High power and high beam quality CW green beam generated by diode-side-pumped intracavity frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser

We report a stable high power and high beam quality diode-side-pumped CW green laser from intracavity frequency doubled Nd:YAG laser with LBO crystal. By using a advanced resonator, a large fundamental mode size in the laser crystal and a tight focus in the nonlinear crystal could be obtained simultaneously, which are favorable for high power and high beam quality CW green laser generation. The green laser delivered a maximum 532 nm output power of 40 W. The corresponding optical-to-optical conversion efficiency and electrical-to-optical conversion efficiency were 8.6% and 5.0%, respectively. Under 532 nm output power of 34 W, the beam quality factor was measured to be 1.6.     

Green-Beam Generation of 40W by Use of an Intracavity Frequency-Doubled Diode Side-Pumped Nd:YAG Laser

A cw diode side-pumped Nd：YAO laser is frequency doubled to 532nm with an intracavity KTP crystal in a Vshaped arrangement, achieving an output power of 40 W corresponding to an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 9.7%. The instabilities and the M2-parameters of the laser are measured at different output powers after the beam is filtered.     

43 W picosecond laser and second-harmonic generation experiment

Combining the advantages of diode-end-pumped Nd: YVO₄ and diode-side-pumped Nd: YAG amplifiers, a high average power and high beam quality picosecond laser is designed. The system delivers a picosecond laser with average power of 43.4 W and good beam quality of M² < 1.7. By focusing the high power picosecond laser in LBO crystal, 532 nm green laser with maximal power of 20.8 W is generated and the conversion efficiency of second-harmonic generation reaches 56.4% when 17.7 W green laser obtained from the fundamental frequency laser with power of 31.4 W and beam quality of M² < 1.25.     

A 4.8-W M^2 = 4.6 Continuous-Wave Intracavity Sum-Frequency Diode-Pumped Solid-State Yellow Laser

A yellow continuous wave with beam quality M^2= 4.6 and output power of 4.8 W at 589nm is generated by intracavity sum-frequency mixing of 1064 nm and 1319 nm radiations of a Nd：YAG laser. To achieve high beam quality at high power, thermally near-unstable flat-flat resonators with two-rod birefringence compensation are designed to obtain the large fundamental mode size inside the Nd：YAG rods and the same beam width inside the KTP crystal. The optimal intracavity power ratio of both 1064nm and 1319nm beams is also considered. The output power fluctuation of the yellow laser remains less than 5% in four hours.     

Comparison of Nd:YAG Ceramic Laser Pumped at 885nm and 808nm

Laser performance of 1064 nm domestic Nd：YAG ceramic lasers for 885 nm direct pumping and 808 nm traditional pumping are compared. Higher slope efficiency of 34% and maximum output power of 16.5 W are obtained for the 885nm pump with a 6ram length 1 at.% Nd：YAG ceramic. The advantages for 885nm direct pumping are discussed in detail. This pumping scheme for highly doping a Nd：YAG ceramic laser is considered as an available way to generate high power and good beam quality simultaneously.     

532 nm laser based on V-type doubly resonant intra-cavity frequency-doubling

LD side-pumped dual interconnected V-type quasi-continuous wave green laser has been demonstrated. The two Nd:YAG modules were placed in a plane-concave V-type resonator and a plane-concave straight cavity formed two stable operation beam of the 1064-nm fundamental frequency laser. Through acousto-optic Q-switched and frequency doubling crystal, two double-frequency laser beams arrived at the folded flat mirror, which were unidirectional output by the folded flat mirror at the end. As the pumped current was 50 A, the 532 nm green laser maximum average output power of 206 W at a repetition of 22.4 kHz was achieved with a pulse width of 201 ns and the largest single pulse energy of 9.2 mJ, corresponding to a peak power of 45.8 kW and a double frequency efficiency of 60.2%.     

高功率二极管泵浦腔内倍频激光器

 成功研制了一台高功率二极管泵浦声光Q开关腔内倍频Nd:YAG激光器。当泵浦功率约为350W时，采用透过率为30%的输出耦合镜，调Q激光输出功率32.5W，脉宽约200ns，重复频率7kHz；采用Ⅱ类匹配KTP晶体腔内倍频，获得了32.5W的绿光输出，脉宽约120ns。输出光束平滑，远场为类高斯分布，测得的光束质量因子为3.6。     

Simultaneous Generation of Multi-Wavelength Laser from Nd:YAG Crystals in a Cruciform Cavity

A cruciform cavity is presented for multi-wavelength laser generation. On the basis of considering the optimal power ratio and good spatial overlap of the two fundamental beams, the maximum output power of 589 nm laser reaches 3.5 W when the pumping power of Nd：YAG A and Nd：YAG B are 311.5 W and 261.8 W, respectively. At the same time, the other wavelength lasers are also obtained with the output power distribution of 2.5 W at 66Onto, 15 W at 532nm, lOOmW at 1319nm and 240mW at 1064nm. The corresponding beam quality factors are M^2 x = 4.93, M^2 y = 5.01 at 589nm, M^2z = 4.51, M^2 y = 4.85 at 660hm, and M^2 x = 4.12, M^2 y = 3.96 at 532nm, respectively. The instabilities of the three visible lights are measured, which are also less than 2% within three hours.     

High electro-to-optical efficiency 180 W Q-switched 532 nm laser with a pulsewidth of 70 ns

A compact straight cavity with two side-pumped Nd:YAG laser heads and a 90° quartz rotator in between is presented. By intracavity-frequency-doubling with a type II LBO crystal in this cavity, an output power of 180.2 W at 532 nm with a repetition rate of 10 kHz was achieved, corresponding to an electrical-to-optical efficiency of 10.9%. To best of our knowledge, this is the highest electrical-to-optical efficiency of the high power green lasers with above 100 W output power, ever reported. The pulsewidth was 70 ns and the peak power was 257.4 kW. The beam parameter product (beam waist multiplied by half beam divergence angle) was estimated to be 4.2 mm mrad and the power fluctuation over 2.5 hours was calculated to be better than ±1.2%.     

LD泵浦Nd：YAG/Cr：YAG腔外频率变换高功率紫外激光器

用KTP晶体对激光二极管端面泵浦的Nd:YAG晶体;Cr:YAG被动调Q产生的1064nm脉冲激光器进行腔外倍频,用BBO晶体四倍频产生266 nm紫外激光.用15 W的LD阵列;当LD泵浦功率为12 W的情况下;红外(1064 μm)调Q平均输出功率为2.2 W;脉冲序列周期为40 μs;脉宽为18ns;峰值功率高达4.9kW.采用KTP腔外二倍频;532nm的绿光输出平均功率为850mW;用BBO腔外四倍频;266nm的紫外光输出平均功率高达215mW，绿光-紫外光光转换效率为25.2%, 红外到紫外总的转换效率为9.8%.     

高效率Nd:YVO4/LBO临界相位匹配脉冲绿光激光器

报道了一种利用激光二极管（LD）端面泵浦Nd:YVO4晶体,声光调Q,LBO临界相位匹配腔内倍频的高效率、小体积、风冷绿光激光器。分析了不同偏振光泵浦的情况下,激光晶体对泵浦光的吸收特性。由分析得出,采用部分偏振光泵浦,可以提高激光晶体对泵浦光吸收均匀性,改善基波畸变,获得高转换效率激光输出。实验中,在泵浦光功率为33 W、声光调Q重复频率为20 kHz时,得到脉宽为23.96 ns、平均功率为15 W的1064 nm基频光输出。经倍频后,得到平均功率为11.2 W的绿光输出,倍频效率为74.6%,总体光-光转换效率为34%。在输出功率为10 W时,测得1 h内输出功率不稳定度为0.512 2%,水平方向和竖直方向的光束质量因子M2分别为1.2和1.1。     

High repetition rate intracavity frequency doubled LD side-pumped ceramic Nd:YAG green laser based on BBO electro-optical Q-switch

a high repetition rate and high power 532 nm green laser generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a 808 nm laser diode side-pumped ceramic Nd:YAG laser based on BBO electro-optical Q-switch has been demonstrated. in the simple V-folded cavity, the maximum green laser average power 32.6 W was obtained with a pulse width of 58.5 ns at a repetition rate of 10 kHz by using a LBO crystal for frequency doubling, corresponding to a conversion efficiency of 10.9% from diode pumping power to green laser power. An instability of 1.9% was measured over a period of 30 minutes and the beam quality factors were measured to be M _x ² = 3.55, M _y ² = 3.89 at the maximum output power.     

1064 nm Nd:YAG laser intracavity pumped at 946 nm

We present for the first time a Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1064 nm intracavity pumped by a 946 nm diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser. A 885 nm laser diode is used to pump the first Nd:YAG crystal emitting at 946 nm, and the second Nd:YAG laser emitting at 1064 nm intracavity pumped at 946 nm. We achieved an output power of 7.97 W at 1064 nm for an absorbed pump power at 946 nm of 9.55 W, corresponding to an optical efficiency of 83.4%. The beam quality M² quality factor is about 1.1 at the maximum output power.     

High Electrical-to-Green Efficiency 123 W Average-Power Quasicontinuous-Wave Laser at 532 nm in Compact Design

We present an efficient high-power quasicontinuous-wave (QCW) all-solid-state laser at 532 nm with a simple and compact symmetrical resonator. We design a stable green laser at 532 nm with an average power of 123 W and a repetition rate of 10 kHz by combining a single side-pumped Nd:YAG laser module with a type II LBO crystal for intracavity frequency doubling. The corresponding electrical-to-green conversion efficiency is 12.5%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest electrical-to-green efficiency in 532 nm lasers with above 100 W output power ever reported. The pulse width is 62 ns at 123 W, so the peak power is calculated up to 198.4 kW. Such a compact and efficient resonator is promising for integration into laser-application systems.     

High efficiency TEM00 mode, diode-pumped, conduction-cooled, Nd:YAG zig-zag slab laser

We report a compact, conduction-cooled, highly efficient, continuous wave (CW) Nd:YAG slab laser in diode-side-pumped geometry. To achieve high efficiency, a novel laser head for Nd:YAG slab has been developed. For an absorbed pump power of 27.6 W, maximum output power of 10.4 W in multimode and 8.2 W in near-diffraction-limited beam quality has been obtained. Slope and optical-to-optical conversion efficiencies are 45.3% and 37.7% in multimode with beam quality factors (M²) in x and y directions equal to 32 and 8, respectively. TEM₀₀ mode operation was achieved in a hybrid resonator with slope and optical-to-optical conversion efficiencies of 43.2% and 29.7%, respectively. Beam quality factors in x and y directions are ?1.5 and ?1.6 for the whole output power range. The laser radiation was linearly polarized and polarization contrast ratios are >1200:1 in the multimode and 1800:1 in the TEM₀₀ mode operation. In passive Q-switching with Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal of 68% initial transmission, 18 ns pulsewidth has been achieved with an average power of 2 W at a repetition rate of 16 kHz.     

93.7 W 1112 nm diode-side-pumped CW Nd:YAG laser

We demonstrate a high power continuous wave (CW) infrared laser operated at 1112 nm from a diode side-pumped Nd:YAG crystal with a plano-plano symmetrical resonator. By inserting an etalon, an output power of as high as 93.7 W at 1112 nm was obtained at the pump power of 570 W with conversion efficiency of 16.4%. The beam quality factor of M² was measured to be about 17. The wavelength tunable performance of the etalon was also analyzed. To the best of our knowledge, it is the highest output power at 1112 nm CW laser based on Nd:YAG crystal.     

Investigation of Nd:YVO4/YVO4 composite crystal and its laser performance pumped by a fiber coupled diode laser

Thermal effect control is critical to scale the output power of diode end-pumping solid lasers to several watts up and beyond. Diffusion bonding crystal has been demonstrated to be an effective method to relieve the thermal lens for the end-pumping laser crystal. The temperature distribution and thermal lens in Nd:YVO₄/YVO₄ composite crystal was numerically analyzed and compared with that of Nd:YVO4 crystal in this paper. The end-pumping Nd:YVO₄/YVO₄ composite crystal laser was set up and tested with z cavity. The maximum output power of 9.87 W at 1064 nm and 6.14 W at 532 nm were obtained at the pumping power of 16.5 W. The highest optical-optical conversion efficiencies were up to 60% at 1064 nm and 40% at 532 nm, respectively.     

Compact corner-pumped Nd:YAG/YAG composite slab laser

Corner-pumping is a new pumping scheme in diode-pumped all-solid-state lasers, having such advantages as high pump efficiency, favorable pump uniformity and low cost. Compact corner-pumped Nd:YAG/YAG composite slab lasers at 1064 nm with low or medium output powers and high efficiency are demonstrated in this paper. Combined with intracavity frequency doubling by a LBO crystal, a corner-pumped Nd:YAG/YAG composite slab 532 nm green laser with a stable output is realized successfully. The experimental results show that corner-pumping can reduce laser costs greatly, release the thermal effects of slab crystals and improve the output beam quality, and that the new pumping scheme is feasible in the design of diode-pumped all-solid-state lasers with low or medium output powers.     

Efficient and compact intracavity-frequency-doubled Nd:GdVO4/KTP laser end-pumped by a fiber-coupled laser diode

A compact and efficient diode-pumped intracavity-frequency-doubled Nd:GdVO₄/KTP green laser is demonstrated with a flat–flat cavity design. With a 1.3 at. % Nd³⁺-doped GdVO₄ crystal and pumped at the weak-absorption peak of 806 nm, the second-harmonic output power at 532 nm was measured to be 1.95 W at an incident pump power of 8.4 W, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 23.2%. The output characteristic at the fundamental wavelength of 1.063 μm was investigated with two different pump wavelengths. More than 4.5-W output power was generated when the laser was pumped at 806.2 nm. Received: 26 July 2000 / Revised version: 18 September 2000 / Published online: 7 February 2001     

Three-Rod Resonator for Krypton Lamp Pumped 1.8 kW Continuous-Wave Nd：YAG Laser

A three-rod series resonator cw Nd:YAG laser suitable for the industrial applications is presented. The symmetrical resonator laser has been developed and is rated at 1820-W output power with beam parameter product 24 mm.mrad. By utilizing the symmetrical resonator design, the characteristic of beam with multi-rod is not obviously decreased compared with that of a single one. The system total electro-optics efficiency of lamp pumped YAG crystal is as high as 4.0%. The main factors, which affect output power and beam quality of high power solid-state laser module, are theoretically analysed.