High-power 1.5 and 3.4 μm intracavity KTA OPO driven by a diode-pumped Q-switched Nd:YAG laser

With a non-critically phase-matched KTA crystal, a high-power intracavity optical parametric oscillator (IOPO) driven by a diode-side-pumped acousto-optically Q-switched Nd:YAG laser has been realized. The maximum average output power of 13.6 W at the signal wavelength of 1534 nm and 3 W at the idler wavelength of 3472.7 nm were obtained with the repetition rate of 18 kHz, giving the optical-optical conversion efficiency of about 5.7% from diode-power at 808 nm to OPO signal output, which was the highest conversion efficiency for intracavity KTA OPO with diode-side-pumping configurations to our best knowledge. At the highest output power of 13.6 W, the signal pulse duration of 5.46 ns was obtained, corresponding to the single pulse energy of 756 μJ and peak power of 138 kW, respectively.     

Pulse width reduction in diode-pumped,doubly Q-switched Nd:GdVO_4/KTP green laser

In recent years, diode-pumped, Q-switched solid-state lasers have attracted a great deal of attention because of their high efficiency, simplicity, compactness, and good frequency stability. All solid-state actively and passively Q-switched lasers have wide applications in the fields of remote sensing, information storage, coherent telecom- munications, medicine, etc.. Acoustic-optic (AO) mod- ulator is often used as the active Q-switch, and GaAs saturable absorber as the passive Q-switch[1…     

YVO4/Nd:YVO4/YVO4 self-Raman laser at 1,764 nm

A diode-end-pumped composite YVO₄/Nd:YVO₄/YVO₄ crystal self-Raman laser at the second-Stokes wavelength of 1,764 nm is demonstrated. The maximum average output power of second-Stokes radiation was up to 0.99 W at a pump power of 34 W and a pulse repetition frequency of 20 kHz, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 2.9 %. The highest peak power and the shortest pulse duration were 21.5 kW and 1.92 ns, respectively.     

Q-switched mode-locked diode-pumped Nd:YVO_4 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.     

Diode-pumped Q-switched Nd:YLF laser at 1313 nm

In this letter, we describe the operation of an end-pumped acousto-optic Q-switched Nd:YLF laser. According to the theoretical analysis and calculation for Nd:YLF crystal, the thermal focal length of σ-polarized laser is positive in plane-parallel resonator, while that of π-polarized laser is negative. Hence laser operation at σ-polarized 1313 nm should be stable in plane-parallel cavity. When absorbed pump power is 12.45 W and the pulse repetition frequency is 10 kHz, 3.1 W output laser at 1313 nm is achieved. As a result, the optical–optical conversion efficiency is 25.4 % and slope efficiency is 31.2 %, respectively.     

High-power Nd:YVO4/BaWO4 intracavity Raman laser emitting at 1,103?nm

A compact BaWO₄ Raman laser is realized with a diode-end-pumped acousto-optically Q-switched YVO₄/Nd:YVO₄ laser. Based on the Raman shift at 332?cm^?1 of BaWO₄, first-Stokes generation at 1,103?nm is generated. At a pump power of 11.3?W and a repetition rate of 45?kHz, an average power of 1.59?W is obtained. The pulse width is measured to be 36.8?ns and the beam quality factor (M ²) in the horizontal and vertical directions is determined to be 1.56?±?0.1 and 1.41?±?0.1, respectively. The thermal focal lengths of the laser medium and Raman medium are calculated theoretically.     

1318.8 nm/1338.2 nm simultaneous dual-wavelength Q-switched Nd:YAG laser

A diode-side-pumped simultaneous dual-wavelength Q-switched Nd:YAG laser around 1.3 μm is demonstrated. With the pumping power of 480 W, a peak power of 43 kW was obtained at the repetition rate of 5 kHz. The maximum average output power is up to 43 W with the slope efficiency of 20.5%, and the pulse duration is 200 ns. This dual-wavelength Q-switched laser with high peak power has a balanceable and stable proportion of dual-wavelength output. PACS 42.55.Xi; 42.60.Gd     

A high-power high-stability Q-switched green laser with intracavity frequency doubling using a diode-pumped composite ceramic Nd：YAG laser

We successfully obtain a high-average-power high-stability Q-switched green laser based on diode-side-pumped composite ceramic Nd:YAG in a straight plano-concave cavity. The temperature distribution in composite ceramic Nd:YAG crystal is numerically analyzed and compared with that of conventional Nd:YAG crystal. By using a composite ceramic Nd:YAG rod and a type-II high gray track resistance KTP (HGTR-KTP) crystal, a green laser with an average output power of 165 W is obtained at a repetition rate of 25 kHz, with a diode-to-green optical conversion of 14.68%, and a pulse width of 162 ns. To the best of our knowledge, both the output power and optical-to-optical efficiency are the highest values for green laser systems with intracavity frequency doubling of this novel composite ceramic Nd:YAG laser to date. The power fluctuation at around 160 W is lower than 0.3% in 2.5 hours.     

A 7-W diode-pumped Nd:YVO4 cw laser at 1.34 μm

A Nd:YVO₄ laser, end-pumped by a fiber-coupled diode-laser array, generates 7.3 W of output power at 1342 nm, the highest so far reported for this host crystal. The slope efficiency is 40% and the output-beam divergence is close to the diffraction limit. An important point in attaining such results is the choice of crystals with low Nd concentration. Received: 16 July 2002 / Published online: 25 October 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. Fax: +39-050/844333, E-mail: dilieto@df.unipi.it RID="**" ID="**"Permanent address: Scuola Normale Superiore, Piazza dei Cavalieri 7, Pisa, Italy     

Diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd : YAG laser at 1123 nm

A diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser at 1123 nm is passively Q-switched by using a low doping concentration Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal as a saturable absorber. When pumped by a 1.5-W laser diode, the laser produces pulses of 50-ns duration with a pulse energy of as much as 15 J and a peak power of 300 W at a pulse-repetition rate of 10 kHz. PACS 42.60.Gd; 42.55.Rz; 42.55.Xi     

Ablation studies using a diode-pumped Nd : YVO4 micro-laser

We report an investigation of ablating several materials using a nanosecond pulse duration Nd:YVO₄ micro-laser operating at wavelengths of 1064 and 532 nm and high pulse-repetition rate (20 kHz). Probe beam deflection, ballistic pendulum measurements and scanning electron microscopy are used to characterise the interaction. It is shown that good-quality micro-scale features can be produced in polyimide, gold foils and silicon targets by ablation using this laser. PACS 42.55.Xi; 52.38.Mf; 87.80.Mj     

High-energy directly diode-pumped Q-switched 1617 nm Er:YAG laser at room temperature

We describe high-energy Erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Er:YAG) lasers operating at 1617?nm, resonantly pumped using 1532?nm fiber-coupled laser diodes. A maximum continuous wave output power of 4.3?W at 1617?nm was achieved with an output coupler of 20% transmission under incident pump power of 29.7?W, resulting in an optical conversion of 14% with respect to the incident pump power. In Q-switched operation, the pulse energy of 11.8?mJ at 100?Hz pulse repetition frequency and 81?ns pulse duration was obtained. This energy is the highest pulse energy reported for a directly diode-pumped Q-switched Er:YAG laser operating at 1617?nm.     

Intermittent oscillation of 1064 nm and 1342 nm obtained in?a?diode-pumped doubly passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser

The intermittent oscillation of 1064 nm and 1342 nm was demonstrated in a diode-pumped doubly passively Q-switched Nd:YVO₄/Cr⁴⁺:YAG/V³⁺:YAG laser for the first time to our best knowledge. By exploiting a three-mirror configuration and choosing appropriate reflectivity values for the two wavelengths on the output couplers, the dual-wavelength pulsed operation was obtained. The maximum dual-wavelength average output power was 428 mW, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 8.5%. The corresponding physical explanations for the intermittent oscillation as well as the related phenomena are also given in this paper.     

3.1 W laser-diode-end-pumped composite Nd : YVO4 self-Raman laser at 1176 nm

We report a laser-diode-end-pumped acousto-optical Q-switched double-end diffusion-bonded Nd?:?YVO₄ self-Raman laser at 1176 nm. The maximum average output power at the first-Stokes wavelength of 1176 nm was obtained to be 3.1 W at the incident pump power of 25 W and the repetition rate of 90 kHz, with the corresponding optical conversion efficiency of 12.4%. The shortest pulse width, the maximum pulse energy and the highest peak power were measured to be 5 ns, 42 μJ and 7.5 kW, respectively.     

All solid-state passively Q-switched frequency-doubled intra-cavity Nd:GdVO_4/KTP laser

In this letter, we present an all solid-state, injection-seeded Ti:sapphire laser. The laser is pumped by a laser diode pumped frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser, and injection-seeded by an external cavity laser diode with the wavelength between 770 and 780 nm. The single longitude mode and the doubling efficiency of the laser are obtained after injection seeding. The experimental setup and relative results are reported. It is a good candidate laser source for mobile differential absorption lidar (DIAL) system.     

Dual-wavelength CW diode-end-pumped a-cut Nd:YVO4 laser at 1064.5 and 1085.5 nm

A simple and compact dual-wavelength continuous wave (CW) laser-diode end-pumped laser operating simultaneously at 1,064.5 and 1,085.5 nm in a single a-cut Nd:YVO₄ has been demonstrated. We have used two Nd:YVO₄ crystals with different Nd⁺³ concentrations and lengths; 0.1 %-14 mm and 0.25 %-12 mm. The maximum total output power of 5 and 6.18 W, including 1,064.5 and 1,085.5 nm, is achieved at the incident pump power of 22 and 18 W, with a slope efficiency 23.3 and 32.9 %, respectively, for the crystals of 0.1 %-14 mm and 0.25 %-12 mm. The calculations show both wavelengths lasing at 1,064.5 and 1,085.5 nm can possess the same threshold when reflectivity of the output coupler at 1,064.5 nm is less than 87.5 % and, at this condition, the reflectivity of the output coupler at 1,085.5 nm increases nearly linearly with that of 1,064.5 nm.     

Compact and efficient diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO_4 laser at 1.06μm

Diode-pumped passively Q-switched Nd:GdVO4/Cr4+:YAG lasers with a simple flat-flat cavity were demonstrated. The maximum average output power at 1.06 μm was 1.25 W. The highest peak power and pulse energy were 7.56 kW and 75μJ, respectively, with the pulse repetition rate of 11.1 kHz and pulse width of 10 ns at the incident pump power of 8 W.