Highly Efficient Continuous-Wave Mid-Infrared Intracavity Singly Resonant Optical Parametric Oscillator Based on MgO:PPLN

We present a compact all-solid-state cw mid-infrared intracavity singly resonant optical parametric oscillator （OPO） that is based on a self-fabricated 1-mm-thick 40-mm-long doped MgO periodically poled lithium niobate （MgO：PPLN）. At a diode pump power of 15.6 W, the compact intracavity Nd：YVO4/MgO：PPLN OPO produced 1.9 W output power at 3.19μm, corresponding to conversion efficiency of 12.2% from the laser diode pump to OPO idler output.     

High Power Diode-End-Pumped Nd：YAG 946-nm Laser and Its Efficient Frequency Doubling

We report a high power operation of the ^4Fa/2 → ^4I9/2 transition in diode-end-pumped laser at 946nm. The maximum output of 5.1 W is obtained with a short linear plano-concave cavity, and the slope efficiency is 24.5% at incident pump power of 23.3 W. To our knowledge, this is the highest value of the LD-pumped Nd:YAG 946 nm lasers that employ the conversional Nd:YAG rod as the gain medium. By intracavity frequency doubling with an LBO crystal, up to 982mW cw output power in the blue spectral range at 473nm is achieved at an incident pump power of 10.9 W with a compact three-element cavity, leading to optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 9%. The conversion efficiency should be increased to 15.1%, if the rather low absorption coefficient of this Nd:YAG is considered.     

An efficient intracavity-pumped KTP optical parametric oscillator at 1572 nm

We demonstrate an efficient and eye-safe wavelength intracavity optical parametric oscillator (OPO), based on a KTP crystal inside a Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser end pumped by a fiber-coupled diode laser. In the acousto-optic Q-switched operation with the pulse repetition rate of 10 kHz, a 1572-nm eye-safe laser with the average power of 237 mW at the incident pump power of 5.64 W is obtained. Under the pulse repetition rate of 5 kHz, the signal light with pulse width of 2 ns and peak power of 18.5 kW is achieved. The conversion efficiency of the average power is 4.2% from pump diode to OPO signal output and the signal pulse duration is about 13 times shorter than that of the depleted pump light.     

Highly efficient cascaded P-doped Raman fiber laser pumped by Nd:YVO4 solid-state laser

A highly efficient cascaded P-doped Raman fiber laser （RFL） pumped by a 1064-nm continuous wave （CW） Nd：YVO4 solid-state laser is reported. 1.15-W CW output power at 1484 nm is obtained while the input pump power is 4 W, corresponding to the power conversion efficiency of 28.8%. The threshold pump power for the second-order Stokes radiation is 1.13 W. The slope efficiency is as high as 42.6%. The experimental results are in good agreement with theoretical ones. Furthermore, the power instability of the P-doped RFL at 1484 nm in an hour is observed to be less than 5%.     

High-Power Continuous-Wave Diode-End-Pumped Intracavity Frequency Doubled Nd：YVO4 Laser at 671 nm with a Compact Three-Element Cavity

We report a high-power high-efficient continuous-wave （cw） diode-end-pumped Nd：YVO4 1342-nm laser with a short plane-parallel cavity and an efficient cw intracavity frequency-doubled red laser at 671 nm with a compact three-element cavity. At incident pump power of 20.6 W, a maximum output power of 7 W at 1342 nm is obtained with a slope effciency of 37.3%. By inserting a type-Ⅰ critical phase-matched LBO crystal as intracavity frequencydoubler, a cw red output as much as 2.85-W is achieved with an incident pump power of 16.9 W, inducing an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 16.9%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output of diodepumped solid-state Nd：YVO4 red laser. During half an hour, the red output is very stable, and the instability of output power is less than 1%.     

Intracavity—Doubled Self—Q—Switched Nd,Cr：YAG 946／473nm Microchip Laser

We carried out the operation of an intracavity frequency-doubled self-Q-switched Nd,Cr:YAG/NHbO3 946/473nm microchip laser pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser.The overall cavity length was about 4mm.The maximum average blue power of 12mW was achieved with a repetition rate of 13kHz at an absorbed pump ower of 545mW.The pulses of the 473nm laser had a duration of 7ns and a peak power of 132W at this pump level.The conversion efficiency was 2.2% with respect to the absorbed pump power of a 808nm laser.     

Middle-infrared intracavity periodically poled MgO:LiNbO3 optical parametric oscillator

A periodically poled magnesium oxide-doped lithium niobate (5 mol% MgO:PPLN) intracavity optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a diode-pumped Q-switched Nd:YLF laser operating at 1.047μm is reported. A broad continuous tunable middle-infrared (mid-IR) spectrum of 2.69-4.07μm is obtained by changing the crystal grating periods from 28.5 to 31.5 μm. When the diode pump power is 8 W,the intracavity OPO operating at a repetition rate of 10 kHz produces average output power of 0.42 W,corresponding to conversion efficiency of 5.2% from the laser diode pump to OPO idler output.     

A Diode-Pumped 1617 nm Single Longitudinal Mode Er：YAG Laser with Intra-Cavity Etalons

We demonstrate the continuous wave p-polarized single longitudinal mode （SLM） operation of an Er：YAG laser at 1617.6nm pumped by a diode-laser with three inserted Fabry-Perot （FP） etalons at room temperature. The Brewster angle inserted FP is applied to obtain the p-polarized laser. For free running, the maximum output power is 570 m W with a pump power of 12.5 W. An incident pump power of 12.5 W is used to generate the maximum p-polarized single longitudinal mode output power of 78.5 m W, corresponding to a slope efficiency of 1.6% and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 0.61%. The beam quality M2 is measured to be 1.15 at the highest SLM output power. This stable polarized SLM oscillation is encouraging due to its application for an injection-locked system used as a master laser.     

Performance of gain-switched all-solid-state quasi-continuous-wave tunable Ti:sapphire laser system

We have made a gain-switched all-solid-state quasi-continuous-wave （QCW） tunable Ti：sapphire laser system, which is pumped by a 532 nm intracavity frequency-doubled Nd：YAG laser. Based on the theory of gain-switching and the study on the influencing factors of the output pulse width, an effective method for obtaining high power and narrow pulse width output is proposed. Through deliberately designing the pump source and the resonator of the Ti：sapphire laser, when the repetition rate is 6 kHz and the length of the cavity is 220 mm, at an incident pump power of 22 W, the tunable Ti：sapphire laser from 700 to 950nm can be achieved. It has a maximum average output power of 5.6W at 800nm and the pulse width of 13.2 ns, giving an optical conversion efficiency of 25.5% from the 532 mn pump laser to the Ti：sapphire laser.     

Efficient femtosecond optical parametric oscillator pumped by all solid-state mode-locking Yb:YCOB laser

We experimentally demonstrate a femtosecond optical parametric oscillator(OPO) synchronously pumped by a home-made solid-state mode-locking Yb:YCOB laser, which is capable of laser pulse as short as 102 fs and average power of 620 m W at the central wavelength of 1052 nm. By using a periodically poled lithium niobate with tuning of the grating periods from 28.5 to 31.5 μm as the nonlinear gain crystal, tunable femtosecond pulses from 1444 to 1683 nm are realized by conveniently adjusting the OPO cavity length with 76.8 MHz repetition rate. The maximum average output power is 152 m W at 1568 nm, corresponding to an idler power of 75 m W at 3197 nm as well as 36.6% total extraction efficiency.     

Period Continuous Tuning of an Efficient Mid-Infrared Optical Parametric Oscillator Based on a Fan-out Periodically Poled MgO-Doped Lithium Niobate

We report a period continuously tunable, efficient, mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator （OPO） based on a fan-out periodically poled MgO-doped congruent lithium niobate （PPMgLN）. The OPO is pumped by a Nd：YAG laser and a maximum idler output average power of 1.65W at 3.93μm is obtained with a pump average power of 10.5W, corresponding to the conversion efficiency of about 16% from the pump to the idler. The output spectral properties of the OPO with the fan-out crystal are analyzed. The OPO is continuously tuned over 3.78-4.58μm （idler） when fan-out periods are changed from 27.0 to 29.4μm. Compared with temperature tuning, fan-out period continuous tuning has faster tuning rate and wider tuning range.     

A ZnGeP2 Optical Parametric Oscillator with Mid-IR Output Power 3W Pumped by a Tm,Ho:GdVO4 Laser

We report an efficient mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator （OPO） pumped by a pulsed Tm,Ho-codoped GdVO4 laser. The IO-W Tm,Ho：GdVO4 laser pumped by a 801 nm diode produces 20ns pulses with a repetition rate of lO kHz at wavelength of 2.0481μm. The ZnGeP2 （ZGP） OPO produces 15-ns pulses in the spectral regions 3.65-3.8μm and 4.45-4.65μm simultaneously. More than 3 W of mid-IR output power can be generated with a total OPO slope efficiency greater than 58% corresponding to incident 2μm pump power. The diode laser pump to mid-IR optical conversion efficiency is about 12%.     

Low Threshold and High Conversion Efficiency Nanosecond Mid-Infrared KTA OPO

Based on a Type II non-critically phase-matched KTA crystal, a low-threshold and high conversion efficiency mid-infrared optical parametric oscillator （OPO） pumped by a diode-end-pumped Nd：YVO4 laser is demonstrated. The OPO threshold is only 0.825W. The maximum output power of 435mW at 3.47μm is achieved with the repetition rate of 30kHz, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 4.4%. The photon conversion efficiency is as high as about 64%. The pulse width is 3.5ns with a peak power of 4kW for the maximum output power.     

Highly efficient cascaded P-doped Raman fiber laser pumped by Nd:YVO4 solid-state laser

A highly efficient cascaded P-doped Raman fiber laser(RFL)pumped by a 1064-nm continuous wave (CW)Nd:YVO_4 solid-state laser is reported.1.15-W CW output power at 1484 nm is obtained while the input pump power is 4 W,corresponding to the power conversion efficiency of 28.8%.The threshold pump power for the second-order Stokes radiation is 1.13 W.The slope efficiency is as high as 42.6%.The experimental results are in good agreement with theoretical ones.Furthermore,the power instability of the P-doped RFL at 1484 nm in an hour is observed to be less than 5%.     

All-Solid-State Near-Infrared and Blue Femtosecond Laser System

We investigate an all-solid-state continuous wave(cw) green (532nm),femtosecond near-infrared (823.1nm) and blue (402nm) laser system which is pumped by a diode-laser-pumped intracavity frequency-doubled and all-self-structuring cw Nd:YVO4/KTP 532nm green laser.The cavity parameters of the Nd:YVO4/KTP laser have been optimized and the maximum 5.6W TEM00 green laser is obtained at a 22W pump power with an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 25.5%.A Ti:Sapphire laser and nonlinear second-harmonic generation by a crystal BBO is used to obtain different wavelengths.A femtosecond laser with an average output power of 300mW at 823.1nm and 73mW at 402nm is obtained when the green pump power is 2.5W.The spectral full width at half maximum are 32.3 nm and 5.1 nm,which can sustain the pulses of 22 fs and 33.3 fs,respectively.     

Efficient Diode-Pumped Tm：YALO3 Laser with a Pump Recycling Scheme

By using a pump recycling configuration, the maximum power of 8.1 W in the wavelength range 1.935-1.938 μm is generated by a 5-ram long Tm：YAIOa （4 at.%） laser operating at 18℃ with a pump power of 24 W. The highest slope efficiency of 42% is attained, and the pump quantum efficiency is up to 100%. The Tm：YAlO3 laser is employed as a pumping source of singly-doped Ho（1%）：GdV04 laser operating at room temperature, in which continuous wave output power of greater than 0.2 W at 2.05/μm is achieved with a slope efficiency of 9%.     

Low-power-pumped high-efficiency frequency doubling at 397.5 nm in a ring cavity

We report low pump power high-efficiency frequency doubling of a fundamental laser beam at 795 nm, corresponding to the rubidium D1 line, to generate UV light at 397.5 nm using a periodically poled KTi OPO4（PPKTP） crystal in a ring cavity. We obtain maximum stable output power of 49 m W for mode-matching pump power of 110 m W, corresponding to 45% raw efficiency（56% net efficiency when considering the output coupling mirror’s 80% transmission）. This is the highest efficiency obtained at this wavelength in PPKTP with such low pump power. We obtain 80% beam coupling efficiency to single-mode fiber, demonstrating high beam quality.     

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.     

Fluorescence spectrum,thermal properties,and continuous-wave laser performance of the mixed crystal Nd：Lu0.99La0.01 VO4

The fluorescence spectrum and thermal properties of the mixed crystal Nd：Luo.gvLa~.o1VO4 are determined. The strongest emission peak located at 1065.6 nm had a full width at half maximum （FWHM） of 2.1 nm. Continuous-wave （CW） laser performance is demonstrated by a compact planar planar cavity that is end- pumped by a diode laser. The laser output characteristics are investigated by using output couplers with different transmissions. A maximum CW output power of 8.09 W was obtained at an incident pump power of 19.4 W, which corresponds to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 41.7% and a slope efficiency of 54.6%. The dependence of optimum transmission on pump power is calculated theoretically and is found to be consistent with experimental results.     

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.