No abstract

Laser characteristics of a novel mixed laser crystal Nd:Lu0.15Y0.85VO4 was investigated. It is attractive for Qswitching with high repetition rate and short pulse width due to its suitable stimulated emission cross-section and short upper level lifetime. Continuous wave (CW) output power of 8.18 W was obtained at the pump power of 18.9 W, corresponding to the optical conversion efficiency of 43.3% and the slope efficiency of 47%. In the passive Q-switching operation, the minimum pulse width attained was 7.8 ns, with the pulse repetition frequency of 23.2 kHz, with the single pulse energy and peak power estimated to be 94.8 μJ and 12.2 kW, respectively.

An external cavity structure based on the -1st transmission grating is introduced to spectral beam combining a 970 nm diode laser bar. A CW output power of 50.8 W, an electro-optical conversion efficiency of 45%, a spectral beam combining efficiency of 90.2% and a holistic M(2) value of 10.9 are achieved. This shows a way for a diode laser source with several KW power and diffraction-limited beam quality at the same time.