227-W Q-switched self-doubling Yb:YAB laser with controllable pulse length

Abstract

This paper was published in J. Opt. Soc. Am. B and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website: http://www.opticsinfobase.org/abstract.cfm?URI=josab-22-2-378. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law.

Temporal Stretching of Laser Pulses

“…A lithium iodate (LiIO 3 ) crystal was placed inside the cavity of a Q-swiched Nd:YAG laser, operating at 0.946 μm, to provide both output coupling and an easily adjustable, nonlinear loss mechanism for stretching pulses in the range of 200 ns to 1 μs at 0.473 μm at constant www.intechopen.com energy (Young et al, 1971). A temporal pulse stretching in the range of 100 ns to 2 μs was obtained in a Q-switched Yb:YAB laser by self frequency doubling in the Yb:YAB crystal itself (Dekker et al, 2005). The temporal pulse stretching to durations (FWHM) 650 ns and 3.2 μs was achieved without significant loss of pulse energy in a Q-switched Nd:YLF laser by using the effect of overcoupled intracavity second harmonic generation with intracavity KTP crystals of lengths 5 and 10 mm respectively while the pulses were stretched to 600 ns and 1.5 μs by the intracavity LBO crystals of lengths 10 and 20 mm respectively in the same set-up (Kracht & Brinkmann 2004).…”

Advances in high-power harmonic generation: Q-switched lasers with electronically adjustable pulse width

“…However, this technique can only produce pulse lengthening and offers only a relatively slow pulse adjustment mechanism since the nonlinear material temperature or angle must be tuned (millisecond time scale). Recent work has utilized self-doubling laser gain media to achieve similar effects 4 . Others have also used variable concentration dye absorbers 5 , two photon absorbers 6 , Raman scattering 7 , Brillouin scattering 8 , and Rayleigh scattering 9 to shorten and lengthen pulses in Q-switched lasers.…”

Liquid-Phase Epitaxial Growth and Characterization of Nd:YAl3(BO3)4 Optical Waveguides

“…There has been long-standing interest in multifunctional-doped borate laser crystals [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24], which are used in compact robust lasers emitting fundamental or self-frequency-doubled wavelengths, with Q-switched, mode-locked or continuous wave operation. The thermal conductivity of these crystals facilitates the operation of the lasers at high power and in thin disk geometries [25][26][27].…”