Continuous wave, Q-switched and mode-locked operation of alaser-pumped Nd:LNA laser

A linear cavity Nd:LNA laser pumped by a Ti:sapphire laser was investigated in a continuous wave (CW), Q-switched and mode-locked regime. A parallel study using a Nd:YAG crystal was also conducted using the same optics and intercavity elements. The slope efficiencies obtained with a 5% output coupler in CW operation are 41 and 55% for Nd:LNA (λ~1.054 nm) and Nd:YAG (λ~1.065 nm), respectively. Mode locking was achieved with a 360-MHz intracavity phase modulator and led to a relative improvement of the Nd:LNA versus the Nd:YAG device. In the Q-switched mode with an intracavity acoustooptic modulator, the performance of the two lasers is almost identical. With 300 mW of absorbed pump power at λ~800 nm, peak powers ~130 W were achieved in a 65-ns pulse with a 5% output coupler