Performance of the Self—Q—Switched Cr,Yb：YAG Laser

We report on the spectral properties of Cr,Yb:YAG crystal co-doped with 0.025 at.% Cr and 10 at.% Yb are reported.Using a continuous wave Ti:sapphire laser as a pumping source,we have demonstrated the self-Q-switched Cr,Yb:YAG laser at room temperature.We obtained an average output power as much as 75mW at 1.03μm with a pulse width (FWHM)as short as 0.4μs.The laser experiment demonstrated that the Cr,Yb:YAG crystal exactly combines the Cr^4 saturable absorber and Yb^3 gain medium.The Cr,Yb:YAG crystal can be a most promising self-Q-switched laser crystal for compact and efficient solid-state lasers.