High-Efficient Nd：YLF Q-Switched Laser Operating at 523.5 nm

An intracavity frequency doubling electro-optically Q-switched Nd： YLF 523.5 nm laser is developed. An appropriate cylindrical lens is employed in the oscillator to optimize the mode size and to improve the stability of the cavity. With an incident pump pulse energy of 58 mJ at a 500 Hz repetition rate, a green pulse energy of 16.8 mJ at 523.5 nm is obtained, corresponding to an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 29%. The pulse width is less than 8 ns, and the beam quality factor is M^2≤ 2.5.     

Laser Diode-Pumped Nd：LuVO4 Acousto-Optic Q-Switched Laser at 916 nm

A compact laser diode-pumped solid-state Nd：LuVO4 acousto-optic Q-switched laser is demonstrated at 916 nm of a quasi-three level for the first time. A pulse width of 130ns is observed when the pulse-repetition frequency is 10 kHz. The laser experiment shows that the Nd：Lu VO4 crystal can be used for efficient diode-pumped Q-switched lasers.     

An 885-nm Direct Pumped Nd：CNGG 1061 nm Q-Switched Laser

The 885nm direct pumping method, directly into the ^4F3/2 emitting level of Nd^3＋ ion, is used to a Nd：CNGG crystal to product passive Q-switched 1061 nm laser pulses, for the first time to the best of our knowledge. A maximum average output power of 1.16 W for 1061 nm Q-switched pulses and a repetition rate of 12.54 kHz are obtained. The pulse width is measured to be 24ns and the peak power is 3.843kW. A high-quality fundamental transverse mode can be observed owing to the reduction of the thermal effect for Nd：CNGG crystal by 885 nm direct pumping.     

Kilohertz Electro-Optic Q-Switched Nd：YAG Ceramic Laser

We investigate the lasing characteristics of a laser-diode-array side-pumped electro-optic Q-switched Nd： Y3Al5O12 ceramic laser operating at 1000 Hz pulse repetition rate. Using a YAG polycrystalline rod with Nd^3＋ concentration of 1 at. % as the gain medium, pumping with 808 nm laser-diode-arrays, the Q-switched laser output at 1064 nm wavelength with 23mJ pulse energy and less than 12ns FWHM pulse width are obtained at a pumping power of about 400 W, the slope efficiency is around 15%, the output beam divergence angle is about 1.2mrad.     

Q-Switched Tm：YAG Laser Intracavity-Pumped by a 1064nm Laser

We report a Q-switched 2-μm Tm：YAG laser based on intracavity-pumped by a 1064-nm Nd：YAG laser operating at room temperature for the first time. An average output power of 5.1W is obtained with the repetition rate of 30kHz and a pulse width of 300ns. In addition, we demonstrate a 12.5-W continuous-wave 2-μm Tm：YAG laser, which is, to our best knowledge, the highest power for intracavity-pumping configuration.     

Diode-Pumped Passive Q-Switched 946 nm Nd：YAG Laser with a GaAs Saturable Absorber

We report, for the first time to our knowledge, a diode-pumped passive Q-switched 946nm Nd：YAG laser by using a GaAs as saturable absorber. The maximum average output power is 1.24 W at an incident pump power of 15 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 10%. Laser pulses with pulse duration of 70ns and repetition rate of 330 kHz are generated.     

A Laser-Diode-Pumped 7.36 W Continuous-Wave Nd：YVO4 Laser At 1342 nm

An efficient and high-power diode-laser single-end-pumped Nd：YVO4 laser with cw emission at 1342nm is presented. With a crystal single-end-pumped by a fibre-coupled diode laser, an output power of 7.36 W is obtained from the laser cavity of concave-convex, eorresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 32.8%. The laser is operated in TEM00 mode with small rms noise amplitude of 0.3%. This represents, to the best of our knowledge, the highest power obtained from a diode-laser single-end-pumped Nd：YVO4 cw laser at 1342nm 80 far.     

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.     

Comment on Q-Switched Tm：YAG Laser Intracavity-Pumped by a 1064 nm Laser

The paper published in Chin. Phys. Lett. 26 （2009） 124211 reported a Q-switched 2-tim Tm：YAG laser that is intracavity pumped by a Nd： YAG laser with emission at 1.06μm. However, analysis of the experimental setup concludes that only the Nd：YAG laser is Q-switched, and the Tm：YAG laser operates in the free-generation regime. Therefore, Q-switch operation for the 2μm emission wavelength is not realized.     

High Power Continuous-Wave and Acousto-Optic Q-Switched Nd：GdVO4 Laser Operated at 912 nm

We present a high power and efficient operation of the ^4F3/2 → ^4I9/2 transition in Nd：GdVO4 at 912nm. In the cw mode, the maximum output power of 8.6 W is achieved when the incident pump power is 40.3 W, leading to a slope efficiency of 33.3% and an optical-optical efficiency of 21.3%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest cw laser power at 912nm obtained with the conventional Nd：GdVO4 crystal. Pulsed operation of 912nm laser has also been realized by inserting a small aeousto-optie （A-O） Q-Switch inside the resonator. As a result, the minimal pulse width of 20ns and the average laser power 1.43 W at the repetition rate of lOkHz are obtained, corresponding to 7.1 kW peak power. We believe that this is the highest laser peak power at 912nm. Furthermore, duration of 65ns has also been acquired when the repetition rate is 100 kHz.     

Conductively cooled 250-Hz single frequency Nd：YAG laser

A conductively cooled, laser diode （LD） end-pumped, injection-seeded single frequency Nd：YAG laser is designed and impleinented. The laser utilizes Nd：YAG rod as gain medium and compact dual-endpumping arrangement using two fiber-coupled LDs with a maximum output of 150 W. The optimized ramp-fire technique is applied to build reliable single longitudinal mode oscillating. The laser is capable of producing a 10-raJ Q-switched pulse with 13-ns pulse width at 1064 nm at a pulse repetition rate of 250 Hz. The output beam qualities M2 of approximately 1.19 and 1.22 in horizontal and vertical directions are detected, respectively.     

Diode-Pumped Quasi-Three-Level Passively Q-Switched Nd：GGG Laser with a Codoped Nd,Cr：YAG Saturable Absorber

We demonstrate the first quasi-three-level passively Q-switched Nd：GGG laser at 937nm using a Nd, Cr：YAG crystal as the saturable absorber. The dependences of the average output power, the repetition rate and the pulse width on the incident pump power are obtained. A maximum average output power of 1.18 W with repetition rate of 35kHz and pulse width of 45ns is achieved at an incident pump power of 18.3 W. The corresponding optical-to-optical and slope efficiencies are 6% and 10%, respectively.     

Timing Jitter and Pulse Width Reduction in a Hybrid Q-Switched Cr,Nd：YAG Laser

We present a detailed study of a combined actively and passively Q-switched （CAPQ） laser with an acousto-optic modulator （AOM） and a codoped Cr^4＋, Nd^3＋ ：YAG crystal The hybrid Q-switch approach is used to produce a short laser pulse with stable and tunable repetition rates. The timing jitter, average pulse width, and average pulse amplitude vary periodically with the AOM modulation frequency under a fixed pump power. The repetition rate of the CAPQ laser can be turned approximately from 4 kHz to 16 kHz with the jitter less than 400 ns.     

High Efficiency Multi-kW Diode-Side-Pumped Nd：YAG Laser with Reduced Thermal Effect

We demonstrate a high efficiency multi-kW diode-side-pumped Nd：YAG laser. High cooling efficiency of the diode-side-pumped module in the laser is achieved. The middle portion of the Nd：YAG rod in the module is cooled by a coolant jet with screwed side surface, and the end-caps of the rod without screwed side surface are cooled by Au coated on the surface. The thermal effect of the laser rod is reduced, which leads to high output power with high optical-optical conversion efficiency. By using three identical Nd：YAG laser modules, an output power of 4.2 kW and beam quality of 58 mm＆#12539;mrad with an optical-optical efficiency of 35% at 1064 nm is obtained in a laser oscillator. By using four identical Nd：YAG laser modules, an output power of 3.1 kW and beam quality of 17 mm＆#12539;mrad with an optical-optical efficiency of 25.8% is demonstrated in a master oscillator power-amplifier system.     

High-Power Nd：GdVO4 Innoslab Continuous-Wave Laser under Direct 880 nm Pumping

A high-power cw end-pumped laser device is demonstrated with a slab crystal of Nd：GdVO4 operating at 1063nm. Diode laser stacks at 880nm are used to pump Nd：GdVO4 into emitting level 4^F3/2. The 149 W output power is presented when the absorbed pump power is 390 W and the optical-to-optieal conversion efficiency is 38.2%. When the output power is 120 W, the M^2 factors are 2.3 in both directions. Additionally, mode overlap inside the resonator is analyzed to explain the beam quality deterioration.     

High-Efficiency High-Power Nd：YAG Laser under 885 nm Laser Diode Pumping

A high-efficiency high-power Nd：YAG laser under 885 nm laser diode （LD） pumping is demonstrated. The laser crystal is carefully designed, and the overlapping between the pump modes and the laser modes is optimized. The maximum output power at 1064 nm is 87W under the absorbed pump power 127.7 W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 72.4% and an optical-optical efficiency of 68.1%. The optical-optical efficiency is 58.4% for the pump power emitted directly from the LD. To our best knowledge, this is the maximal optical-optical conversion efficiency obtained for the LD end-pumped Nd：YAG lasers so far.     

Violet to Infraned Multiwavelength Generation in Periodically Poled Lithium Niobate Pumped by a Q—Switched Nd：YVO4 Laser

Six output wavelengths from violet to infrared have been observed simultaneously from an all-solid-state laser pumped optical parametric oscillator in a periodically poled lithium niobate crystal.The output wavelengths can be tuned by varying the quasi-phase matched period and/or temperature.The pump laser is a diode-pumped pasive Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser operated at 1064nm.Using a crystal with a 29.9μm grating period,we measured six wavelengths at 448,515,532,630,773 and 1546nm and obtained efficient output.We explain the multiwavelength generation by multiwave coupling theory.This phenomenon may have novel applications in photonic devices.     

LD端面抽运1KHz电光调Q Nd:YVO4激光器输出功率特性研究

报道了全固态激光器连续抽运高重复率电光调Q Nd:YVO4激光器的实验和理论分析结果,用BBO晶体作电光调Q元件,在激光二极管(LD)端面抽运Nd:YVO4激光器中实现了较高重复率的电光调Q输出.实验中在1 kHz重复率下,抽运功率为10 W时,平均功率超过170 mW.对输出功率曲线中的凹陷现象进行了分析,指出了制约激光器的内在诸因素,并用传播圆-变换圆图解分析方法给出了合理的解释.     

A Diode-Side-Pumped Dynamic Fundamental Mode Nd：YAG Laser

A fundamental mode Nd：YAG laser is experimentally demonstrated with a stagger pumped laser module and a special resonator. The rod is pumped symmetrically by staggered bar modules. A dynamic fundamental mode is achieved with the special resonator under different pump levels. A maximal continuous wave output of 61 W （M^2 = 1.4） is achieved with a single rod. An average output of 47 W, pulse width of 54 ns, pulse energy of 4.7 mJ and peak power of 87kW are obtained under the Q-switched operation of 10 kHz.     

An 880-nm Laser-Diode End-Pumped Nd：YVO4 Slab Laser with a Hybrid Resonator

We present an experimental study of a continuous-wave Nd： YVO4 laser diode-pumped directly in band at 880 nm. By using a compact positive confocal unstable-stable hybrid resonator, a maximal laser output of 170 W at 1064 nm is realized. The slope efficiency and optical-to-optical efficiency are 56.7% and 51.3%, respectively. The M2 factors in the unstable direction and in the stable direction they are 1.9 and 1.3, respectively.