High repetition rate,high peak power acousto-optical Q-switched 946 nm Nd:YAG laser

A diode-end-pumped high repetition rate, high peak power acousto-optical (AO) Q-switched 946 nm Nd:YAG laser was demonstrated in this paper. In our experiments, a 20 mm miniature acousto-optical Q-switch was employed in a 45 mm linear laser cavity for generating the short laser pulse. At a repetition rate of 10 kHz, a maximum average output power of 2.9 W was achieved with a pulse width of 24.4 ns, giving a peak power of 11.9 kW. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest peak power 946 nm Nd:YAG laser at high repetition rate operation. Moreover, pulse train with good stability was also obtained at the repetition rate of 50 kHz. At an incident pump power of 22.3 W, up to an average output power of 3.5 W pulsed 946 nm laser was generated at 50 kHz with a pulse width of 69 ns, corresponding to an optical conversion efficiency of 15.7% and an average slope efficiency of 24.1%, respectively.     

All-solid-state continuous-wave frequency doubling Nd:YLF/LBO laser with 2.15 W output power at 526 nm

An efficient and compact green laser at 526 nm generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous wave (CW) laser operation of a diode pumped Nd:YLF laser at 1053 nm under the condition of suppression the high gain transition at 1047 nm. With 19.5 W diode pump power and a frequency doubling crystal LBO, as high as 2.15 W of CW output power at 526 nm is achieved, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 11.2% and the output power stability in 8 h is better than 2.87%. To the best of our knowledge, this it the highest watt-level laser at 526 nm generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode pumped Nd:YLF laser at 1053 nm.     

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.     

双波长Yb∶YAG连续激光理论及实验研究

报道了Yb∶YAG双波长激光振荡阈值的理论结果,实验获得了连续双波长激光输出.实验中,采用紧凑的平凹腔结构、940nm光纤耦合LD端面泵浦方式,Yb∶YAG晶体作为激光晶体,采用10%、15%和20%的输出耦合镜,分别实现了单波长和双波长激光输出,在最高泵浦功率为20 W时,输出耦合率分别为10%、20%,最高获得3.94W的1 050nm激光和3.40 W的1 030nm激光,对应的光光转换效率分别为19.7%和17.0%;当输出耦合率为15%、泵浦功率为11.7 W时,获得0.79 W的双波长激光,对应的光光转换效率为6.8%,功率比为1∶1.3,通过光栅光谱仪测量得到双波长谱线中心分别为1 030.31nm和1 047.50nm;当1 030nm激光功率为3.0 W时,30min内输出功率RMS稳定性优于0.18%.该实验结果与理论分析相吻合,可应用于设计稳定可靠的掺Yb双波长激光器.     

Efficient Nd:YVO_4 laser in-band pumped by wavelength-locked 913.9-nm laser diode and Q-switch operation

An efficient 1064-nm Nd:YVO_4laser in-band pumped by a wavelength-locked laser diode(LD) at 913.9 nm was demonstrated. The maximum continuous wave(CW) output power of 23.4 W at 1064 nm was realized with the incident pump power of 40 W, corresponding to a total optical-to-optical efficiency of 58.5%. This is to the best of our knowledge the highest total optical-to-optical efficiency and output power of Nd:YVO_4laser in-band pumped by a 913.9-nm laser diode.The Q-switched operation of this laser was also investigated. Through a contrast experiment of pumping at 808 nm, the experimental results showed that an Nd:YVO_4laser in-band pumped by a wavelength-locked LD at 913.9 nm had excellent pulse stability and beam quality for high repetition rate Q-switching operation.     

All-solid-state continuous-wave frequency doubling Nd:LuVO4/LBO laser with 9.6 W output power at 672 nm

An efficient and compact red laser at 672 nm is generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous wave (CW) laser operation of a diode pumped Nd:LuVO₄ laser at 1344 nm under the condition of suppression the higher gain transition near 1064 nm. With 38 W diode pump power and a frequency doubling crystal LBO, as high as 9.6 W of CW output power at 672 nm is achieved, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 25.3% and the output power stability in 8 h is better than 2.38%. To the best of our knowledge, this it the highest conversion efficiency of watt-level laser at 672 nm generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode pumped Nd:LuVO₄ laser at 1344 nm.     

219.3 W CW diode-side-pumped 1123 nm Nd:YAG laser

We demonstrate a high power continuous wave (CW) diode-side-pumped Nd:YAG laser operating at 1123 nm with a plano-plano configuration. By means of precise coating, a single 1123 nm wavelength is achieved. Under the pump power of 1080 W, an output power of 219.3 W is obtained, which corresponds to an optical-optical conversion efficiency of 20.3%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest output power for CW 1123 nm laser based on Nd:YAG crystal.     

All-solid-state continuous-wave frequency doubling Nd:YAG/LBO laser with 8.2 W output power at 660 nm

An efficient and compact red laser at 660 nm is generated by intracavity frequency doubling of continuous wave (CW) laser operation of a diode pumped Nd:YAG laser at 1319 nm under the condition of suppression the higher gain transition near 1064 and 1319 nm under the condition of suppression the higher gain transition near 1064 and 1338 nm. With 40 W diode pump power and a frequency doubling crystal LBO, as high as 8.6 W of CW output power at 660 nm is achieved, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 21.5% and the output power stability in 8 h is better than 2.73%. To the best of our knowledge, this it the highest conversion efficiency of watt-level laser at 660 nm generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode end pumped Nd:YAG laser at 1319 nm.     

All-solid-state continuous-wave frequency doubling Nd:LuVO4/LBO laser with 9.6 W output power at 458 nm

An efficient and compact red laser at 458 nm is generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a continuous wave (CW) laser operation of a diode pumped Nd:LuVO₄ laser at 916 nm under the condition of suppression the higher gain transition near 1064 nm. With 30 W diode pump power and a frequency doubling crystal LBO, as high as 9.6 W of CW output power at 458 nm is achieved, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 32.0% and the output power stability in 8 hours is better than 2.35%. To the best of our knowledge, this it the highest conversion efficiency of watt-level laser at 458 nm generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode pumped Nd:LuVO₄ laser at 916 nm.     

Intracavity-pumped Cr2+:ZnSe laser with ultrabroad tuning range between 1880 and 3100 nm

We obtained, what is to our knowledge, record tuning from an intracavity-pumped gain-switched Cr2+:ZnSe laser. In the experiments, a polycrystalline Cr2+:ZnSe sample with an absorption of about 43% at 1570 nm was used to minimize reabsorption losses at the lasing wavelengths below 2000 nm. By placing the gain medium inside the cavity of a pulsed KTP optical parametric oscillator (OPO) operating at 1570 nm, smooth, continuous tuning was achieved in the 1880-3100 nm range with four different sets of cavity optics. As high as 145 mW of average laser output power was obtained at 2365 nm with 1.2 W of intracavity OPO power.     

Diode-pumped Yb:Sr(3)Y(BO(3))(3) femtosecond laser

We have developed a diode-pumped Yb(3+)Sr(3)Y(BO(3))(3) (Yb:BOYS) laser generating 69-fs pulses, at a central wavelength of 1062 nm. This laser is mode locked by use of a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror and emits 80 mW of average power at 113 MHz. This is, to our knowledge, the first mode-locked Yb:BOYS laser and the shortest duration obtained from an ytterbium laser with a crystalline host. The central wavelength can be tuned from 1051 to 1070 nm, for sub-100-fs pulses. We have also achieved an average power as high as 300 mW with pulse duration of 86 fs at 1068 nm.     

All-solid-state continuous-wave frequency doubling Nd:LuVO4/LBO laser with 2.17 W output power at 543 nm

Efficient and compact green-yellow laser output at 543 nm is generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a CW diode-pumped Nd:LuVO₄ laser at 1086 nm under the condition of suppressing the higher gain transition near 1064 nm. With 16 W of diode pump power and the frequency-doubling crystal LBO, as high as 2.17 W of CW output power at 543 nm is achieved, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 13.6% and the output power stability over 8 hours is better than 2.86%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest watt-level laser at 543 nm generated by intracavity frequency doubling of a diode pumped Nd:LuVO₄ laser at 1086 nm.     

Efficient 1061 and 1329 nm laser emission of Nd:CNGG lasers under 885 nm diode pumping into the emitting level

We report an efficiency Nd:CNGG laser operating at 1061 and 1329 nm, respectively, direct pumped by a diode laser at 885 nm for the first time to our knowledge. The maximum outputs of 4.5 and 2.9 W, at 1061 and 1329 nm, respectively, are obtained in a 6-mm-thick 0.5 at % Nd:CNGG crystal with 13.5 W of absorbed pump power at 885 nm, leading to a high slope efficiency with respect to the absorbed pump power of 32.2 and 22.1%. Under traditional pumping at 808 nm, the maximum outputs of 3.9 and 2.7 W, at 1061 and 1329 nm, respectively, are obtained with 15.4 W of absorbed pump power, corresponding to the slope efficiency with respect to the absorbed pump power of 25.2 and 17.9%.     

Highly efficient continuous-wave composite Nd:YAG laser at 1,112 nm under diode pumping directly into the emitting level

We present an efficient, high-brightness laser at 1,112 nm by combining the direct pumping technique with an 885 nm laser diode and the composite crystal. Output power as high as 12.8 W at 1,112 nm is achieved under 22.2 W of absorbed pump power and it yields an optical-to-optical efficiency of 57.7 % and a slope efficiency of 64.0 % with respect to the absorbed pump power. To the best of our knowledge, both of these optical-to-optical and slope efficiencies with respect to the absorbed pump power are the highest values ever reported for 1,112 nm Nd:YAG lasers. Modeling of the temperature rise and stress induced in the laser crystals, with and without the undoped cap, and employing the pump at 808 and 885 nm are performed, respectively. Contributions of the composite crystal geometry and of the pump at 885 nm to lowering the threshold power, enhancing the optical-to-optical and the slope efficiencies with respect to the absorbed pump power are discussed, respectively.     

High power CW laser operation with a Nd:YAG single-crystal fiber grown by LHPG method

We report a high power continuous wave laser operation with a Nd:YAG single crystal fiber. A piece of high quality Nd:YAG single crystal fiber was prepared by means of laser heated pedestal growth method and was then applied as the laser gain medium. The crystal fiber laser was end-pumped by a fiber pig-tailed laser diode working around 808 nm. A maximum output power of 13 W was obtained at a pump power of 60 W. To our knowledge, it was the highest laser power ever achieved with a piece of single crystal fiber.     

High-power tunable diode-pumped Yb3+:CaF2 laser

Results of diode-pumped cw laser operation of an Yb3+:CaF2 single crystal are reported for what is to our knowledge the first time. With a 5-at.% Yb3+ -doped sample we obtained 5.8-W output power at 1053 nm for 15 W of incident power at 980 nm. The laser wavelength could be tuned from 1018 to 1072 nm, and a small-signal gain as high as 1.8 was achieved, showing the great potential of Yb3+:CaF2 as an amplifier medium for femtosecond pulses.     

Diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:KGd(WO(4))(2) laser with 1.1-W average power

We demonstrate what is to our knowledge the first mode-locked Yb:KGd(WO(4))(2) laser. Using a semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror for passive mode locking, we obtain pulses of 176-fs duration with an average power of 1.1 W and a peak power of 64 kW at a center wavelength of 1037 nm. We achieve pulses as short as 112 fs at a lower output power. The laser is based on a standard delta cavity and pumped by two high-brightness laser diodes, making the whole system very simple and compact. Tuning the laser by means of a knife-edge results in mode-locked pulses within a wavelength range from 1032 to 1054 nm. In cw operation, we achieve output powers as high as 1.3 W.     

307 W high-power 1018 nm monolithic tandem pump fiber source with effective thermal management

We report a 307 W 1018 nm Yb-doped fiber laser pumped by a single 976 nm laser diode. The cavity slope efficiency is up to 75.9% and the amplified spontaneous emission is suppressed by 54 dB. The beam quality of the output laser has an M2 factor of 1.17. Effective thermal management is considered to ensure the stable operation of our system. The power stability at the maximum output power level is measured during a period of0.5 h and the power fluctuation is less than 0.8%. This architecture can be an effective high brightness pump source of core-pumping high-power fiber amplifiers.     

Diode-pumped cw Nd:YAG three-level laser at 869 nm

We report for the first time (to our knowledge) a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser emitting at 869 nm based on the (4)F(3/2)-(4)I(9/2) transition, generally used for a 946 nm emission. Power of 453 mW at 869 nm has been achieved in cw operation with a fiber-coupled laser diode emitting 35.4 W at 809 nm. Intracavity second-harmonic generation in the cw mode has also been demonstrated with power of 118 mW at 435 nm by using a BiB(3)O(6) nonlinear crystal. In our experiment, we used a LiNbO(3) crystal lens to complement the thermal lens of the laser rod, and we obtained good beam quality and high output power stability.     

Laser diode and pumped Cr:Yag passively Q-switched yellow-green laser at 543 nm

Efficient and compact yellow green pulsed laser output at 543 nm is generated by frequency doubling of a passively Q-switched end diode-pumped Nd:YVO₄ laser at 1086 nm under the condition of sup-pressing the higher gain transition near 1064 nm. With 15 W of diode pump power and the frequency doubling crystal LBO, as high as 1.58 W output power at 543 nm is achieved. The optical to optical conversion efficiency from the corresponding Q-switched fundamental output to the yellow green output is 49%. The peak power of the Q-switched yellow green pulse laser is up to 30 kW with 5 ns pulse duration. The output power stability over 8 hours is better than 2.56% at the maximum output power. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest watt-level laser at 543 nm generated by frequency doubling of a passively Q-switched end diode pumped Nd:YVO₄ laser at 1086 nm.