Co2+:LMA crystal as saturable absorber for a diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser at 1342 nm

We have demonstrated an efficient diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YVO₄ laser at 1342 nm by using an uncoated Co²⁺:LaMgAl₁₁O₁₉ (Co²⁺:LMA) crystal as the saturable absorber. With the absorbed pump power of 11.7 W, the pulse width could be as low as 42 ns, with a corresponding average output power of 580 mW. At around 40 kHz repetition rate, the energy of a single Q-switched pulse was estimated to be about 14.5 μJ and the peak power was 346 W. The passive Q switching operation for the Co²⁺:LMA in different polarization states was also investigated. PACS 42.55.-f; 42.55.Xi; 42.60.Gd; 42.70.Mp     

Optimization of diode-pumped passively Q-switched mode-locked c-cut Nd:GdVO4 laser with a GaAs saturable absorber

By considering the single-photon absorption (SPA) and two-photon absorption (TPA) processes in the GaAs saturable absorber, the coupled rate equations for a diode-pumped passively Q-switched and mode-locked (QML) laser with GaAs coupler under Gaussian approximation are given. The key parameters of an optimally coupled passively QML laser can be obtained by numerically solving these equations. These key parameters include the parameters of the gain medium, the saturable absorber and the resonator, which can maximize the pulse energy of singly Q-switched envelope. Sample calculations for a diode-pumped passively Q-switched mode-locked c-cut Nd:GdVO₄ laser with a GaAs saturable absorber are presented to demonstrate the optimal method applicable.     

Diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser with GaAs saturable absorber

The intracavity photon density is assumed to be of Gaussian spatial distributions and its longitudinal variation is also considered in the rate equations for a laser diode(LD)end-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser with GaAs saturable absorber.These space-dependent rate equations are solved numerically.The dependences of pulse width,pulse repetition rate,single-pulse energy,and peak power on incident pump power are obtained.In the experiment,the LD end-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser with GaAs saturable absorber is realized and the experimental results are consistent with the numerical solutions.     

Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser at 1342 nm with periodically poled LiNbO3

In this Letter, we demonstrate a nonlinear-mirror (NLM) mode-locked diode-pumped solid-state Nd:YVO4 laser operating at 1342?nm, in which the NLM comprises a periodically poled LiNbO3 crystal and a dichroic mirror. The self-starting threshold for cw mode locking is 1.5?W, which is significantly lower than that of saturable absorber mode locking. An average power of 1.52?W at 1342?nm is obtained under diode pump power of 10?W at 808?nm, with the slope efficiency being up to 16.8%. The pulse width and the repetition rate of the mode-locked laser output are about 9.5?ps and 101?MHz, respectively.     

Diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser at 914 nm

We demonstrate, for the first time, to our knowledge, a diode-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser, operating on the 4F(3/2)-4I(9/2) transition of the neodymium ion at 914 nm. We obtained 8.8 ps pulses at approximately 914 nm at a repetition rate of 94 MHz, and an averaged output power of 87 mW by using a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror.     

5.3-W Nd:YVO4 passively mode-locked laser by a novel semiconductor saturable absorber mirror

We report a diode end-pumped continuous wave (CW) passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser with a homemade semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The maximum average output power is 5.3 W at the incident pump power of 17 W, which corresponds to an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 31.2% and slope efficiency of 34.7%. The corresponding optical spectrum has a 0.2-nm full width at half maximum (FWHM), and the pulse repetition rate is 83 MHz.     

Q-switched mode-locked diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser with a saturable Bragg reflector

We demonstrated a diode-pumped passively Q-switched mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser by using a relaxed saturable Bragg reflector (SBR). Stable mode-locked pulse train with the repetition rate of ～230 MHz was achieved and the pulse train was modulated by the Q-switched envelope with the repetition rate of ～150 kHz. The maximum output of 4 W was obtained under the pump power of 13.5 W. The optical-to-optical efficiency was 30%. We also discussed the transition of each process having emerged.     

LD-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:GGG laser at 1062 nm with a GaAs saturable absorber

we have experimentally studied the passively Q-switched performance of a diode-pumped Nd:GGG laser at 1062 nm with a GaAs saturable absorber, in the experiment when the pumped power was 9.8 W, the maximum CW output power of 5.1 W was obtained. The optical conversion efficiency and the slop efficiency were 52 and 53%, respectively. The threshold was 0.9 W. In the passively Q-switched regime, we get the average output power of 0.93 W. The shortest pulse width and pulse repetition rate were 7 ns and 188 kHz, respectively.     

Diode-pumped passively Q-switched mode-locked Nd:YLF laser with uncoated GaAs saturable absorber

We have demonstrated passively Q-switched mode-locked all-solid-state Nd:YLF laser with an uncoated GaAs wafer as saturable absorber and output mirror simultaneously. Q-switched mode-locking pulses laser with about 100% modulation depth were obtained. The average output power is 890 mW at the incident pump power of 5.76 W, corresponding to an optical slop efficiency of 20%. The temporal duration of mode-locked pulses was about 21 ps. At the Q-switched repetition rate of 30 kHz, the energy and peak power of a single pulse near the maximum of the Q-switched envelope was estimated to be about 1.6 μJ and 76 kW.     

InAs/GaAs quantum-dot saturable absorbers for diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd-doped 1.3-microm lasers

A low-loss semiconductor saturable absorber based on InAs/GaAs quantum dots was developed for Q switching of a diode-pumped Nd-doped laser operating at 1.3 microm. With an InAs/GaAs quantum-dot saturable absorber, a diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser at 1342 nm was achieved. With an incident pump power of 2.2 W, an average output power of 360 mW with a Q-switched pulse width of 90 ns at a pulse repetition rate of 770 kHz was obtained.     

Diode-end-pumped passively mode-locked high-power Nd:YVO4 laser with a relaxed saturable Bragg reflector

We demonstrate a high-power passively mode-locked Nd:YVO (4) laser that uses a saturable Bragg reflector (SBR) with strain relaxation. 23.5 W of average power with ~21.5-ps cw mode-locked pulse trains was generated at a 50-W pump power. Experimental results show that appropriate strain relaxation in the SBR makes the mode-locking operation less sensitive to temperature variation.     

Diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO4 laser at 1342 nm with V:YAG saturable absorber

We have demonstrated an efficient diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO₄ laser working at 1342 nm by using an uncoated V³⁺:YAG crystal as the saturable absorber, in which both a-cut and c-cut Nd:GdVO₄ crystals are employed. At the maximum absorbed pump power of 9.45 W, the maximum average output power can reach 519 mW and 441 mW corresponding to the output coupler with different transmission of 3% and 10% by using an a-cut Nd:GdVO₄ crystal at 1342 nm, while the shortest pulse duration could be as low as 21.7 ns and 22.3 ns with the repetition rate of 48.41 kHz and 53.25 kHz by using a c-cut Nd:GdVO₄ crystal, corresponding to the output coupler with different transmission of 3% and 10% at 1342 nm, and the single Q-switched pulse energy are 6.67 uJ and 7.06 uJ, the pulse peak power are 307 W and 316 W, respectively. The experimental results show that c-cut Nd:GdVO₄ laser can generate shorter pulse with higher peak power in comparison with a-cut one.     

High-power diode-pumped Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YVO(4) laser with a Cr(4+):YAG saturable absorber

We demonstrate a high-power passively Q -switched and mode-locked Nd:YVO(4) laser with a Cr(4+):YAG saturable absorber. 2.7 W of average power with an 18-kHz Q -switched repetition rate was generated at a 12.5-W pump power. The peak power of a single pulse near the maximum of the Q -switched envelope was greater than 100 kW.     

High-power passively mode-locked tapered InAs/GaAs quantum-dot lasers

We report picosecond pulse generation with high peak power in the range of 3.6 W from monolithic passively mode-locked tapered quantum-dot laser diodes, exhibiting low divergence and good beam quality. These results were achieved using a gain-guided tapered laser geometry. The generation of picosecond pulses with high average power up to 209 mW directly from such tapered lasers is also demonstrated, corresponding to 14.2 pJ pulse energy (14.65 GHz repetition rate). A comparison between the mode-locking performance of these tapered lasers incorporating either five or ten layers of InAs/GaAs self-organized quantum dots in their active layer is also presented.     

Diode-pumped passively Q-switched mode-locked Nd:LuVO4 laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror

We present a compact passively Q-switched mode-locked Nd:LuVO₄ laser run in a Z-type folded cavity with semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The repetition rates of the passively Q-switched pulse envelope ranges from 22.99 to 141.18 kHz as the pump power increased from 2.372 to 8.960 W. The repetition rates of mode-locked laser pulses in the Q-switched pulse envelope has 111 MHz determined by the cavity length and the mode-locked pulse duration is evaluated to be 257 ps. An average output power of 823.5 mW is achieved at the pump power of 8.96 W, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 9.2%.     

Diode end-pumped passively mode-locked Nd:YLF laser at 1047 nm using single-wall carbon nanotubes based saturable absorber

A single-wall carbon nanotubes based saturable absorber wafer with absorption wavelength around 1047 nm was fabricated by electric Arc discharge method and employed in a diode end-pumped Nd:YLF laser as saturable absorber. Passively continuous wave mode-locking oscillation was achieved in the pump range form 6.7 to 8.0 W. The duration and repetition rate of the mode-locked pulses were 10 ps and 59 MHz, respectively. The average output power was 280 mW.     

InGaAs/GaAs saturable absorber for diode-pumped passively Q-switched mode-locking of Tm:YAP laser

A passively Q-switched mode-locking of diode-pumped TmYAP laser by use of InGaAs/GaAs as a saturable absorber is reported. The maximum Q-switched mode-locking output power was 480 mW near the wavelength range of 1.94 μm with pulse repetition frequency of 26.47 kHz. The beam quality was also measured to be 1.12 ± 0.02.     

LD-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4/YVO4 laser with an Nd3+:Cr4+:YAG saturable absorber

By using a piece of codoped Nd³⁺:Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal as a saturable absorber, a laser-diode pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YVO₄/YVO₄ laser has been realized. The maximum laser output power of 2.452 W has been obtained at the incident pump power of 8.9 W for an 8.8% transmission of the output coupler at 1064 nm, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 30%. The other output laser characteristics of the laser have also been investigated. The laser with a Nd³⁺:Cr⁴⁺:YAG saturable absorber has a lower threshold pump power and a higher slope efficiency compared to that with a similar small-signal transmission of a Cr⁴⁺:YAG saturable absorber.     

A diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO4 laser with a GaAs saturable absorption

We have demonstrated a passively Q-switched operation of Nd:GdVO₄ laser in which a GaAs crystal is used as the saturable absorber for the first time as far as we know. A maximum average output power of 1.64 W was obtained at an incident pump power of 12 W, the corresponding optical conversion efficiency and peak power were 13.7% and 116.8 W, respectively. The maximum peak energy obtained in the experiment by 50% transmission couple was 19 μJ.     

5.3-W Nd:YVO_4 passively mode-locked laser by a novel semiconductor saturable absorber mirror

We report a diode end-pumped continuous wave (CW) passively mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser with a homemade semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM). The maximum average output power is 5.3 W at the incident pump power of 17 W, which corresponds to an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 31.2% and slope efficiency of 34.7%. The corresponding optical spectrum has a 0.2-nm full width at half maximum (FWHM). and the pulse repetition rate is 83 MHz.