Diode-pumped neodymium lasers repetitively Q-switched by Cr4+:YAG solid-state saturable absorbers |
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Authors: | Agnesi A Dell'Acqua S Morello C Piccinno G Reali GC Zhaoyang Sun |
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Affiliation: | Dipartimento di Elettronica, Pavia Univ.; |
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Abstract: | We report on the experimental results of a continuously diode-laser pumped Nd:YAG laser, operating at 1064 nm and repetitively Q-switched by a Cr4+:YAG solid-state saturable absorber. End-pumping the Nd:YAG with a 10-W fiber-coupled diode-laser we could either optimize the energy or the average output power, depending on the choice of the saturable absorber and the output coupler. The maximum energy was ≈200 μJ in single TEM00, 17 ns pulses at 6 kHz, whereas a maximum average power of ≈2 W with 32-ns pulses at 20 kHz was obtained. We also present preliminary results of a repetitively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser at 1064 nm. The repetitive Q-switching operation is described by an improved model, which accounts for the behavior of both the active medium and the solid-state saturable absorber. The results of the model agree fairly well with the experimental data. Experimental results of second harmonic conversion are also reported and interpreted using a depleted pump model |
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