Spectroscopy and femtosecond laser performance of Yb3+:YAlO3 crystal

We report what we believe to be the first demonstration of cw and passively mode-locked Yb(3+):YAlO(3) (Yb:YAP) laser operation under diode pumping. Spectroscopic properties of a 0.6 at.%Yb(3+)-doped YAP single crystal were investigated. Output power up to 1.2 W with slope efficiency of 64.5% in the cw regime and 225 fs pulse duration with average power of 0.8 W from a mode-locked Yb:YAP laser were demonstrated.     

Femtosecond laser pumped by high-brightness coherent polarization locked diodes

We demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, the use of a coherent polarization locked diode as the high-brightness pump source for a femtosecond laser. Four diode emitters are coherently locked to produce more than 5 W linearly polarized, narrow linewidth, and single-lobed pump beam. This gives >10× brightness improvement over the conventional diode array. The diode beam is then used to pump a Yb:KYW laser to obtain 2 W output with 57% slope efficiency in cw laser operation. By using a saturable absorber mirror, we achieved cw mode-locking operation with a 177 fs pulse width at an average power of 0.55 W.     

High-efficiency 1040 and 1078 nm laser emission of a Yb:Y2O3 ceramic laser with 976 nm diode pumping

We report a high-efficiency diode-end-pumped polycrystalline Yb:Y2O3 ceramic laser. Pumped by a 976 nm laser diode bar and with an absorbed pump power of 2.8 W, cw output power of 1.74 W at 1078 nm, and 0.73 W at 1040 nm were obtained. The slope efficiency was measured to be 82.4% for the 1078 nm laser emission and 57.1% for the 1040 nm laser emission.     

Power scaling of a continuous-wave and passively Q-switched Yb:KLu(WO<Subscript>4</Subscript>)<Subscript>2</Subscript> laser end-pumped by a high-power diode

The power scaling capacity of a diode end-pumped Yb:KLu(WO₄)₂ laser, operating in the continuous-wave (cw) and passively Q-switched regimes, has been investigated. A cw output power of 11.5 W was achieved with an optical-to-optical efficiency of 41% with respect to the incident pump power, while the slope efficiency amounts to 60%. The passively Q-switchedoperation yielded an average output power of 4.3 W at the fundamental wavelength of 1031.7 nm, and 1.15 W of Raman radiation at 1139.3 nm. The total slope efficiency for Q-switched operation was 40%. The highest pulse energy, duration, and peak power were 170 μJ, 2.2 ns, and 77.3 kW for the fundamental radiation, and 51 μJ, 2.3 ns, and 22.2 kW for the Raman radiation. PACS 42.55.Rz; 42.55.Xi; 42.55.Ye     

Efficient continuous-wave and Q-switched operation of a diode-pumped Yb:KLu(WO4)2 laser with self-Raman conversion

Efficient cw and passively Q-switched operation with self-stimulated Raman scattering conversion was demonstrated in a compact diode-pumped Yb:KLu(WO4)2 laser. A cw output power of 3.28 W was obtained with an optical efficiency of 48.2% and a slope efficiency of 78.2% with respect to the incident pump power. Stable Q-switched operation was achieved with a Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber, generating 32.4 microJ fundamental pulses with a duration of 1.41 ns at 1030.6 nm and 14.4 microJ Raman pulses with a duration of 0.71 ns at 1137.6 nm. At an incident pump power of 7.0 W, the average output power reached 0.9 and 0.4 W for fundamental and Raman radiation, with slope efficiencies of 32.1% and 14.1%, respectively.     

Diode-pumped high-efficiency passively Q-switched Yb:CaYAlO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser

We experimentally demonstrated a high-efficiency passively Q-switched Yb:CaYAlO₄ (Yb:CYA) laser based on a semiconductor-saturable absorber mirror (SESAM), and the output characteristics of the laser including the average output power, repetition frequency, pulse duration, pulse energy and pulse peak power were investigated by adopting output mirrors with different transmittances. When the transmittance of the output mirror was 5% and the pump power was set at about 7.76 W, a maximum average output power of as high as 2.480 W was achieved with a slope efficiency and light-to-light efficiency of the Q-switched Yb:CYA laser of up to 37.1% and 31.2%, respectively.     

520-W continuous-wave diode corner-pumped composite Yb:YAG slab laser

We present a pumping scheme for a quasi-three-level solid-state laser. The scheme uses a slab laser configuration with the pump light incident from the slab corners. A diode-corner-pumped composite Yb:YAG-YAG slab laser operating in high-power cw mode was designed to prove the scheme. As much as 520 W of output power was obtained from a single 1-mm-thick composite slab with 0.5-at. %-doped Yb:YAG. The slope efficiency and the optical-to-optical efficiency with respect to the pump power were 32% and 25%, respectively. This result shows the validity of the corner-pumping concept and its feasibility in the development of high-power solid-state lasers.     

Efficient passively Q-switched laser operation of Yb in the disordered NaGd(WO4)2 crystal host

Efficient passively Q-switched laser operation of the disordered Yb:NaGd(WO(4))(2) crystal is demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge with a Cr(4+):YAG saturable absorber by diode end pumping. 2.05 W of average output power at a pulse repetition frequency of 13.3 kHz was obtained at an absorbed pump power of 7.7 W, with a slope efficiency of 40%. The energy and duration of the generated laser pulse were 154 microJ and 33 ns, respectively, corresponding to a peak power of 4.67 kW. In continuous-wave operation, the Yb:NaGd(WO(4))(2) laser yielded an output power of 5.5 W with an optical-optical efficiency of 51%.     

5-W repetitively Q-switched Er:LuAG laser resonantly pumped by an erbium fiber laser

We report a high-average-power, near-diffraction-limited Er:LuAG laser generating 5 W of power at 1.648 microm in either cw or repetitively Q-switched operation. When the laser is Q switched at 9 kHz, we measure 0.52 mJ/pulse. The laser is end pumped by a 20-W erbium fiber laser and achieves >30% optical conversion efficiency and >40% incident slope efficiency. This is, to our knowledge, the highest performance (average power and conversion efficiency) obtained from a bulk solid-state erbium laser.     

Optimal design for a diode-pumped high-power high-efficiency high-beam-quality laser

We have demonstrated and analyzed a high-power high-efficiency high-beam-quality continuous-wave (cw) Yb:YAG laser, which is directly pumped into the upper lasing level by a fiber-coupled laser diode with a center wavelength of 969 nm. To achieve high efficiency and high beam quality simultaneously, we carried out a series of comparing experiments by changing the laser-medium length and pump-beam waist radius. From the cw Yb:YAG laser with a 5.0-at.%-Yb³⁺-doped and 5-mm-long crystal, an output power of 19.0 W has been obtained for a pump-beam waist radius of 138 μm. The maximum slope efficiency and optical-to-optical conversion efficiency are 78.9% and 55.3%, respectively. The M² factors of the laser beam are 1.33 in the vertical direction and 1.82 in the horizontal direction.     

LD端面抽运Nd:YAG 1319/1338nm双波长激光器研究

从LD端面抽运固体激光器的激光阈值公式出发,建立了双波长激光同时振荡的阈值条件,理论计算了腔镜对于两个波长的透过率关系,实现了LD端面抽运Nd:YAG 1319nm/1338nm双波长激光连续和准连续输出.双波长激光连续输出功率可达6W,斜效率为30%;准连续输出功率在重复频率50kHz时可达4.75W,斜效率为24.73%,脉冲宽度为55.05ns;腔内插入布儒斯特片,在重复频率为50kHz时,双波长激光准连续线偏振输出功率可达2.22W,不稳定性小于0.52%,M² 关键词： 端泵Nd:YAG激光器 1319nm/1338nm双波长 声光调Q 太赫兹波     

Diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:CaNb2O6 laser

We report to our knowledge a diode-pumped passively mode-locked Yb:CaNb(2)O(6) (Yb:CN) laser for the first time. Both CW and passive mode-locking operation of the laser are experimentally investigated. A maximum CW output power of 1.4 W with a slope efficiency of 20% is obtained on a 7 mm long 1.5 at.% Yb:CN crystal, while stable passive mode-locking with a commercial semiconductor saturable absorption mirror (SESAM) was achieved on a 3 mm long 3 at.% Yb:CN crystal. The mode-locked pulses have pulse width of 251 fs and an average output power of 44 mW at 1038 nm.     

High-peak-power tunable laser operation of Yb:SrF2

Growth, spectroscopic properties, and laser performance of Yb:SrF(2) crystals have been investigated. In spatial multimode operation of a diode-pumped Yb:SrF(2) laser a slope efficiency of 46% was measured. 180W output power with high beam quality at a pulse duration of 1.5ms was achieved by installing a mode cleaning aperture. A maximum average output power of 270mW and a tuning range of 73nm was observed.     

LD端面抽运Nd:YAG 1319nm/1338nm双波长激光器研究

从LD端面抽运固体激光器的激光阈值公式出发，建立了双波长激光同时振荡的阈值条件，理论计算了腔镜对于两个波长的透过率关系，实现了LD端面抽运Nd:YAG 1319nm/1338nm双波长激光连续和准连续输出.双波长激光连续输出功率可达6W，斜效率为30%；准连续输出功率在重复频率50kHz时可达4.75W，斜效率为24.73%，脉冲宽度为55.05ns；腔内插入布儒斯特片，在重复频率为50kHz时，双波长激光准连续线偏振输出功率可达2.22W，不稳定性小于0.52%，M²     

Efficient passively Q-switched operation of a diode-pumped Nd:GGG laser with a Cr:YAG saturable absorber

The continuous-wave (cw) and passive Q-switching operation of a diode-end-pumped gadolinium gallium garnet doped with neodymium (Nd:GGG) laser at 1062 nm was realized. A maximum cw output power of 6.9 W was obtained. The corresponding optical conversion efficiency was 50.9%, and the slope efficiency was determined to be 51.4%. By using Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystals as saturable absorbers, Q-switching pulse with average output power of 1.28 W, pulse width of 4 ns and repetition rate of 6.2 kHz were obtained. The single-pulse energy and peak power were estimated to be 206 μJ and 51.6 kW, respectively. The conversion efficiency of the output power from cw to Q-switching operation was as high as 84.7%.     

Continuous-wave, 15.2 W diode-end-pumped Nd:YAG laser operating at 946 nm

A high-power continuous-wave (cw) Nd:YAG laser operating at 946 nm by utilizing a quasi-three-level transition is reported. The laser consists of a composite Nd:YAG rod end pumped by a fiber-coupled diode laser and a simple plane-concave cavity. At an incident pump power of 40.2 W, a maximum cw output of 15.2 W at 946 nm is obtained, achieving a slope efficiency of 45%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output at 946 nm ever generated by diode-pumped Nd:YAG lasers. In addition, at an incident pump power of 15.2 W, a 1.25 W blue output at 473 nm is achieved with a simple compact three-element cavity and a type-I lithium triborate (LiB(3)O(5)) crystal as a frequency doubler.     

High-power dual-rod Yb:YAG laser

We describe a diode-pumped Yb:YAG laser that produces 1080 W of power cw with 27.5% optical optical efficiency and 532 W Q-switched with M(2)=2.2 and 17% optical-optical efficiency. The laser uses two composite Yb:YAG rods separated by a 90 degrees quartz rotator for bifocusing compensation. A microlensed diode array end pumps each rod, using a hollow lens duct for pump delivery. By changing resonator parameters we can adjust the fundamental mode size and the output beam quality. Using a flattened Gaussian intensity profile to calculate the mode-fill efficiency and clipping losses, we compare experimental data with modeled output power versus beam quality.     

Efficient tunable Yb:YAG ceramic laser

A high-power efficient ceramic Yb:YAG laser was demonstrated at a room temperature of 20 °C with an Yb concentration of 9.8 at.%, a gain medium of 1 mm, a pumping power of 13.8 W, an output coupler of T = 10%, and a cavity length of 20 mm. A 6.8 W cw output power was obtained with a slope efficiency of 72%. The ceramic Yb:YAG laser exhibited a continuous tunability in the spectral range of 63.5 nm from 1020.1 to 1083.6 nm for T = 1% at a maximum output power of 1.6 W. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of the tunability of ceramic Yb:YAG lasers, except crystal Yb:YAG studies.     

High-power high-repetition-rate acousto-optically Q-switched 1342 nm laser

A high-power high-repetition-rate acousto-optically Q-switched 1342 nm laser with double Nd:YVO₄ crystals pumped by fiber-coupled laser diodes is presented. The highest output power of 13.7 W was achieved with a total of 42 W pumping power in cw operation, the slope efficiency was measured as 36%, and the optical efficiency was better than 32%. In Q-switchedoperation, the highest pulse repetition rate of 100 kHz was obtained. At 50 kHz repetition rate, the laser exported 11.2 W average output power, with 60 ns average pulse width, ∼5% width stability (RMS) and ∼8% peak-power stability (RMS). At 10 kHz repetition rate, the highest average output power was measured as 6.3 W, single pulse energy was calculated as 0.63 mJ, with pulse width of 19 ns and peak-power higher than 30 kW. Combining the experimental results, we analyze and discuss some problems concerning Nd:YVO₄ crystal working at 1,342 nm wavelength. PACS 42.55.-f; 42.55.Xi; 42.60.Gd     

Ultrawide tunable Er soliton fiber laser amplified in Yb-doped fiber

A Raman-shifted and frequency-doubled high-power Er-fiber soliton laser for seeding an efficient high-power Yb fiber femtosecond amplifier is demonstrated. The Raman-shifted and frequency-doubled Er-soliton laser is tunable from 1.00 to 1.070microm and produces bandwidth-limited 24-pJ pulses at a repetition rate of 50 MHz with a FWHM pulse width of 170 fs at 1.040microm . The Yb(3+) amplifier has a slope efficiency of 52% and generates 3-ps linearly chirped pulses with an average power of 0.8 W at 1.05microm . After pulse compression, 74-fs bandwidth-limited pulses with an average power of 0.4 W and a pulse energy of 8 nJ are generated.