High-power Kerr-lens mode-locked Yb:YAG thin-disk oscillator in the positive dispersion regime

We demonstrate a self-starting Kerr-lens mode-locked (KLM) Yb:YAG thin-disk oscillator operating in the regime of positive intracavity group-delay dispersion (GDD). It delivers 1.7?ps pulses at an average power of 17?W and a repetition rate of 40?MHz. Dispersive mirrors compress the pulses to a duration of 190?fs (assuming sech² shape; Fourier limit: 150?fs) at an average power level of 11?W. To our knowledge, this is the first KLM thin-disk oscillator with positive GDD. Output powers of up to 30?W were achieved with an increased output coupler transmission and intracavity GDD. We demonstrate increase of the pulse energy with increasing positive intracavity GDD, limited by difficulties in initiating mode-locking.     

Characterization of laser-diode end-pumped intracavity frequency doubled, passively Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YVO4 laser

Simultaneous Q-switching and mode-locking in a laser-diode end-pumped intracavity frequency doubled Nd:YVO₄/KTP green laser using Cr⁴⁺:YAG saturable absorber is experimentally demonstrated. The influence of the initial transmission (T₀) of the Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal on the Q-switched mode-locked green pulses as well as on the average green power is characterized by using Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal with various T₀. The effect of T₀ on the pulse build-up time in intracavity second harmonic configuration is theoretically investigated. It was found that the depth of modulation for the mode-locked pulses is greatly improved at the second harmonic wavelength as compared to that for the fundamental wavelength. The average pulse duration of the individual mode-locked pulse for the second harmonic beam measured to be less than 500 ps with a repetition rate of 400 MHz.     

High performance Cr4+:YAG Q-switched CW diode pumped Nd:YAG laser

This paper reports the operation of a Cr4+:YAG Q-switched CW diode laser pumped Nd:YAG at 1064nm. The laser performances resulted in 167 μ J, 21ns pulses at 10kHz, and 1.67W power output. When intracavity polarized, stable amplitude (fluctuations <±1%), TEM00, 153 μ J pulses were generated allowing 50% SHG in KTP. This revised version was published online in November 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Generation of modulation-free pulses using an active fabry-perot

A high gain active medium, Nd:YAG, has been shown to act as an efficient intracavity etalon for the generation of modulation-free Q-switched pulses. The “active etalon” thus formed offers a distinct advantage of finesse variation by varying the active medium gain. The analysis and experimental verification is presented.     

Long pulse emission from a frequency doubled neodymium YAG laser

By reducing the cavity losses of a neodymium YAG laser, a nearly spike free long pulse emission is obtained. The intracavity frequency doubling by a lithium iodate crystal produces 100 W pulses with 180 μs duration at a repetition rate up to 50 Hz. The overall efficiency for the 0.53 μm radiation is 0.06%.     

LD泵浦Cr∶YAG被动调Q 556nm黄光激光器

通过对谐振腔镜镀制合理的激光薄膜，成功实现了LD泵浦Nd∶YAG 1.111 μm激光谱线的运转.利用LBO腔内倍频Nd∶YAG/Cr∶YAG结构获得了高重复频率被动调Q556 nm全固态黄光激光器，在注入泵浦功率为1.6 W时，得到平均功率51 mW，脉冲宽度48 ns,重复频率8.9 kHz,峰值功率高达119 W的脉冲黄光输出.     

Spectral dynamics in dye lasers: A new picosecond source

A new method of producing single picosecond dye laser pulses at different wavelengths is described. It is based on the spectro-temporal evolution of the intracavity laser intensity above threshold. Spectral filtering of the output from a sweeping oscillator pumped with a standard 8 ns Nd: YAG pulse is shown to produce, in a two-stage system, a nearly transform-limited, single, 3 μJ, 16 ps pulse.     

Efficient passively Q-switched Yb:LuAG microchip laser

An efficient passively Q-switched Yb:LuAG microchip laser with Cr4+:YAG as saturable absorber was demonstrated for the first time to our knowledge. Slope efficiencies of 40% and 28% were measured for the initial transmission of Cr4+:YAG, T(0)=95% and 90%, respectively. Laser pulses with a pulse energy of 19 microJ and a pulse width of 610 ps at the repetition rate of 12.8 kHz were achieved for T(0)=90%; the corresponding peak power of over 31 kW was obtained. The lasers oscillated at two or three longitudinal modes owing to the broad emission spectra of Yb:LuAG and mode selection by Cr4+:YAG thin plate acting as an intracavity etalon.     

Coupled-cavity passively Q-switched two-Stokes microchip laser

Experimental and theoretical studies of the coupled-cavity diode-pumped Nd:YAG/Cr:YAG microchip lasers with intracavity Raman conversion of laser pulses in a Ba(NO₃)₂ crystal into two Stokes pulses have been made. Two lasers with a different cavity length have been investigated. The minimal pulse durations at the 2nd Stokes wavelength were ??100 ps in the short-cavity laser at pulse energy of 5???J, and the pulse repetition rate reached 20?C24?kHz. The laser and Stokes pulse dynamics, as well as the spatial intensity distribution of the laser and the 1st Stokes beams at the output mirror have been recorded. A model describing such coupled-cavity microchip Raman lasers has been developed. The numerically simulated laser and Stokes pulse dynamics, and the calculated pulse energy, duration, and repetition rate are in good agreement with the experimental data.     

True fundamental solitons in a passively mode-locked short-cavity Cr(4+):YAG laser

We demonstrate a self-starting, passively mode-locked short-cavity Cr(4+):YAG laser that supports fundamental intracavity solitons over wide ranges of cavity group-velocity dispersion and pulse energies. The total dispersion and nonlinear effects are small enough that stable, N=1 soliton pulses are generated. Equally spaced multiple pulsing is also observed, with fundamental soliton behavior preserved. Regions of bistability exist where, at a constant cavity dispersion, the laser can produce transform-limited pulses of a different width and energy. The laser produces 200-fs pulses at approximately 0.9-, 1.8-, and 2.7-GHz repetition rates with a total of 82 mW of average output power.     

High-peak-power, high-repetition-rate intracavity optical parametric oscillator at 1.57μm

We report a high-peak-power, high-repetition-rate diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG Q-switched intracavity optical parametric oscillator (IOPO) at 1.57μm with a type-Ⅱ non-critically phase-matched x-cut KTP crystal. The average power of 1.15 W at 1.57μm is obtained at 4.3-kHz repetition rate. The peak power of the pulses amounts to 33.4 kW with 8-ns duration. The average conversion efficiency from Q-switched 1.064-μm-wavelength input power to OPO signal output power is up to 10.5%.     

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.     

Diode-pumped Ba(NO3)2 and NaBrO3 Raman lasers

A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser transversely pumped with a 300-W quasi-cw diode generated pulses at 1.06 7m with intracavity energies of up to 10 mJ. Intracavity Raman shifting in a 60-mm-long Ba(NO₃)₂ crystal led to pulses with energies of 2.5 mJ at 1197 nm. The output pulse duration was reduced to 8.5 ns compared to 50 ns at the fundamental wavelength. Beam quality improvement was observed. A NaBrO₃ Raman laser generated pulse energies of 0.4 mJ at 1163 nm with a crystal of only 18 mm length. The Raman radiation was frequency doubled into the yellow spectral region from 580 nm to 599 nm, which is difficult to reach with other solid-state lasers.     

Analysis of laser-diode end-pumped intracavity frequency-doubled,passively Q-switched and mode-locked Nd:YVO<Subscript>4</Subscript> laser

Simultaneous Q-switching and mode locking in a laser-diode end-pumped intracavity frequency-doubled Nd:YVO₄/KTP green laser using a Cr⁴⁺:YAG saturable absorber with 81% initial transmission is experimentally demonstrated. At an incident pump power of 6 W, 300 mW of average green power was obtained, which is around four times higher than the cw green power obtained without the Cr⁴⁺:YAG crystal. The repetition rate of the mode-locked green pulses was 400 MHz and the individual mode-locked pulse width was measured to be 500 ps. The repetition rate of the Q-sw itched envelope of the mode-locked pulses was 15 kHz at 6 W of incident pump power. The energy of the mode-locked pulse at the peak of the Q-sw itched envelope was estimated to be 1 J and the peak power was estimated to be 2.4 kW. The measured width and the total energy of the Q-sw itched envelope of the mode-locked pulses was 47 ns and 21 J, respectively, at the maximum incident pump power. An analysis of the system by incorporating a nonlinear loss term due to the intracavity second-harmonic generation to the general recurrence relation for the mode-locked pulses under the Q-sw itched envelope at the fundamental wavelength has been presented. Using a hyperbolic secant square function to model the mode-locked pulse, the temporal shape of a single Q-sw itched pulse at the second-harmonic wavelength has been reconstructed. The theoretical calculations of the pulse parameters like pulse energy, peak power, pulse width and pulse-symmetry factor have shown fairly good agreement with the experimental results. PACS 42.55.Rz; 42.55.Xi; 42.60.By     

Spike suppression and longitudinal mode selection in a 1.319 μm Nd:YAG laser by high-efficiency intracavity frequency doubling

We describe a flashlamp pumped 1.319 μm Nd:YAG ring laser in which a high-efficiency intracavity frequency doubler is used as a nonlinear output coupler, virtually eliminating all spiking behavior and providing longitudinal mode selection as well. A single frequency, long pulse (>50 μs) output at 660 nm with about 20 W peak power is produced, suitable as a source for visar and other applications where long coherent pulses at relatively high power are required. Experimental results and theoretical analyses are given.     

Intracavity optical parametric oscillator pumped by passively Q-switched Nd:YLF laser

We report on a passively Q-switched end pumped Nd:YLF laser including a noncritically phase-matched KTP singly resonant intracavity optical parametric oscillator (IOPO-KTP). For the Q-switching operation we have used Cr:YAG saturable absorber. The optimized passively Q-switched Nd:YLF laser without IOPO generated linearly polarized pulses of 11.5 ns and 1.07 mJ at 1047 nm. The conversion efficiency of the optimized Q-switched pulse energy at 1047 nm to 1547 nm of a signal approached about 47%. For optimizing both Nd:YLF laser and IOPO we have numerically solved a theoretical model. We have achieved 1.6-ns duration pulses at 1547 nm with energy of 0.5 mJ and peak power of above 300 kW. The beam quality was excellent (M² ≈1).     

激光二极管抽运的Nd:GdVO4激光器

用高亮度激光二极管作抽运源 ,研究了连续、腔内倍频和被动调 Q Nd:Gd VO4 激光器的输出特性。在抽运功率为 881m W时获得了 119m V的连续绿光输出 ,光 -光转换效率 13.5%。用Cr4 :YAG作可饱和吸收体实现了 Nd:Gd VO4 激光器的被动调 Q运转 ,脉冲宽度为 116～ 2 4 ns,重复频率在 50 0 k Hz～ 1.8MHz范围内可调。     

Kerr-lens mode-locked polycrystalline Cr:ZnS femtosecond laser pumped by a monolithic Er:YAG laser

We demonstrated a Kerr-lens mode-locked polycrystalline Cr:ZnS laser pumped by a narrow-linewidth linearpolarised monolithic Er:YAG nonplanar ring oscillator operated at 1645 nm. With a 5-mm-thick sapphire plate for intracavity dispersion compensation, a compact and stable Kerr-lens mode-locking operation was realised. The oscillator delivered 125-fs pulses at 2347 nm with an average power of 80 m W. Owing to the special polycrystalline structure of the Cr:ZnS crystal, the second to fourth harmonic generation was observed by random quasi-phase-matching.     

Self-Q-switched and mode-locked Nd,Cr:YAG laser with 6.52-W average output power

Simultaneous self-Q-switched and mode-locked have been demonstrated in a diode-pumped Nd,Cr:YAG laser. For the first time as we know, almost 100% modulation depth has been achieved at an intracavity intensity of 5.6 × 10⁵ W/cm². The maximum average output power of 6.52 W corresponding to a slope efficiency of 30% is obtained at 1064 nm. The laser produces high-quality pulses in a TEM₀₀-mode at the pump power of 16.5 W. The pulse duration of the mode-locked pulses is about 600 ps with 136 MHz repetition rate.     

Theoretical and experimental study on intracavity pumped SrWO4 anti-Stokes Raman laser

An intracavity pumped SrWO₄ anti-Stokes Raman laser is realized by placing an inclined SrWO₄ Raman cavity in a Q-switched Nd:YAG fundamental cavity. This structure is used to achieve non-collinear phase matching between the fundamental, the first-order Stokes and the first-order anti-Stokes waves. The maximum forward and backward first anti-Stokes outputs are 0.683 and 0.667 mJ, respectively, and the corresponding first anti-Stokes pulse widths are both 3.3 ns. A rate equation model is set up to simulate the output energies and temporal characteristics of these pulses. The stimulated results are in agreement with the experimental ones on the whole.