the horizontal direction. Because of the folded cavity and the intracavity telescope, this laser head was the most compact to our knowledge of the TEM₀₀ grazing-incidence laser geometry. At last, an output power of 15 W was produced at 36 W of effective diode pump power. The stable Q-switching operation was also obtained. PACS 42.55.-f; 42.55.Xi; 42.60.Gd     

1.6 W of TEM00 cw output at 1.06 μm from Nd:CNGG laser end-pumped by a fiber-coupled diode laser array

In this paper we demonstrated and analyzed a high-power cw Nd:CNGG laser end-pumped by a fiber-coupled diode laser array in a convex–concave-type cavity. TEM₀₀ mode output power of 1.63 W was obtained with 27% optical-to-optical conversion efficiency and slope efficiency of 44.5%. Thermal lensing and its variation with the incident pump power for this crystal have been measured. The coefficient for pump power induced diffraction losses of Nd:CNGG crystal have also been estimated for this laser configuration.     

Laser spectrum of a high power Tm,Ho:GdVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser

In this paper, we report a 18.8 W continuous wave and 18.4 W Q-switched diode-pumped cryogenic Tm(5 at %), Ho(0.5 at %):GdVO₄ laser. The pumping source of Tm, Ho:GdVO₄ laser is a fiber-coupled laser diode with fiber core diameter of 0.4 mm, supplying 42 W power at 802.5 nm. For input pump power of 41.9 W at 802.4 nm, the output power of 18.8 W in CW operation, optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 45% at 2.05 μm and the average output power of 18.4 W in Q-switched operation, optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 44% at 2.04 and 2.05 μm have been attained. The emission wavelengths of the Tm(5 at %), Ho(0.5 at %):GdVO₄ laser were firstly compared when it worked in CW mode and Q-switched mode.     

LD泵浦Nd:YVO4/LBO临界相位匹配腔内倍频瓦级绿光激光器

报道了一种光纤耦合LD泵浦Nd:YVO₄晶体、腔内Ⅰ类临界相位匹配(角度匹配)LBO倍频、瓦级输出的全固态绿光激光器的设计方法和实验结果.采用短三镜折叠腔结构,通过对热透镜焦距的估算及计算机优化设计选取合适的谐振腔参量,在8 W的泵浦功率下,获得了1.6 W绿光基模输出,光-光转换效率达20%.经测量,绿光的偏振比超过400:1,4 h功率稳定度为±1.6%.     

100 μm core diameter monolithic fiber side-pumping coupler for 10 mJ 10 ns all-fiber laser

In this paper, we report a monolithic fiber side-pumping coupler that allows for very large mode area double clad fiber designs. This coupler is constituted of a multi-mode pump fiber and a double clad fiber (DCF). The pump power is coupled to the DCF through the side of DCF. The pump coupling peak power of 163.7 W @ 560 ??s with the coupling efficiency of 98.0% is achieved, and the signal coupling energy of 10 mJ @ 10 ns (??1 MW @ 10 ns) with the coupling efficiency of 96.3% is obtained, when the core diameter of the DCF is 100 ??m. Furthermore, this side-pumping coupler is successfully applied to a high peak power pulse all-fiber laser with the output energy of over 10 mJ @ 10 ns.     

A high efficient end-pumped TEM<Subscript>00</Subscript> laser with pulse repetition rate of 5 kHz

An end-pumped Nd:YVO₄ laser fiber-coupled diode was designed. A maximum output power of 4.74 W TEM₀₀ mode CW laser was obtained for a pump power of 10.5 W. The optical efficiency and slope efficiency were measured as 45.1 and 57.8% at 1064 nm, respectively. In Q-switching operation, 4.45 W average power at a pulse repletion rate of 5 kHz was produced, with a stability of pulse peak value <2%.     

Continuous wave and passively Q-switched laser performance of a composite crystal bonded with three Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> single crystals

The laser performance of a composite crystal bonded with three Nd:YVO₄ single crystals has been investigated for the first time as far as we know. The largest continuous wave output power of 2.68 W is obtained at the incident pump power of 6.2 W, giving an optical conversion efficiency of 43.1% and a slope efficiency of 45.9%. For passively Q-switched operation with Cr⁴⁺:YAG of 71% initial transmission, the shortest pulse width of 18.2 ns, the largest single-pulse energy of 19.9 μJ, and the highest peak power of 1.12 kW are achieved, with the pulse repetition rate being 44.9 kHz, at the incident pump power of 6.2 W. The composite crystal can generate more excellent laser performance, when compared with the single crystals.     

Efficient continuous-wave eye-safe region signal output from intra-cavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator

We report an efficient continuous-wave (CW) tunable intra-cavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator based on the multi-period periodically poled lithium niobate and using a laser diode (LD) end-pumped CW 1064 nm Nd:YVO₄ laser as the pump source. A highly efficiency CW operation is realized through a careful cavity design for mode matching and thermal stability. The signal tuning range is 1401-1500 nm obtained by varying the domain period. The maximum output power of 2.2 W at 1500 nm is obtained with a 17.1 W 808 nm LD power and the corresponding conversion efficiency is 12.9%.     

High efficiency,high repetition-rate Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser with TEM<Subscript>00</Subscript> end-pumped by 887 nm

Thermal effect of laser crystal is a very important factor for solid lasers. The most of heat is generated from the quantum loss between pump light and lasing light. If a longer wavelength of pump light is adopted, quantum loss and quantum loss efficiency can be reduced and improved, respectively. In this paper, a Nd:YVO₄ laser end-pumped by 887 nm LD is reported. Output power of 25 W is obtained from a single Nd:YVO₄, when the crystal absorbs pump light power of 38 W. The corresponding opto-optic conversion efficiency is up to 65.7%. When 30.7 W pump light is absorbed in the crystal, 19.4 W TEM₀₀ is obtained with M _x ² = 1.30, M _y ² = 1.26 and opto-optic conversion efficiency of 63.2%. The laser can work at the Q-switched mode. The uniform pulses are generated at high repetition of 100 kHz. And the conditions of pulse stability are analyzed in this paper.     

A comparison of resonantly pumped Ho:YLF and Ho:LLF lasers in CW and Q-switched operation under identical pump conditions

Singly 0.5 at.% Ho doped crystals of YLiF₄ (YLF) and LuLiF₄ (LLF) are studied under identical pump conditions in continuous-wave (CW) and Q-switched operation. Longitudinal end-pumped CW laser performance shows Ho:LLF to have a slightly lower threshold and a slightly higher slope efficiency with respect to absorbed pump power than Ho:YLF. Both lasers were operated on π-polarization. At a cavity output coupling of 20% and a crystal length of 30 mm, the Ho:LLF (Ho:YLF) laser yielded 18.8 W (18 W) of CW output at a wavelength of 2067.8 nm (2064.0 nm) for 41.4 W (42.2 W) of absorbed pump power with a slope efficiency of 67.1% (65.6%) and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 45.4% (42.6%) with respect to absorbed pump power. With the same output coupling and a crystal length of 40 mm, the Ho:LLF (Ho:YLF) laser yielded 20.5 W (18.1 W) of CW output at a wavelength of 2067.7 nm (2064.3 nm) for 51.5 W (50.0 W) of absorbed pump power with a slope efficiency of 58.4% (55.4%) and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 39.8 (36.1%) with respect to absorbed pump power. The influence of the temperature of the cooling mount on CW laser performance was studied and showed very similar results for both laser materials. At full pump power, a slope of −155 mW/°C (−149 mW/°C) was observed for the Ho:LLF (Ho:YLF) laser with a crystal length of 30 mm. In Q-switched operation, the Ho:LLF (Ho:YLF) laser produced 37 mJ (38.5 mJ) at a repetition rate of 100 Hz with a pulse duration of 38 ns (35 ns) at a wavelength of 2053.1 nm (2050.2 nm) with a slope efficiency of 30.3% (31%) and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 14.2% (13.9%) with respect to absorbed pump power. The beam quality was nearly diffraction limited (M ²<1.1).     

Local-cooled watt-level Nd-doped phosphate single-mode fiber laser

Efficient and stable continuous-wave (CW) laser operation at 1053 nm in a Nd-doped phosphate single-mode fiber (Nd:PSMF) has been demonstrated experimentally. The fiber laser consisted of a 21 cm Nd:PSMF placed in a F-P cavity formed by high reflector butt-coupled to coupling end of the fiber and Fresnel reflection of the other end facet. An output power of 1.42 W and a slope efficiency of 34.1% (18.4%) with respect to absorbed pump power (incident pump power) were obtained with 808 nm diode pumping. An increment as much as 9.7 and 15.0% in slope efficiency of the input coupling efficiency and the output power, respectively, were obtained by using a local-cooling design provided by watered sealing the coupling point. The repeatable results indicate that the design, featuring fluid sealing the coupling point of the fiber laser, which was capable of offering an effective alleviation of thermal effects and an elevation of the quality of the laser cavity, could be expected to be a convenient and effective scheme to improve the performance characteristics of the non-silica fiber lasers and the high power fiber lasers, generally in free-space coupling configuration.     

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%.     

半导体可饱和吸收镜锁模的钒酸盐混晶Nd:Gd0.1Y0.9VO4激光器

采用Nd∶Gd_0.1Y_0.9VO₄晶体作为增益介质和Z形腔结构,分析比较了腔内加入自行设计的镀和不镀高反膜的半导体可饱和吸收镜（SESAM）对激光锁模的影响.在腔内加入镀膜SESAM后,激光锁模阈值由1.69W下降为1.45W,并且锁模更稳定.在2W抽运功率下,在1064nm中心波长处获得了双端250mW的连续锁模输出,光光转换效率为12.5%,重复频率为142.25MHz. 关键词： 0.1Y_0.9VO₄激光器')" href="#">Nd∶Gd_0.1Y_0.9VO₄激光器 半导体可饱和吸收镜 连续锁模     

Diode end-pumped Q-switched high-power intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:GdVO4/KTP green laser

A diode-laser-array end-pumped acousto-optically Q-switched intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:GdVO₄/KTP green laser, formed with a three-mirror folded resonator, has been demonstrated. With 15 W of pump power incident upon the Nd:GdVO₄ crystal, a maximum average green output power of 3.75 W was obtained at 50 kHz of pulse repetition frequency, giving an optical conversion efficiency of 25%, whereas the effective intracavity frequency-doubling efficiency was determined to be 72%. At the incident pump power of 12.8 W, the shortest laser pulse was achieved at a pulse repetition rate of 10 kHz, the resulting pulse width, single pulse energy, and peak power were measured to be 35 ns, 108 μJ, and 3.1 kW, respectively. Received: 18 May 2000 / Published online: 20 September 2000     

High-power end-pumped CW Nd:GdVO4 laser formed with a flat–flat cavity

Formed with a flat–flat resonator, a diode-laser-array end-pumped CW Nd:GdVO₄ laser at 1.06 μm, capable of generating 8.6 W of TEM₀₀ output power with optical conversion efficiency of 43% and slope efficiency of 48%, has been developed. The laser beam was nearly diffraction limited, with the beam quality factor measured to be M²=1.22. Under the conditions of multi-mode operation, the laser was able to produce 11.2 W of low-order transverse mode radiation (M²<2) at the incident pump power of 22 W, giving an optical conversion efficiency of 51%, and a slope efficiency of 55%.     

A compact fir ring laser with open resonator and variable output coupling

We describe the design, construction and first experimental results with an open triangle FIR ring resonator with Michelson interferometer output coupling, which we combined with a Brewster-windowless 10W CO₂ pump laser to a compact laser package of 1m length. The achieved stability of power and frequency of this system is very high, typically on the order of ±0.01% over several hours and <20kHz per hour at 800GHz. For the design, we investigated the balance of all laser processes and determined the optimum dimensions for the open resonator cavity. This analysis is based on a radially homogenous overall laser model, including commonly accepted simplified rate equations together with molecular parameters for weak FIR laser lines. In accordance with the modelling the efficiency on the very most prominent lines is better than with conventional waveguide lasers, giving up to 4 times better efficiencies especially on lines with low absorption pump transitions. Several laser lines, however, have substantially enhanced pump thresholds on purely copropagating emission, suppressing laser operation below about 10W pump power threshold. We show that this can not be due to effects from the interferometer.